تجاورني وَتَنفُر في نَداكا

وَتَهرُبُ إِن دَنَوتُ إِلى لُقاكا

You draw near to me and yet recoil at your call

And flee if I approach to meet you

تَبَربر أَعجَميّاً لَستُ أَدري

كَلامَكَ حَيثُ أَزعَجَني بُكاكا

You babble unintelligibly, though I do not know

What you say when your weeping troubles me

فَوَيحَكَ يا غُرابُ البَينُ ماذا

وَراءَكَ أَيُّ شَيءٍ قَد عَراكا

Woe to you, O raven of separation! What is

Behind you that has befallen you?

تَقَرَّبُ في نَعيّكَ مُشكِلاتٍ

وَتُبعِدُها إِذا رُمت الفَكاكا

You mention troubles in your elegy

And dismiss them when I seek release

وَتَطلُب في جِوار النيل دَمعي

كانَّ الفَيض لَم يَكفِ إِرتواكا

You ask for my tears by the Nile

As if its flooding were not enough to water you

تُشيرُ إِلى الشَمال عَلى إِضطِرابٍ

فَيَظلُم بي الجُنوبُ لَدى نِداكا

You gesture northward in agitation

So the south grows dark for me at your call

لَقَد أَبطَأتَ وَيحَكَ مُستَطيراً

تُخبِرُني بِطارِقَةٍ وَراكا

You have tarried, woe to you, wandering,

To tell me of lightning flashes and thunder

وَنَحنُ البَرقُ يَخدمنا بِعَصرٍ

بِهِ قَد صارَ يُضحِكُنا سَراكا

Yet we are the lightning, served in our time

By which your jesting now makes us laugh

جَعَلتَ الاَزبَكية في عُيوني

كَسجنٍ لا أُطيقُ بِهِ الحِراكا

You have made the branches in my eyes

A prison I cannot bear to stir in

كَأَنَّ غُصونَها لَيلٌ بَهيمٌ

تَغَشاني فَحَيَرني إِرتِباكا

As if their branches were a brutal night

Enshrouding and bewildering me

وَعَهدي بِاليَمامَةِ في حِماها

تُغازِلُني عَلى أَمنٍ عِداكا

While my pact with the turtledove protected me

Flirting with me in your despite

فَقُمتَ مَكانَها أَشقى بَديلٍ

وَأَخبَث صاحِبٍ عَثَرت خُطاكا

Yet you took her place, most wretched substitute,

Most wicked companion, stumbling in your step

تُشيرُ إِلى اليَمامة وَهِيَ صَرعى

بمخلب خاطِفٍ نَصبَ الشِراكا

You point to the turtledove, though she lies slain

By the talon of a swooping foe who set his trap

مُصابٌ قَد أَطارَ الرُشدَ حُزناً

فَكانَ أَشَدَّ بُؤساً مِن بُكاكا

Wounded, her reason took flight in grief

More wretched than your weeping

إِلا يا أَيُّها الرَجُلُ المَعنّى

أَذابَ قُلوبَنا سَهمٌ رَماكا

Unless, O man of purpose, an arrow from you

Melted our hearts when you took aim

فَما أَنا يا سَليمُ سَليمُ عَقلٍ

إِذا شَخصتُ هَولاً قَد دَهاكا

So I am not, O Suleiman, sound of mind

When I stand awestruck at what you have unleashed

غَريبٌ قَد جَنَنتَ عَلى غَريبٍ

بِدارٍ قَد حَرَمتَ بِها صَفاكا

A stranger, you have maddened a stranger

In a house from which you have deprived yourself of clarity

سَطا فَجَنى عَلَيكَ الآن دَهرٌ

مَضى بِأَعَز شَيءٍ مِن جِناكا

Fate has now turned on you, though long you rode high

Taking the most precious thing from your riches

مَضى غَدراً بِوَردِ صِباكَ يَخفي

حَبيبتكَ الَّتي سَلَبَت نُهاكا

It fled perfidiously with the rose of your youth

Concealing the beloved who stole your passion

وَكانَت وَردَةً مِن غَير شَوكٍ

فَكانَ الشَوك حُزناً في حَشاكا

She was a rose without thorns

Yet thorns became grief in your concerns

مَهاة الشام أَين دَفنتُموها

بِأَرض الروس لا تَجد اِنفِكاكا

Maha of Damascus, where have you buried her

In the land of the Russians, with no release?

أَرى لُبنان يَدعوها مُشَوِقاً

لِوادٍ في حِماهُ بِهِ حِماكا

I see Lebanon calling to her longingly

For a valley in Hama where she was protected

وَلَكن لا رجاءَ وَلا مُجيبٌ

سِوى رَجع الصَدى فَأقصر عَناكا

But there is no hope, no answer

Except the echo's return, so shorten your wailing

تَجَلد وَاَستَعن بِاللَهِ تَحيي

فُؤاداً كُل بَغيتهِ لُقاكا

Show fortitude and seek God's help to revive

A heart whose only wish was to meet you

وَلا تَسقط أَمام الدَهر ضُعفاً

فَإِنَّكَ قَد أَطَلتَ لَهُ عِراكا

Do not in weakness fall before fate

For with it you have long grappled

فَما هَذي الحَيوة سِوى غَرورٍ بِهِ

الأَنام تَختبط اشتِباكا

This life is but delusion, in which

Men blunder about, tangled together

فَكُن بِالحَقِّ مُعتَصِماً رَشيداً

وَلا يَعلو الضَلالُ عَلى ذَكاكا

So be steadfast in truth and wise guidance

Let not misguidance rise above your prudence