أفي الركب قَلبي أم ترى سَبَقَ الرَّكبا

فلست أرى ما بين أحشائي القلبا

Is my heart amidst the caravan or has it outstripped the caravans?

Is my heart within the caravan, or has it raced ahead?

I see not what is in my heart's confines, a heart.

For I look within my ribs and find no heart.

هوى إثر من يهوى فأودى وإنّما

لسائر أعضائي على إثره العُقبى

It yearned after one who yearns, so it perished, and only

It rushed after the one it loves and perished, and truly,

For my other members, in its tracks, ruin.

The rest of my limbs are doomed to follow its path.

وقالوا ادعيتَ الحقَّ غير مُسَهَّدٍ

ولا يستلذُّ النوم من عالج الحُبّا

And they said you claimed the right, with no smooth approach,

They said, "You claim the truth of love, yet keep no vigil,

Nor does sleep find sweet the cure for love.

And he who suffers love finds no delight in sleep."

فقلتُ لهم لو كنتُ اعلم انّني

على يقظتي أو في الكرى لم أكن صَبّا

So I said to them, "Had I known I was

I answered them, "If I could distinguish whether I

Awake or, in imagination, I would not have been youthful."

Was awake or deep in dreams, I would not be a true lover."

يذكّرني عهدَ الصِّبا ونسيمَهُ

نسيمُ الصَّبا من نحو نجدٍ إذا هَبّا

The zephyr of youth reminds me of the pact of youth and its breeze,

It brings to mind the era of youth and its soft air—

The zephyr of youth from the direction of Nejd when it blows.

The East Wind, whenever it blows from the direction of Najd.

وماضي شباب ينثُر الدمع كُلّما

تصوَّرتُه في النفس أو ينظم الكربا

And the past of a youth who sheds tears whenever

And a vanished youth that scatters my tears whenever

I envisioned it in the soul or composed anguish.

I picture it in my soul, or strings together my grief.