إذَا القُمْرِيُّ غَرَّدَ فِي الغُصُونِ

أعَانَ المُسْتَهَامَ على الشُّجُونِ

When the moonbird trills amid the boughs

It helps the melancholy heart sing its woes;

وَإنْ نَاحَ الحَمَامُ بكيتُ وجداً

بِمُزْنِ سحَائِبِ الدَّمعِ الهَتُونِ

And when the turtledove begins to moan,

In deepest woe for it my tearducts groan.

وَقَاكَ اللَّهُ هَلْ أبصَرْتَ صَبًّا

حزِينَ القَلْبِ مَقْرُوحَ الجُفُونِ

My God! but have you seen a love forlorn

With broken heart and tear-encrimsoned eyes

تُطَارِحُهُ الصَّبَابَةُ بالتَّصَابِي

وَتُسْلِمُهُ الأمَانِي لِلْمَنُونِ

Whom fickle Fortune ceaselessly does scorn

And hands him over unto Death’s sharp claws?

يَنُوحُ عَلَى الدّيَارِ وَسَاكِنِيهَا

إذَا ما النُّوقُ سَارَتْ بِالظُّعُونِ

He weeps for dwellings and the folk therein

When slow-paced camels journey with their freight;

وَيَكْتُمُ فِي حشَاهُ الوجدَ سِرًّا

فَتُظْهِرُهُ المَدَامِعُ في العُيُونِ

And in his bosom hides grief’s secret pain

Which tears then publicly incarnadine.