نَبْكِي لِفَقْدِ سَنَاكَ يَا رَمَضَانُ

إِذْ حَفَّنَا لِفِرَاقِهِ أَشْجَانُ

We weep for your absence, O Ramadan

We weep for the loss of your radiance, O Ramadan,

As your separation overwhelms us with sorrows

As sorrows surround us upon its departure.

نَبْكِي لِبَيْنِ حُلاَكَ يَا زَيْنَ الْحُلَى

إِنَّ الْبُكَاءَ لِبَيْنِهَا إِيمَانُ

We cry for your beautiful appearance, O epitome of beauty

We weep for the parting from your beauty, O fairest of adornments,

Indeed, crying for it is a sign of faith

For truly, weeping over their parting is a sign of faith.

نَبْكِي وَحُقَّ لَنَا وَقَلَّ لَهَا الْبُكَا

لَوْ كَانَ يُسْعِدُنَا جَدىً هَتَّانُ

We weep, and rightly so, while few tears have been shed for it

We weep, as is our right, though weeping is too little for it,

If only tears could bring it back in earnest

Even if a copious, pouring rain were to aid our tears.

نَبْكِي الصِّيَامَ وَفَضْلَهُ وَثَوَابَهُ

وَيُعِينُنَا التَّسْبِيحُ وَالْقُرْآنُ

We mourn the fasting and its virtues and rewards

We weep for the fasting, its virtue, and its reward,

As glorifying God and the Quran give us strength

While glorifications of God and the Quran come to our aid.

نَبْكِي التَّشَبُّهَ بِالْمَلاَئِكِ فِيكَ يا

أَزْكَى الشُّهُورِكَمَا بَكَتْ صِبْيَانُ

We weep to emulate the angels through you, O the most virtuous

We weep for our resemblance to the angels during you, O

As children wept for your times

Purest of months, weeping just as children do.

نَبْكِي الرِّيَاضَةَ وَالنَّشَاطَ وَفَرْحَةَ الْ

إِفْطَارِ إِنْ يَنْبِضْ لَهُ شَرْيَانُ

We mourn the spiritual and physical vigor and the joy of

We weep for the spiritual discipline, the vigor, and the joy of

Breaking fast, if the heart still pulses for it

Breaking the fast, as long as a single vein throbs for it.

نَبْكِي وَنُبْكِي لِلتَّرَاوِيحِ التيِ

هِيَ لِلْقُلُوبِ الَّلتْ زَكَتْ رَيْحَانُ

We weep and mourn for the Tarawih prayer

We weep and bring others to tears for the Tarawih prayers, which

Which purifies hearts like sweet basil

Are sweet basil to the hearts that have been purified.

وَقِيَامَنَا سَحَراً وَقَدْ وَشَتِ الرُّبَى

أَسْرَارَهَا فَوَشَى بِهَا النَّسَمَانُ

And our pre-dawn prayer when the dew has diffused

And for our standing in prayer at dawn, while the hills have disclosed

Its secrets through the breeze

Their secrets, spread afar by the gentle breezes.

وَالشُّهْبُ كَالَأصْدَافِ فِي بحْرِ الدُّجَى

يَرْقَى لَهَا غُوَّاصُهَا الْإِنْسَانُ

The meteors are like seashells in the sea of night’s gloom

And the shooting stars are like seashells in the sea of darkness,

Which the human diver rises to collect

To which the human diver ascends.

أَوْ كَالَّلآلِئِ غَالَهَا عُبْدَانُ

يَبْهُو السَّوَادُ بِهِنَّ وَالَّلمَعَانُ

Or like pearls which the worshipers covet

Or like pearls gathered by devoted worshippers,

Illuminating the darkness with their shine

Through which the blackness and the gleam radiate with beauty.

أوْ كَالْكُؤُوسِ تُدِيرُهَا إِخْوَانُ

أَوْ كَالأَزَاهِرِ إِذْ زَهَا الْبُسْتَانُ

Or like cups passed around by brothers

Or like cups being passed around by brothers,

Or like flowers when the garden is in full bloom

Or like blossoms when the garden is in full bloom,

أَوْ كَالْجِمَارِ يَحُفُّهُنَّ دُخَّانُ

أَوْ كَالْمُنَى قَدْ حَاطَهُ حِرْمَانُ

Or like embers surrounded by smoke

Or like glowing embers surrounded by smoke,

Or like desires confined by deprivation

Or like hopes encircled by deprivation.

نَبْكِِيكَ حَتَّى تَمْرَهَ الأَجْفَانُ

يَا حِلْيَةَ الأَزْمَانِ يَا رَمَضَانُ

We will weep for you until our eyelids wither

We weep for you until our eyelids grow sore,

O jewel of eras, O Ramadan

O ornament of the ages, O Ramadan.

لِمْ لاَ وَفِيكَ تَنَزَّلَ الْقُرْآنُ

لِمْ لاَ وَفِيكَ تَعَاظَمَ الإِحْسَانُ

Why not, when the Quran was revealed in you?

And why not, when in you the Quran was revealed?

Why not, when generosity proliferated in you?

And why not, when in you benevolence was magnified?

لِمْ لاَ وَفِيكَ تَصَفَّدَ الشَّيْطَانُ

لِمْ لاَ وَفِيكَ تَصَعَّدَ الْعُدْوَانُ

Why not, when Satan was shackled in you?

And why not, when in you the devil was shackled?

Why not, when aggression was subdued in you?

And why not, when in you hostility dissipated?

لِمْ لاَ وَفِيكَ تَجَاوَزَ الرَّحْمَانُ

عَمَّنْْ جَنَى وَتَضَاعَفَ الْغُفْرَانُ

Why not, when the Most Merciful forgave in you?

And why not, when in you the Most Merciful overlooked

Whom He has blessed and multiplied forgiveness for

The one who sinned, and forgiveness was multiplied?

فَلَقَدْ بَكَاكَ الدِّينُ حَقَّ بُكَائِهِ

لِمْ لاَ وَأَنْتَ لِعَيْنِهِ إِنْسَانُ

Indeed, faith has rightly wept for you

For indeed, Religion has wept for you with its rightful weeping,

Why not, when you are its human eye?

And why not, when you are the very pupil of its eye?