صَبِيَّ الحَيَاةِ الشَّقِيَّ العنيدْ

أَلا قدْ ضَلَلْتَ الضَّلالَ البعيدْ

O stubborn, hapless child of life

O wretched, obstinate child of Life,

You have surely strayed far astray

You have indeed wandered far astray.

أَتُنشدُ صوتَ الحَيَاةِ الرخيمَ

وأَنتَ سجينٌ بهذا الوجودْ

Do you wish for the gentle voice of life

Do you seek the melodious voice of Life,

While you are a prisoner in this existence?

While you remain a prisoner of this existence?

وتَطْلُبُ وَرْدَ الصَّبَاحِ المخ

ضَّبَ مِنْ كفِّ حَقْلٍ حَصِيدْ

You seek the rose of dawn

And you seek the rose of morning, imbued

Plucked from the palm of a barren field

With dye from the palm of a reaped field?

إلى المَوْتِ إنْ شِئْتَ هَوْنَ الحي

اة فَخَلْفَ ظلامِ الرَّدى مَا تُرِيدْ

If you wish for the gentleness of life

To Death, if you desire the comfort of Life,

Behind the darkness of misery, there is nothing you desire

For behind the darkness of doom lies what you seek.

إلى المَوْتِ يا ابنَ الحَيَاةِ التعيسَ

ففي الموتِ صَوْتُ الحَيَاةِ الرخيمْ

To death, O son of the miserable life

To Death, O wretched son of Life,

For in death is the gentle voice of life

For in Death lies the melodious voice of Life.

إلى المَوْتِ إن عَذَّبَتْكَ الدُّهورُ

ففي الموتِ قَلْبُ الدُّهورِ الرَّحيمْ

To death, if time has tormented you

To Death, if the ages have tormented you,

For in death is the merciful heart of time

For in Death is the merciful heart of the ages.

إلى المَوْتِ فالموتُ رُوحٌ جميلٌ

يُرَفْرِفُ مِنْ فوقِ تِلْكَ الغُيومْ

To death, for death is a beautiful soul

To Death, for Death is a beautiful spirit,

That flutters above those clouds

Fluttering high above those drifting clouds,

فَرُوحاً بفَجْرِ الخُلُودِ البهيجِ

وما حَوْلَهُ مِنْ بَنَاتِ النُّجومْ

A soul in the radiant dawn of eternity

Rejoicing in the dawn of a blissful eternity,

And what surrounds it of the stars

And all the starry daughters surrounding it.

إلى المَوْتِ فالموتُ جامٌ رَوِيٌّ

لمنْ أَظْمَأَتْهُ سُمُومُ الفَلاةْ

To death, for death is a filling cup

To Death, for Death is a quenching chalice,

For one whom the desert's poisons have parched

For him parched by the poisons of the wilderness.

ولَسْتَ براوٍ إِذا مَا ظَمِئْتَ

من المنبعِ العذْبِ قبلَ المَمَاتْ

And you will not be sated if you thirst

And never shall you quench your thirst,

From the sweet spring before death

From the sweet spring, until the moment of death.

فما الدَّمعُ إلاَّ شرابُ الدُّهورِ

وما الحزنُ إلاَّ غِذَاءُ الحَيَاةْ

For what are tears but the drink of time

For tears are but the potion of the ages,

And what is grief but the food of life

And sorrow is nothing but the sustenance of Life.

إلى المَوْتِ فالموتُ مهدٌ وَثيرٌ

تَنَامُ بأَحضانهِ الكَائناتْ

To death, for death is a soft, plentiful bed

To Death, for Death is a soft, plush cradle,

In which all creatures sleep

In whose embrace all creatures softly sleep.

إلى المَوْتِ إن حاصَرَتْكَ الخُطوبُ

وسَدَّتْ عليكَ سَبيلَ السَّلامْ

To death, if adversities have besieged you

To Death, if calamities have besieged you,

And blocked from you the path of peace

And barred against you every path of peace.

ففي عالمِ الموتِ تَنْضُو الحَيَاةُ

رِداءَ الأَسى وقِنَاعَ الظَّلامْ

For in the world of death, life dawns

For in the realm of Death, Life casts aside

Free of the garb of sorrow and the mask of darkness

Its robe of sorrow and its mask of gloom,

وتبدو كما خُلِقَتْ غَضَّةً

يَفيضُ على وَجْهِها الإِبْتِسامْ

And appears as it was created, fresh

And it appears as first created, fresh and tender,

With a smile pouring across its face

With a smile overflowing upon its face.

تُعيدُ عليها ظِلالَ الخُلودِ

وتهفو عليها قُلُوبُ الأَنامْ

The shadows of eternity fall upon it

The shadows of Eternity return to it,

And people's hearts flutter over it

And the hearts of all mankind yearn toward it.

إلى المَوْتِ لا تَخْشَ أعماقه

ففيها ضياءُ السَّماءِ الوَديعْ

To death, fear not its depths

To Death! Do not fear its hidden depths,

For in them is the gentle light of heaven

For within them lies the gentle light of Heaven,

وفيها تَمِيسُ عذارى السَّماءِ

عواريَ يُنْشِدْنَ لحناً بَديعْ

And in them, heaven's virgins gather

And therein sway the maidens of the sky,

Naked, singing a wonderful melody

Unveiled, chanting a wondrous melody.

وفي رَاحِهنَّ غُصُونُ النَّخيلِ

يُحَرِّكْنَها في فَضَاءٍ يَضُوعْ

And in their dancing, the palm branches

And in their palms they hold the branches of the palm,

They stir them in ample space

Waving them through a space that wafts with scent,

تضيءُ بهِ بَسَمَاتُ القُلُوبِ

وتخبو بهِ حَسَراتُ الدُّموعْ

Lighting with it the smiles of hearts

Wherein the smiles of hearts shine radiant,

And with it the regrets of tears vanish

And the anguish of our tears fades away.

هو الموتُ طيفُ الخلودِ الجميلُ

ونِصْفُ الحَيَاةِ الَّذي لا يَنُوحْ

It is death, the beautiful specter of eternity

Death is the beautiful specter of Eternity,

And half of life that does not lament

And the half of Life that does not weep or wail.

هنالكَ خلفَ الفضاءِ البعيدِ

يَعيشُ المنونُ القَوِيُّ الصَّبُوحْ

There, behind distant space

There, beyond the distant reaches of space,

Lives the strong, vigilant deceased

Lives Death, the mighty and the fair.

يَضُمُّ القُلُوبَ إلى صَدْرِهِ

ليأسوَ مَا مَضَّها مِنْ جُروحْ

He gathers hearts to his chest

He gathers the weary hearts unto his breast,

To lament what they have suffered of wounds

To heal the stinging wounds that plagued them so,

ويبعثَ فيها رَبيعَ الحَيَاةِ

ويُبْهِجُها بالصَّباحِ الفَرُوحْ

And inspires in them the spring of life

And awakens within them the Spring of Life,

And delights them with the joyous morn

And gladdens them with a morning full of joy.