أَرى الشَيءَ أَحياناً بِقَلبي مُعَلَّقاً

فَلا بُدَّ أَن يَبلى وَأَن يَتَمَزَّقا

I see things sometimes hanging in my heart

So they must wear out and tear apart

تَصَرَّفتُ أَطواراً أَرى كُلَّ عِبرَةٍ

وَكانَ الصِبا مِنّي جَديداً فَأَخلَقا

I went through phases, seeing every lesson

And youth was made anew in me, so it was shaped

وَكُلُّ اِمرِئٍ في سَعيِهِ الدَهرُ رُبَّما

تَفَتَّحَ أَحياناً لَهُ أَو تَغَلَّقا

And every person, in their lifelong quest

May find it open sometimes or closed

وَمَن يُحرَمِ التَوفيقَ لَم يُغنِ رَأيُهُ

وَحَسبُ امرِئٍ مِن رَأيِهِ أَن يُوَفَّقا

And he who lacks good fortune, his view avails naught

And it suffices one that his view avails

وَما زادَ شَيءٌ قَطُّ إِلّا لِنَقصِهِ

وَما اجتَمَعَ الإِلفانُ إِلّا تَفَرَّقا

And nothing ever grew unless it was diminished

And the two thousands never gathered unless they split

أَنا ابنُ الأُلى بادوا فَلِلمَوتِ نُسبَتي

فَيا عَجَباً ما زِلتُ بِالمَوتِ مُعرِقا

I am the son of those who passed, so my kinship is to death

So strange that I remained intimate with death

وَثِقتُ بِأَيّامي عَلى غَدَراتِها

وَلَم تُعطِني الأَيّامُ مِنهُنَّ مَوثِقا

And I trusted in my days despite their treachery

And the days did not give me from them a pact

أَلا حُقَّ لِلعاني بِما هُوَ صائِرٌ

إِلَيهِ وَشيكاً أَن يَبيتَ مُؤَرِّقا

Is it not the right of the suffering one for what is coming

to him soon that he pass the night wakeful

أَيا ذِكرَ مَن تَحتَ الثَرى مِن أَحِبَّتي

وَصَلتُ بِهِم عَهدي عَلى بُعدِ مُلتَقى

Oh memory of those under dust who are my loved ones

And I made a pact with them from a distant place of meeting

تَشَوَّقتُ فَارفَدَّت دُموعي وَلَم أَكُن

بِأَوَّلِ مَحزونٍ بَكى وَتَشَوَّقا

I yearned so my tears flowed and I was not

The first to weep from yearning