أَبُثُّكَ وَجدي يا حَمامُ وَأودِعُ

فَإِنَّكَ دونَ الطَيرِ لِلسِرِّ مَوضِعُ

I confide my love to you, O dove, and entrust

For you are, among birds, a place for secrets

وَأَنتَ مُعينُ العاشِقينَ عَلى الهَوى

تَإِنُّ فَنُصغي أَو تَحِنُّ فَنَسمَعُ

And you are a helper to lovers in passion

You coo, so we listen, or you moan, and we hear

أَراكَ يَمانِيّاً وَمِصرُ خَميلَتي

كِلانا غَريبٌ نازِحُ الدارِ موجَعُ

I see you coming from Yemen, while Egypt is my desire

We are both strangers, displaced from home and hurt

هُما اِثنانِ دانٍ في التَغَرُّبِ آمِنٌ

وَناءٍ عَلى قُربِ الدِيارِ مُروَعُ

Both weak in exile, yet safe

And crying for the nearness of home

وَمِن عَجَبِ الأَشياءِ أَبكي وَأَشتَكي

وَأَنتَ تُغَنّي في الغُصونِ وَتَسجَعُ

Of the wonders is that I weep and complain

While you sing in the branches rhyming

لَعَلَّكَ تُخفي الوَجدَ أَو تَكتُمُ الجَوى

فَقَد تُمسِكُ العَينانِ وَالقَلبُ يَدمَعُ

Perhaps you hide tenderness or conceal passion

So the eyes may hold back while the heart weeps

شَجاكَ صِغارٌ كَالجُمانِ وَمَوطِنٌ

نَدٍ مِثلَ أَيّامِ الحَداثَةِ مُمرَعُ

Your small nests, like little cups, and a homeland

Young, like the days of youth, flourishing

إِذا كانَ في الآجالِ طولٌ وَفُسحَةٌ

فَما البَينُ إِلّا حادِثٌ مُتَوَقَّعُ

If there is length and space in destinies

Separation is but an expected accident

وَما الأَهلُ وَالأَحبابُ إِلّا لَآلِئٌ

تُفَرِّقُها الأَيّامُ وَالسِمطُ يَجمَعُ

And family and loved ones are but pearls

Scattered by days and collected by fate

أَمُنكِرَتي قَلبي دَليلٌ وَشاهِدي

فَلا تُنكِريهِ فَهوَ عِندَكَ مودَعُ

Is not my heart evidence to you, my witness?

So do not deny him, for he is deposited with you

أَسيرُكِ لَو يُفدى فَدَتهُ بِجَمعِها

جَوانِحُ في شَوقٍ إِلَيهِ وَأَضلُعُ

Your captive, if ransomed, would pay it with all

His limbs yearning for you and my ribs

رَماهُ إِلَيكِ الدَهرُ في حالِقِ الهَوى

يُذالُ عَلى سَفحِ الهَوانِ وَيوضَعُ

Fate has cast him to you in the halo of passion

Debased on the slope of disgrace and laid down

وَمِن عَجَبٍ يَأسى إِذا قُلتُ مُتعَبٌ

وَيَطرَبُ إِن قُلتُ الأَسيرُ المُمَنَّعُ

And of wonder he grieves when I say "wearied"

And trembles if I say "the forbidden captive"

لَقيتِ عَليماً بِالغَواني وَإِنَّما

هُوَ القَلبُ كَالإِنسانِ يُغرى وَيُخدَعُ

You have found one knowing of love songs, though

The heart is like man, tempted and deceived

وَأَعلَمُ أَنَّ الغَدرَ في الناسِ شائِعٌ

وَأَنَّ خَليلَ الغانِياتِ مُضَيَّعُ

And I know that deceit is common among people

And the companion of singers is lost

وَأَنَّ نِزاعَ الرُشدِ وَالغَيِّ حالَةٌ

تَجيءُ بِأَحلامِ الرِجالِ وَتَرجِعُ

And that the conflict of sanity and madness is a state

That comes with men's dreams and returns

وَأَنَّ أَمانِيَّ النُفوسِ قَواتِلٌ

وَكَثرَتُها مِن كَثرَةِ الزَهرِ أَصرَعُ

And that the desires of souls are deadly

And their multitude, from the multitude of flowers, withers

وَأَنَّ دُعاةَ الخَيرِ وَالحَقِّ حَربُهُم

زَمانٌ بِهِم مِن عَهدِ سُقراطَ مولَعُ

And that the advocates of good and truth, their war

Is with a time burning for them since Socrates