تَستَطيبُ الجُلوسَ في ظِلِّ أَيكٍ

رَفرَفَ الطَيرُ فَوقَهُ أَسرابا

Sitting in the shade of the branches is so pleasant,

Flocks of birds flutter over it.

يَتَغَنّى بَينَ الثِمارُ بِلَحنٍ

هَل سَمِعتَ القِيانَ غَنَّت طِرابا

Fruits sing a melody amidst the branches,

Did you hear the melody the lyre played?

مِن وَحيدَينِ يَسجَعانِ سُروراً

وَشَجِيِّينِ يَشدُوانِ اِنتِحابا

Two cypresses conversing happily,

And two weeping willows singing sadly,

وَجَرى الماءُ في الغَديرِ رَحيقا

وَجَرَت فَوقَهُ الزُهورُ حِبابا

The stream flows coolly in the pond

And flowers float upon it like bubbles.

جَنَّةٌ صاغَها الإِلهُ مِنَ السِح

رِ فَفيها صَبابَةُ السُعَداءِ

It’s a paradise that God made out of radiance,

In it is the joy of the fortunate.

نورُها مِن وَشائِعٍ مِن هَواءٍ

فَهيَ مِنهُ في رِقِّهِ القَمَراءِ

Its light is from the diffusion of the air,

So it is delicately silvery from it.

وَتَغَنّي الأَطيارِ فيها اِصطِحابٌ

فَصَباها مِن عَبقَرِيِّ الغِناءِ

And birds sing harmoniously in it,

He composed it with the genius of song.

مِن خَيالِ الأَشعارِ قَد صاغَها اللَ

هُ فَفيها رَوائِعُ الشُعَراءِ

He formed it from the imagination of poetry,

So in it are the masterpieces of poets.

سَتَرى اِفرَليزِ تَجري عَلى العُش

بِ وَتَهفو إِلى شِراعِ المَراكِب

You’ll see sea nymphs flowing on creeks,

Yearning toward the sails of ships.

وَنِفاتيسَ في ضَفائِرِها الصُف

رِ تُغني تَحتَ الثُلوجِ الأَشاهِب

You’ll see Naiads in their blonde braids

Singing beneath the white snows.

وَعَذارى اليَنبوعِ تَعزِفُ موسي

قى رَبيعٍ فَوقَ الضِفافِ الشَواعِب

And nymphs of the spring play music

Of spring above grassy banks.

سَوفَ تَلقى هُناكَ كُلَّ نَعيمٍ

وَتَقَّضي فيها جَميعَ المَآرِب

There you’ll find all delight

And be rid of all hardship.

أَمطَرَتكِ الرَحماتُ يا رَبَّةَ الشِع

رِ وَجادَتكِ فائِضاتُ اليَمينِ

The mercies rained on you, O queen of poetry,

And the blessings of God overflowed upon you.

كُنتِ سَلوايَ في الحَياةِ وَفي المَو

تِ أَراكِ عَلى دُجاهَ خَدَّيني

You were my solace in life and in death

I see you in the dreams of my slumber.

ما أَرى تَزمَعينَ بَعدُ رَحيلا

رَبَّةَ الشِعرَ وَيكِ لا تَترُكيني

I don’t want you to depart after your death,

O queen of poetry, do not leave me.

آيَةً تَذهَبينَ في ذلِكَ المَو

تِ وَلكِن هَيا خُذيني خُذيني

It would be a catastrophe if you left in death,

But come take me, take me!

شانُ نَفسي وَذاكَ فِيَّ غَرامٌ

أَن تُلاقي الخُطوبَ وَالأَهوالا

It is the disposition of my soul and that love in me

To meet calamities and tribulations.

اِقتَبَل أَنتَ ناعِماً وَتَفَكَه

في جِنانٍ طابَت جَنىً وَظِلالا

Meet smoothly and enjoy yourself

In gardens of pleasant fruits and shade.

سَوفَ آتيكَ بِالَّذي قَد رَآهُ

فَوقَ شَطِّ الأَعرافِ فَاِهدَأ بالا

I will show you what I saw

Above the banks of Al-A'raf, so be at peace.

إِنَّني سَوفَ أَلتَقي بِمَنايا

تَصرَعُ الريحَ تَنسِفُ الأَجالا

I will surely meet death,

It fells the wind, ruins lives.

آهٍ يا طائِفَ الخَيالِ تَعالَ

وَاِبقَ جَنبي وَلا تُغامِر وَحدَك

Oh my imagination, come,

And stay close, do not adventure alone.

كَيفَ تَلقى الرَدى وَأَنتَ ضَعيفٌ

وَسِهامُ المَنونِ يَقصُدنَ قَصدَك

How can you, weak, withstand fate

While the arrows of death seek you out?

وَنَدِيُّ الأَنوارِ يَلفَحُ وَجهَك

وَالنَسيمُ العَليلُ يَنسِلُ شَعرَك

The light of life glows on your face

And the fragrant breeze flows through your hair.

فَإِذا غالَكَ الفَناءُ بِسَهمِ

كَيفَ أَرضى الفِردَوسَ داراً بَعدَك

So when death overcomes you with its arrow,

How can I be pleased with Paradise without you?

قَرّ نَفساً فَإِنَّني لا أُبالي

بِشَعوبٍ وَلَستُ أَخشى الحِماما

Comfort a soul, for I do not care

For people nor fear the fate.

أَنا في روحِها الكَريهَةُ روحٌ

لا تُلاقي المَنونَ إِلّا سَلاما

Within its miserable spirit is a soul

That meets death with only peace.

أَنا كَالبارِقِ السَماوِيِّ نورٌ

لا يَني في مُضِيِّهِ يَتَرامى

I am like the heavenly lightning, a light

That does not diminish as it flashes far.

هُوَ يَبدو مِن حَيثُ يَحسِبُهُ النا

سُ تَعاطى مِنَ المَنِيَّةِ جاما

It appears from where people think

It takes from death a draught.

هاكَ فُلكي عَلى الدُجى يَتَراءى

مُستَضاءً كَالكَوكَبِ اللَماحِ

There is my ship on the sea glowing

Like a twinkling planet.

بَهرَ المَوتَ نورُهُ فَهُوَ أَعشى

يَتَحاشى مِن خَطفِهِ بِالراحِ

Its light dazzled death, so it is blinded

And avoids grasping it with the winds.

يومِضُ اللَيلُ بِالسَنا مُستَطاراً

في اِصفِرارٍ يَحكي اِصفِرارِ الأَقاحى

The night flickers goldenly with lightning,

With a yellowness that mimics the yellowing ears of grain.

صَنَعَتهُ إِلهَةُ الشِعرَ كيما

تَتَخَطّى بِهِ شِباكَ الرِياحِ

The goddess of poetry created it so that

She could transcend with it the nets of the winds.

فَاِصطَحِبي إِذنَ عَلَيهِ وَهَيّا

فَوقَ هَولِ الفَناءِ نَمضي سَوِيّا

So accompany me upon it, let's go,

Above the pit of mortality, traveling together.

فَلَقَد تَطَبّيكَ رُؤيا المَنايا

وَتَراها حُسناً إِلَيكَ صَفِيّا

For the specter of death has dressed up for you

And you see it as beautiful and purely friendly.

كُنتَ طِفلاً عَلى المَشيبِ لَعوباً

وَمَشيباً عَلى الصِبا كُنَتِيّا

You were a playful child in old age

And in youth seemed already aged.

تَستَمِدُّ الحَياةَ مِن نورِكِ البا

لي وَتَهفو إِلى سَناهُ شَجِيّا

You drew life from your shining light

And yearned for its radiance, rapturous.

لَم تَكُن غَيرَ طائِفٍ مِن ضِياءٍ

قَد طَواهُ بِهِ ظَلامٌ مُجنَح

You were but a ray of light

That darkness, winged, enveloped.

حَظُّهُ مِن حَياتِهِ ما رَآهُ

مِن تَهاويلِ جَوِّهِ وَهوَ يَسبَح

His share of his life that he saw

Was the delusions of his soul as it swam.

فَهُوَ مِن ذِكرِها الحَبيبِ مَطافٌ

لِرُؤى في ضِيائِهِ التِبرِ تَلمَح

So he ceaselessly roams in the memory

Of his beloved, glimpsing visions in her shining purity.

ذُكراتٌ يَرتادَهُنَّ لِقاءً

مُعقِباً في الخَيالِ بَعداً مُبَرِّح

Memories he revisits, a meeting

Continued in imagination, ever joyful.

وَنُهَيرُ مُرَقرَقٍ كَنَفَتهُ

غابَةٌ بَينَ دَغلِها يَنسابُ

A murmuring brook surrounded him.

A forest stretched over it, pouring between its branches.

بَسَطَت فَوقَ مائِهِ العَذبِ ظِلّاً

تَحتَ عَطفِ الأَمواجِ لا يَنجابُ

It cast a shade above his sweet water

Beneath the shelter of waves, unstirred.

حَجَبَتُهُ عَنِ العُيونِ طَويلاً

وَهَداها لَهُ الصَفاءُ المُطابُ

It concealed him from eyes for long

Until clarity guided them to its deliciousness.

سَحرَ العالَمينَ مِنهُ رَحيقٌ

فَإِذا هُم مِن صَفوِهِ شُرّابُ

From it spread a magic intoxicating the worlds,

So they became drunk on its essence.

تَطلُبُ السَعدَ وَهوَ مِنكَ قَريبٌ

تَدَّعي الحُزنَ وَهوَ مِنكَ بَعيدُ

You seek happiness though it is near you,

You claim sadness though it is far from you.

قَد طَوَيتَ الحَياةَ تَجهَدُ فيها

لَيتَ شِعري فَهَل جَدا المَجهودُ

You have spanned life, struggling in it -

I wonder, has the struggle been fruitless?

تَنفَحُ الناسَ مِن شَذى زَنبَقِ النو

دِ وَهُم في كَرى الحَياةِ رُقودُ

You perfume people with the scent of the narcissus of life

While they lie in the tomb of life, asleep.

قَد أَضَعتَ الحَياةَ كُلَّ ضَياعٍ

في حُطامٍ فانٍ هُوَ التَخليدُ

You have wasted life, however wasted -

In fleeting, vanishing ruins lies immortality.

يا خَيالي ماذا يَطوفُ بِقَلبي

يا خَيالي ماذا يُسارِقُ أُذُني

Oh my imagination, what circulates in my heart?

Oh my imagination, what steals my ear?

أَيُّ شَيءٍ أَحُسُّ أَيُّ دَبيبٍ

مُستَلِذٍ يُخَدِّرُ الروحَ مِنّي

What do I feel, what creeping

Is that blissful sensation that numbs my soul?

إِنَّهُ أَرغَنُ الفَناءِ يُغني

وَيُعيدُ الحَياةَ في مِثلِ لَحنِ

It is the most melodious oblivion, it sings

And brings life back in a similar melody.

جَهورِيُّ المَوجاتِ تَنفُخُ فيهِ

مُسمِعاتٌ يَفُضنَ مِن كُلِّ فَنِّ

Its waves are universal, blowing in it

Are ears overflowing with every art.

هاكَ لَحنَ الجَمالِ هاكَ صَداهُ

هاكَ لحنَ الهَوى وَلَحنَ التَفاني

And its echo raging in the ears.

هاكَ لَحنَ الأَسى وَلَحنَ التَأَسّي

هاكَ لَحنَ الآمالِ لَحنَ الأَماني

هاكَ لَحنَ الصِبا وَلَحنَ التَصابي

هاكَ لَحنَ المَشيبِ وَالحِرمانِ

هاكَ كُلَّ الحَياةِ مَرَّت كَلَحنٍ

وَصَداها يَعِجُّ في الآذانِ