قِفا خَبِّراني أَيُّها الرَّجُلانِ
عَنِ النَومِ إِنَّ الهَجرَ عَنهُ نَهاني
Stop and tell me, you two men,
O two men, stop and tell me
About sleep, for separation has kept me from it.
About sleep - separation from it has forbidden me
وَكَيفَ يَكونُ النَومُ أَم كَيفَ طَعمُهُ
صِفا النَومَ لي إِن كُنتُما تَصِفانِ
And what is sleep like, or how does it taste?
How can sleep be? Or what is its taste?
Describe sleep to me, if you two can describe it.
Describe sleep to me, if you two can describe
فَإِنّي لَمُشتاقٌ إِلى النَومِ فَاِعلَما
وَلا عَهدَ لي بِالنَومِ مُنذُ زَمانِ
For I truly long for sleep, so know this, you two,
For I long for sleep, so know
And I have not known sleep for a long time.
I've not known sleep for an age
وَإِنّي لَظَمآنٌ إِلى بَردِ أَعيُنٍ
جَرَت بِحَواشي بُقعَةِ الزَبَداني
And I truly thirst for the coolness of springs
And I thirst for the coolness of eyes
That flowed along the edges of the al-Zabadani region.
That flowed down the edges of eyelids
عُيونٌ جَرَت بِالسَفحِ حَتّى تَدافَعَت
تَدافُعَ خَيلٍ أُرسِلَت لِرِهانِ
Springs flowed along the slope until they jostled one another,
Eyes that flowed down the slopes until they met
Jostling like horses let loose to race.
Like horses let loose for a race
فَتِلكَ مِياهٌ لَو شَرِبتُ زُلالَها
وَبي كُلُّ داءٍ قاتِلٍ لَشَفاني
So those waters, if I drank their pure draught,
Those are waters - if I drank their freshness
Would heal me, even were I afflicted with every deadly disease.
Every killing disease in me would be cured
أَلا حَبَّذا عَيشٌ هَنيءٌ قَطَعتُهُ
بِظِلِّكُما يا أَيُّها الجَبَلانِ
Ah, how lovely the pleasant life I spent
If only a life, serene, I'd severed
In your shade, O you two mountains!
In your shadow, O you two mountains
تَناوَحتُما كَالفَرقَدَينِ فَأَشرَفَت
بِسَفحَيكُما لِلناسِ خَيرُ مَغانِ
You faced each other like the two Farqad stars, and there rose
You two wrestled like baby horses, and overlooked
Upon your two slopes the finest dwellings for people.
With your slopes, the best of livelihoods for people
عُيونُكُما قَرَّت وَعَيني سَخينَةٌ
وَهَل يَستَوي قاصي الدِيارِ وَداني
Your springs are cool, while my eye is hot with grief;
Your eyes are sated, while mine are burning
And can one far from home be like one near it?
Can one far from home be like one nearby?
أَهَذا وَما كابَدتُما غُربَةَ النَوى
فَكَيفَ الغَريبُ الدارِ مُنذُ زَمانِ
Is this so, though you two have not endured the loneliness of separation?
Is this despite what you've endured of the exile of dwellings?
Then how fares one long exiled from home?
So how must one exiled from home since ages feel?
Sol 6.1