لِمَن طَلَلٌ بِوادي الرَملِ بالي

مَحَت آثارَهُ ريحُ الشَمالِ

For whom are the ruins in the valley of sand, worn away?

Its traces erased by the north wind.

وَقَفتُ بِهِ وَدَمعي مِن جُفوني

يَفيضُ عَلى مَغانيهِ الخَوالي

I stood there, with tears flowing from my eyelids

Streaming down onto its love songs.

أُسائِلُ عَن فَتاةِ بَني قُرادٍ

وَعَن أَترابِها ذاتِ الجَمالِ

I asked about the maiden of the Banu Qurad

And her beautiful companions.

وَكَيفَ يُجيبُني رَسمٌ مُحيلٌ

بَعيدٌ لا يُرَدُّ عَلى سُؤالي

How can a barren vestige respond to me,

Far, unable to answer my question?

إِذا صاحَ الغُرابُ بِهِ شَجاني

وَأَجرى أَدمُعي مِثلَ اللَآلي

When the raven lamented there woefully

And my tears flowed copiously like the droplets of night,

وَأَخبَرَني بِأَصنافِ الرَزايا

وَبِالهُجرانِ مِن بَعدِ الوِصالِ

And told me of all the kinds of misery,

And separation after union.

غُرابَ البَينِ ما لَكَ كُلَّ يَومٍ

تُعانِدُني وَقَد أَشغَلتَ بالي

O raven of estrangement, why do you cross me each day?

You’ve distracted me and occupied my thoughts.

كَأَنّي قَد ذَبَحتُ بِحَدِّ سَيفي

فِراخَكَ أَو قَنَصتُكَ بِالحِبالِ

As if I slaughtered your chicks with the edge of my sword,

Or hunted you down with ropes.

بِحَقِّ أَبيكَ داوي جُرحَ قَلبي

وَرَوِّح نارَ سِرّي بِالمَقالِ

For the sake of your father Daw’, heal the wound of my heart.

And relieve the heat of my secret with speech.

وَخَبِّر عَن عُبَيلَةَ أَينَ حَلَّت

وَما فَعَلَت بِها أَيدي اللَيالي

And tell me where did Ubayla settle?

And what did the hands of nights do to her?

فَقَلبي هائِمٌ في كُلِّ أَرضٍ

يُقَبِّلُ إِثرَ أَخفافِ الجِمالِ

For my heart roams in every land,

Kissing the trace of delicate steps.

وَجِسمي في جِبالِ الرَملِ مَلقىً

خَيالٌ يَرتَجي طَيفَ الخَيالِ

And my body lies discarded in the sand dunes,

A specter hoping for the apparition of a specter.

وَفي الوادي عَلى الأَغصانِ طَيرٌ

يَنوحُ وَنَوحُهُ في الجَوِّ عالي

And in the valley on the branches is a bird,

Crying woefully, its lament carried high.

فَقُلتُ لَهُ وَقَد أَبدى نَحيب

دَعِ الشَكوى فَحالُكَ غَيرُ حالي

So I said to it when it expressed its wailing:

“Stop your complaining, for your state is not my state.

أَنا دَمعي يَفيضُ وَأَنتَ باكٍ

بِلا دَمعٍ فَذاكَ بُكاءُ سالي

I am shedding tears while you are crying

Without tears – that is easy weeping”.

لَحى اللَهُ الفِراقَ وَلا رَعاهُ

فَكَم قَد شَكَّ قَلبي بِالنِبالِ

God has dissolved the separation and had no mercy on it,

How my heart has been split open by the arrows!

أُقاتِلُ كُلَّ جَبّارٍ عَنيدٍ

وَيَقتُلني الفِراقُ بِلا قِتالِ

I fight every stubborn tyrant

And separation kills me without a fight.