بلبلي مات حبيسا باكيا

لوعة الشعر على ذاك الحبيس

My nightingale died a weeping captive,

The agony of poetry mourns that captive.

فقد الصبح أناشيد الهوى

بعده و أنفرط العقد النفيس

The morning has lost the anthems of love,

After him, the precious necklace has scattered.

عطّلوا المجلس يا سمّاره

و أريقوا يا نداماي الكؤوس

Dismantle the gathering, O nighttime companions,

And pour out the cups, my drinking mates!

قد قضى اليوم جليسي و مضى

لا تطيب الخمر من غير جليس

Today my companion has passed and gone,

And wine brings no joy without a companion.

ما لأغصان الرّبى من بعده

تتهادى عاريات و تميس

Why do the branches of the hills, after him,

Sway and strut while utterly bare?

و عروس الزهر هل يضحكها

مشرق الشمس و قد مات العريس

And the bride of the flowers, will she be made to laugh

By the sunrise, when the groom has died?

ويل أمّ الظلم ثكلى دائما

فنيت طسم و لم تبق جديس

Woe to the mother of injustice, forever bereaved;

Tasam perished, and Jadis did not remain.

إنّما الدّنيا لمن كافحها

و مشى مستلئما وسط الخميس

The world belongs only to the one who wrestles with it,

And walks fully armed in the midst of the army.

بلبلي مات و لم تنج به

وصفه ((الرازي)) و لا طبّ ((الرئيس))

My nightingale died, and he was not saved by

The prescription of Al-Razi, nor the medicine of The President.

كفّنوه بأزاهير الرّبى

و اغسلوه بالمدام الخندريس

Shroud him with the blossoms of the hills,

And wash him with the finest aged wine.

و اصرفوا عنّي لميسا مالذي

أبقت الأحزان منّي للميس

And turn Lamis away from me, for what

Have sorrows left of me for Lamis?

عاش ما عاش طليقا بالربى

و الربى حسن و لون و عبير

He lived out his days roaming free in the hills,

And the hills are beauty, color, and fragrance.

يتغنّى بأناشيد الهوى

ناعما بالعمر و العمر قصير

Singing the anthems of love,

Enjoying a life of bliss, though life is short.

يرسل الأشعار في الأيك كما

أرسل الشعر حبيب و جرير

Sending forth poems in the thicket, just as

Habib and Jarir sent forth poetry.

فغدا اليوم أسيرا بعدما

كان حرا بين روض و غدير

Then today he became a captive, after

He had been free among the gardens and the stream.

إرحموه و اعطفوا ما شئتم

فأحقّ الناس بالعطف الأسير

Have mercy on him and show all the sympathy you wish,

For the most deserving of sympathy is the captive.

هو يبكي و أنا أبكي أسى

و كلانا ذو شجون و شعور

He weeps, and I weep in sorrow,

And both of us possess grief and feelings.

من لباب البرّ قد أطعمته

و لقد أرشفته الماء النمير

I fed him from the finest kernels of wheat,

And I gave him the purest, sweetest water to drink.

و كسوت القفص الرحب الذرى

بالقباطيّ الموشّى و الحرير

And I draped his spacious, high-peaked cage

With embroidered Coptic cloths and silk.

غير أنّ الطير فاضت روحه

بين حزن و شهيق و زفير

Yet the bird's soul overflowed and departed

Amidst grief, sobbing, and sighing.

بلبلي مات و لم تنجع به

وصفة الرازي و لا طبّ الرئيس

My nightingale died, and he was not helped by

The prescription of Al-Razi, nor the medicine of The President.

كفّنوه بأزاهير الرّبى

و اغسلوه بالمدام الخندريس

Shroud him with the blossoms of the hills,

And wash him with the finest aged wine.

و اصرفوا عني لميسا ما الذي

ابقت الأحزان مني للميس

And turn Lamis away from me, for what

Have sorrows left of me for Lamis?

أيّها الصيّاد لا تنصب له

شركا و اسمح بتقطيع الشرك

O hunter, do not set up for him

A snare, and allow the snare to be cut.

أيّها الصيّاد ما أعجزه

أيّها الصيّاد بل ما أقدرك

O hunter, how helpless he is!

O hunter, but how powerful you are!

دعه حرا و استمع تغريده

هلّة الصبح و قل : ما أشعرك

Leave him free, and listen to his song

At the break of dawn, and say: "What a poet you are!"

دعه حرا فلقد صوّره

خالق الكون الذي قد صوّرك

Leave him free, for he was fashioned by

The Creator of the universe, who fashioned you.

جارك الأدنى دعاه ظما

و هجير فتفيّا شجرك

He is your closest neighbor, driven by thirst

And midday heat, so he sought the shade of your trees.

أنت سكران و لم تشرب طلا

إنّما البغي الذي أسكرك

You are drunk, yet you have not drunk any wine;

It is only tyranny that has intoxicated you.

تعس الصيّاد من ذي قسوة

جرّب الدنيا طويلا و عرك

Perish the hunter, what a cruel man he is,

Having tested the world for so long and wrestled with it.

مذ رأى البلبل في غفلته

صوّب السهم إليه و برك

The moment he saw the nightingale in his unawareness,

He aimed his arrow at him and knelt.

فارتمى الطير صريعا و هوى

تاركا أفراخه فيما ترك

So the bird was struck down, slain, and fell,

Leaving his chicks behind among what he left.

بلبلي مات و لم تنجع به

وصفة الرازي و لا طبّ الرئيس

My nightingale died, and he was not helped by

The prescription of Al-Razi, nor the medicine of The President.

كفّنوه بأزاهير الرّبى

و اغسلوه بالمدام الخندريس

Shroud him with the blossoms of the hills,

And wash him with the finest aged wine.

و اصرفوا عنّي لميسا ما الذي

ابقت الأحزان منّي للميس

And turn Lamis away from me, for what

Have sorrows left of me for Lamis?