هَجَرَ الوِسادَ فَباتَ غَيرَ مُوَسَّدِ
وَأَذابَهُ وِردُ الحِمامِ المورَدِ
He abandoned his pillow, so he slept without one
And the rose's dew melted him
شَرَعَ المَكارِهَ مَن تَوَجَّهَ غادِياً
يا لَلرِجالِ لِما يَروحُ وَيَغتَدي
Whoever sets out seeking glory
Will encounter hardships, oh what men must endure!
وَبَياضِ يَومٍ قَد سَحَبتُ وَلَيلَةٍ
قَد بِتُّها غَرَضَ الهُمومِ العُوَّدِ
I have pulled along a white day and a night
I stayed up with worries that kept returning
وَكَأَنَّ هَمّي وَالظَلامَ تَواعَدا
عِندي فَكُلٌّ قَد وَفا بِالمَوعِدِ
It's as though my worries and the darkness made a tryst
To meet me, and each kept the appointment
جاشَت جُنودُهُما عَلَيَّ فَلَم أَنَم
وَبَدا وَقَد بَلَغَت بِغَيرِ تَبَدُّدِ
Their armies attacked me, so I did not sleep
And morning came with worries that did not diminish
إِنَّ الَّتي سَبَعَت عَدُوَّهُ أَصبَحَت
عَمّا لَقيتَ كَغائِبٍ لَم يَشهَدِ
She who was his beloved has become
To him like one absent who did not attend
مَلَأَت حَشاكَ وَرُبَّما مَلَأَ الحَشا
وَجدٌ بِحَمدَةَ مِثلُهُ لَم يوجَدِ
She filled your yearning, and maybe filled yearning itself
None like Hamda has been found to fill it
إِذ أَنتَ مُشتَغِلُ الفُؤادِ بِذِكرِها
صَبٌّ وَإِذ هِيَ مِن بَناتِ المَسجِدِ
While you were preoccupied remembering her
My passion flowed constantly like aStream from the mosques
لَو أَنَّ أَرمَدَ لا يُجَلّى نَظرَةً
تَبدو لَهُ كانَت شِفاءَ الأَرمَدِ
If one with poor eyesight could gain
A glimpse of her, she would cure blindness
أَيّامَ يَحسُدُها الثَنا جاراتُها
وَسطَ النِساءِ وَمِثلُها فَليُحسَدِ
She has days that her neighbors envy
Among women, and the like of her is to be envied
خاهُ لا في الَّتي
تَصِلُ النِساءَ لَهُ هَوى المُتَأَوِّدِ
I feared loving you and did not hide it,
And death hurried in fate’s observatory
شَفَق مِن هَواكِ وَلَم أَخَف
عَجلَ المَنايا وَالرَدى في المَرصَدِ
The earth will treasure you gently
Like an affectionate branch of wild plum
يَخزُنُكِ الثَرى
رَيّا كَغُصنِ البانَةِ المُتَأَوِّدِ
Do not go far, and where is one I parted from?
Who spent his night like hers, not having gone far
لا تَبعَدَنَّ وَأَينَ مَن فارَقتُهُ
أَمسى بِمِثلِ سَبيلِها لَم يَبعَدِ
She who was your love has now become
Beneath the ground, wrapped in dust
إِنَّ الَّتي كانَت هَواكَ فَأَصبَحَت
تَحتَ السَفائِفِ في الثَرى المُتَلَبِّدِ
She cannot hear you if you greet her
With peace - such is the state of the dead
لَيسَت بِسامِعَةٍ وَإِن نادَيتَها
مِنكَ السَلامَ كَذَلِكَ المَيتُ الرَدي
Oh Humayda, if you would cure affliction, we
Would ransom ourselves with anything like your stream
أَحُمَيدَ إِن تَرِدِ المُصابَ فَإِنَّنا
رَهنُ النُفوسِ بِمِثلِ ذاكَ المَورِدِ
And all people, though distant,
Are led about by one bridle
وَالناسُ كُلُّهُمُ وَإِن بَعُدَ المَدى
عَنَقٌ تَتابَعَ كُلُّهُم في مِقوَدِ
After you, I have become like a bird with a broken wing
Crying because it had no luck
أَصبَحتُ بَعدَكَ كَالمُصابِ جَناحُهُ
يَبكي لِجانِبِهِ إِذا لَم يَسعَدِ
Harran left his friend and time
Took him back to the darkness of his birthplace
حَرّانَ فارَقَ إِلفَهُ وَنَأى بِهِ
دَهرٌ يَعودُ عَلى سَوادِ المَوجِدِ
What consoles my heart after you is that
Today or tomorrow, Humayda, I will be your neighbor
مِمّا يُعَزّي القَلبَ بَعدَكِ أَنَّني
في اليَومِ جارُكِ يا حُمَيدَةُ أَو غَدِ
Time has run out, but from Humayda came
Sorrows within my breast that did not run out
نَفِدَ الزَمانُ وَمِن حُمَيدَةَ لَوعَةٌ
بَينَ الجَوانِحِ حَرُّها لَم يَنفَدِ
The conscience shows through it
With a color like the hidden depths of black ravens
يُبدي الضَميرَ إِذا عَرَفتَ لَهُ بِهِ
لَوناً كَخافِيَةِ الغُرابِ الأَسوَدِ
A white woman modesty clothed in chastity
She preferred concealment; when alone she did not veil
بَيضاءُ لَبَّسَها الحَياءُ عَفافَهُ
فَضلَ القِناعِ إِذا خَلَت لَم توصَدِ
So she came to you in the narrowness of the tomb, O compressed one
In that narrow tomb!
فَأَتَتكَ في جَدَثِ الضَريحَةِ خُلَّةٌ
يا خُلَّةً لَكِ في الضَريحِ المُلحَدِ
Now every morning I must endure what cannot be
Borne, having been overcome by long unweddedness and age
فَالآنَ أَغدو ما يَكونُ بِغَيرِهِ
غَلَبَت وَطولُ صَبابَةٍ وَتَبَلُّدِ
I used to mention Ubayda Basah
And refrain from loose talk or action
قَد كُنتُ أَذكُرُ مِن عُبَيدَةَ بَصَّةً
وَأَعِفُّ عَن شَغَبِ اللِسانِ وَفي اليَدِ
And I saw it as unlawful that anyone
Could take her place with me in affection and love
وَأَرى حَراماً أَن يَحِلَّ مَحَلَّها
مِنّي اِمرُؤٌ بِصَداقَةٍ وَتَوَدُّدِ
And I say the day after they carried away her bier
God pray over you, mother of Muhammad
وَلَقَد أَقولُ غَداةَ يَنأى نَعشُها
صَلّى الإِلَهُ عَلَيكِ أُمَّ مُحَمَّدِ
For you left behind a great grieving woman
And a brother whose eyes did not freeze over
فَلَقَد تَرَكتِ كَبيرَةً مَحزونَةً
وَأَخا إِخاءٍ عَينُهُ لَم تَجمُدِ
It cooled the liver of the bereft, and became
Windows from me through which her heat did not cool
بَرَدَت عَلى كَبِدِ المُصابِ وَأَصبَحَت
مِنّي نَوافِذُ حَرِّها لَم تَبرُدِ
