ما لي أَرى النَومَ عَن عَينَيَّ قَد نَفَرا

أَأَنتَ عَلمتَ طَرفي بَعدَكَ السَهَرا

Why do I see sleep refusing my eyes

Did you know about my wakefulness after you

وَما لِذِكرِكَ يَصلى النارَ في كَبِدي

أَهَكَذا كُلُّ صَبٍّ أَلفَهُ ذكرا

And why does the memory of you kindle fire in my liver

Is this how every young lover feels about the beloved's memory

يا غائِباً كانَ جَهي لا أُفارِقُه

فَما قَدَرتُ عَلى أَن أَدفَعَ القَدَرا

O absent one, my passion for you does not diminish

And I could not avert what was destined

سَقياً لِأيامِنا ما كانَ أَطيَبَها

وَلَّت وَلَم أَقضِ مِن لِذّاتِها وَطَرا

A drink for our days, however sweet they were

They are gone and I could not fulfill the pleasures in them

هَبوا المَنامَ لِعَيني رُبَّما غَلِطَت

بِرَقدَةٍ فَرَأَت مِنكُم خَيالَ كَرا

Grant sleep to my eyes, perhaps they erred

In slumber and saw an illusion of you

وَاِستَعطِفوا الريحَ عَلَّ الريح حامِلَة

إِلى المُتَيَّمِ مِن أَكنافِكُم خَبَرا

And entreat the wind, maybe the wind will carry

To the bereaved, news from your dwellings

أَحبابَنا لَم أَعِش واللَهِ بَعدَكُم

صَبراً وَرُبَّ الرَدى خَيرٌ لِمَن صَبَرا

O beloveds, by God, I did not live after you

With patience, and returning is best for the patient

أَشتاقُكُم شَوقَ مُشتاقٍ إِلى وَطَنٍ

هاجَت بَلابِلَهُ ريحُ الصَبا سَحَرا

I yearn for you with the yearning of a yearner toward a homeland

Whose nightingales were stirred by the morning breeze

يَشكوكُمُ البَينَ صَبٌّ قل ناصِرُهُ

وَلِلفِراقِ خُطوبٌ تَصدَعُ الحَجَرا

A bereaved lover complains of separation to you

And separation has calamities that crack even rocks