مالي وَما لِلرَشَءِ الأَغيَدِ

خَلَت مِنَ الحُب وَمِنهُ يَدي

What is it to me, what is it to the graceful gazelle,

What have I to do with the graceful, soft-necked gazelle?

My hands are empty of love, and of it.

My hand is now empty of love, and empty of him.

نَأى فَما في قُربِهِ مَطمَعٌ

لا تَصِلُ الكَفُّ إِلى الفَرقَدِ

It kept its distance, so I have no hopes of closeness,

He has drifted far; there is no hope of drawing near,

The palm cannot reach the Pleiades.

For the human hand cannot reach the highest star.

قَطَعتُ بِاليَأسِ حِوطَ المُنى

وَقُلتُ لِلسَلوانِ لا تَبعُدِ

I cut, with despair, the ropes of wishes,

With despair, I have severed the cords of desire,

And said to yearning: “Do not wander!”

And I said to oblivion: 'Do not remain far away.'

وَصِرتُ لا يُطريني مُنشِدٌ

وَلا أَنا أَصبو إِلى مُنشِدِ

So I became - no singer delights me,

I have become one whom no singer moves to delight,

Nor do I incline towards any singer.

Nor do I find myself yearning for any song.

أَسيرُ في الرَوضَةِ عِندَ الضُحى

حَيرانَ كَالمُدلِجِ في فَدفَدِ

I roam in the meadow at dawn,

I walk through the garden in the brightness of morning,

Perplexed, like one lost in the wilderness.

Bewildered, like a night-traveler lost in a barren waste.

أَمامِيَ الماء وَلا أَرتَوي

وَحَولِيَ النور وَلا أَهتَدي

Before me is water, and I am not sated,

Water flows before me, yet I remain unquenched,

And around me is light, and I am not guided.

And light surrounds me, yet I cannot find my way.

يا لَيتَ شِعرتي أَينَ عَهدُ الصِبا

وَأَينَ أَحلامُ الفَتى الأَمرَدِ

Oh, would that I knew where is the era of youth,

Oh, if I only knew where the days of youth have gone,

And where are the dreams of the eternal youth!

And where are the dreams of the innocence of boyhood?

وَلّى وَوَلَّت كَخَيالِ الكَرى

يَلوحُ في الذُهن وَلَم يوجَدِ

It passed like a mirage that appears and disappears,

He has turned away, and they have passed like a phantom of slumber,

Glimpsed in the mind, but not found.

That looms in the mind but holds no existence.

فَيا قُلوبَ الكاشِحينَ اِسكُني

وَيا عُيونَ الحاسِدينَ اِرقُدي

So calm down, you riled hearts!

So, O hearts of those who secretly hate, be still,

And sleep, you envious eyes!

And O eyes of the envious, you may now sleep.

وَيا شِياهاً تَتَّقي صَولَتي

قَلَّمتُ أَظفارِيَ فَاِستَأسِدي

And you who fear my power,

And O sheep that once cowered before my assault,

I have trimmed my claws, so be at ease!

I have clipped my own claws, so now you may play the lion.

يا سائِلي عَن أَمسِ كَيفَ اِنقَضى

دَعه وَسَلني يا أَخي عَن غَدِ

O you who ask about yesterday, how it passed,

O you who ask me about yesterday and how it ended,

Leave it be, and ask me, my brother, about tomorrow!

Let it be, and ask me instead, my brother, about tomorrow.

أَروَحُ لِلنَفس وَأَهنا لَها

أَن تَحسُبَ الماضِيَ لَم يولَدِ

I comfort my soul, and gently tell it,

For it brings greater rest and peace to the soul

To consider the past as if never born.

To deem that the past was never even born.