أَنا إِن أَغمَضَ الحَمامُ جُفوني

وَدَوى صَوتُ مَصرَعي في المَدينَه

If the doves close my eyes

If death should close my eyelids,

And the sound of my death echoes in the city

And the news of my demise echoes through the city,

وَتَمَشّى في الأَرضِ داراً فَداراً

فَسَمِعتِ دَوِيَّهُ وَرَنينَه

And roams the land from house to house

Traveling across the land from house to house,

If you hear its echo and murmur

So that you hear its resonance and echo,

لا تَصيحي واحَسرَتاهُ لِأَلّا

يُدرِكُ السامِعون ما تُضمِرينَه

Do not wail “alas!” lest

Do not cry out 'Alas!' lest

The listeners grasp what you conceal

The listeners discover what you conceal.

وَإِذا زُرتِني وَأَبصَرتِ وَجهي

قَد مَحا المَوتُ شَكَّهُ وَقينَه

And if you visit me and see my face

And when you visit me and look upon my face,

Which death has erased its beauty and vigor

From which death has erased all doubt and certainty,

وَرَأَيتُ الصِحابَ جاثينَ حَولي

يَندُبونَ الفَتى الَّذي تَعرِفينَه

And see the friends kneeling around me

And you see friends kneeling around me,

Lamenting the youth whom you recognize

Mourning the young man whom you know,

وَتَعالَ العَويلُ حَولَكِ مِمَّن

مارَسوهُ وَأَصبَحوا يُحسِنونَه

And the wailing rises around you from those

And the wailing rises around you from those

Who befriended him and now excel in grieving him

Who have practiced grief until they mastered it,

لا تَشقي عَلى ثَوبُكِ حُزناً

لا وَلا تَذرُفي الدُموعَ السَخينَه

Do not tear your dress in sorrow

Do not rend your garment in sorrow,

Nor shed hot tears

No, nor shed hot, scalding tears.

غالِبي اليَأسَ وَاِجلُسي عِندَ نَعشي

بِسُكونٍ إِنّي أُحِبُّ السَكينَه

Overcome despair and sit by my bier

Conquer your despair and sit by my coffin

Calmly, for I love tranquility

In silence, for I love serenity.

إِنَّ لِلصَمتِ في المَآتِمِ مَعنى

تَتعَزّى بِهِ النُفوسُ الحَزينَه

Silence in bereavement has meaning

For silence in mourning holds a meaning

That comforts sad souls

By which sorrowful souls find consolation.

وَلِقَولِ العُذّالِ عَنكِ بَخيلٌ

هُوَ خَيرٌ مِن قَولِهِم مِسكينَه

Better the miser’s few words about you

And for the critics to say you are unfeeling

Than their plentiful but worthless condolences

Is better than for them to say, 'Poor wretched girl.'

وَإِذا خُفتِ أَن يَثورَ بِكِ الوَجدُ

فَتَبدو أَسرارُنا المَكنونَه

And if you fear your passion will erupt

And if you fear that passion will surge within you,

Exposing our hidden secrets

Revealing our hidden secrets,

فَاِرجِعي وَاِسكُبي دُموعُكِ سِرّاً

وَاِمسَحي بِاليَدَينِ ما تَسكُبينَه

Go back, shed your tears in private

Then turn away and pour out your tears in secret,

And wipe with your hands what you pour out

And wipe away with your hands what you have shed.

يا اِبنَةَ الفَجرِ مَن أَحَبَّكِ مَيتٌ

وَلا أَنتِ بِمِثلِ هَذا مَهينَه

O daughter of dawn, a dead man loved you

O daughter of the dawn, he who loved you is dead,

You are not degraded by this

And you are not disgraced by such a fate.

زايَلَ النورُ مُقلَتَيهِ وَغابَت

تَحتَ أَجفانِهِ المعاني المُبينَه

The light has left his eyes and vanished

The light has departed from his eyes, and vanished

With it the clear visions under his lids

Beneath his lids are the clear expressions.

فَأَصيخي هَل تَسمَعينَ خَفوقاً

كُنتِ قَبلاً في صَدرِهِ تَسمَعينَه

Cry out, do you hear the heartbeats

So listen closely: do you hear a heartbeat,

You once heard throbbing in his chest?

Which you used to hear within his chest?

وَاِنظُري ثُمَّ فَكِّري كَيفَ أَمسى

لَيسَ يَدري عَدُوُّهُ وَخَدينَه

Look, and think, how he who

Look, and reflect on what he has become:

His foe and friend could not discern

He knows neither his enemy nor his close friend.

ساكِتاً لا يَقولُ شَيئاً وَلا يَس

مَع شَيئاً وَلَيسَ يُبصِرُ دونَه

Lies silent, says and hears nothing

Silent, saying nothing, and hearing

Cares not whether he is in a shroud

Nothing, seeing naught before him.

لا يُبالي أَأَودَعوهُ الثُرَيّا

أَم رَموهُ في حَمأَةٍ مَسنونَه

Or a dishonored, unmarked grave

He cares not if they place him in the stars,

And if the guards sleep weary

Or cast him into foul, black mud.

وَإِذا الحارِسانِ ناما عَياءً

وَرَأَيتِ أَصحابُهُ يَترُكونَه

And you see his friends desert him

And when the two guards fall asleep from weariness,

Come, kiss his lips and hands

And you see his companions leaving him,

فَتَعالَي وَقَبِّلي شَفَتَيهِ

وَيَدَيهِ وَشَعرِهِ وَجَبينَه

And hair and brow

Then come forward and kiss his lips,

Before the veil is lowered over him

His hands, his hair, and his brow.

قَبلَ أَن يُسدَلَ الحِجابُ عَلَيهِ

وَيُوارى عَنكِ فَلا تُبصِرينَه

And he is hidden from your sight

Before the veil is drawn over him,

Beware lest any watcher sees you

And he is hidden from your sight forever.

وَاِحذَري أَن تَراكِ عَينُ رَقيبٍ

وَلَئِن كانَ جُلَّ ما تَحذَرينَه

Though that is your greatest fear

And beware lest a spy's eye sees you,

When you are sure no one is there

Even if that is your greatest fear.

فَإِذا ما أَمِنتِ لا تَترُكيهِ

قَبلَما يَفتَحُ الصَباحُ جُفونَه

Do not leave him before dawn opens his eyes

But if you are safe, do not leave him

And when the terrible hour comes

Before the morning opens its eyes.

وَإِذا الساعَةُ الرَهيبَةُ حانَت

وَرَأَيتِ حُرّاسَهُ يَحمِلونَه

And you see his guards carry him

And when the terrible hour arrives,

And the bell tolls in sorrow

And you see his pallbearers carrying him,

وَسَمِعتِ الناقوسَ يَقرَعُ حوزناً

فَيَرُدُّ الوادي عَلَيهِ أَنينَه

And the valley echoes back its tune

And you hear the bell tolling in sorrow,

Send off the departed, who died intense with passion

And the valley echoing back its groan,

زَوِّدي الراحِلَ ماتَ وَجداً

بِالَّذي زَوّدَ الغَريقُ السَفينَه

As the drowned man hands the swimmer his life jacket –

Grant the departing one, who died of passion,

With a look that tells the heavens

What the drowning man casts toward the ship—

نَظرَةً تَعلَمُ السَماواتُ مِنها

أَنَّهُ ماتَ عَن فَتاةٍ أَمينَه

He died faithful to a true woman

A look by which the heavens will know

The earth has folded whom it had unfolded alive

That he died leaving behind a faithful girl.

طَوَتِ الأَرضُ مَن طَوى الأَرضَ حَيّاً

وَعَلاهُ مَن كانَ بِالأَمسِ دونَه

And overwhelmed whom it had obeyed

The earth has folded in him who once traversed it,

A fair face and a free heart and a guarded soul

And what was beneath him yesterday has now risen above him.

وَاِختَفى في التُرانِ وَجهَ صَبيحٍ

وَفُؤادٍ حُرٍّ وَنَفسٌ مَصونَه

Are now hidden in clay

A beautiful face has vanished into the dust,

And when you stop at the market

Along with a free heart and a guarded soul.

وَإِذا ما وَقَفَت عِندَ السَواقِ

وَذَكَرَت وُقوفَهُ وَسُكونَه

And remember him standing and still

And if you stand by the streams,

Where you swore to stay true

And recall his presence and his silence,

حَيثُ أَقسَمتِ أَن تَدومي عَلى العَه

دِ وَآلى بِأَنَّهُ لَن يَخونَه

And he swore he would never betray

Where you swore to remain true to the pledge,

Where you taught him verse, and he sang

And he swore he would never betray it,

حَيثُ عَلَّمتِهِ القَريضَ فَأَمسى

يَتَغَنّى كَي تَسمَعي تَلحينَه

So you could hear his tune

Where you taught him poetry, until he began

Remember him with lightning flickering east

To sing so you might hear his melodies,

فَاِذكُريهِ مَعَ البُروقِ السَواري

وَاِندُبيهِ مَعَ الغُيوثِ الهَتونَه

And mourn him with rains pouring down

Remember him with the flashing lightning,

And when you walk in the garden one day

And mourn him with the pouring rains.

وَإِذا ما مَشَيتِ في الرَوضِ يَوماً

وَوَطَأتِ سُهولَهُ وَحُزونَه

And tread its slopes and hollows

And if you walk in the garden one day,

And recall the trysts of passion therein

Treading its plains and its rugged paths,

وَذَكَرتِ مَواقِفَ الوَجدِ فيهِ

عِندَما كُنتِ بِالهَوى تُغرينَه

When you maddened him with love

And you remember the moments of passion there,

Where you taught him flirtation, till he thought

When you used to allure him with love,

حَيثُ عَلَّمتِهِ الفُتونَ فَأَضحى

يَحسِبُ الأَرضَ كُلَّها مَفتونَه

All the world was infatuated

Where you taught him fascination, so he came

Where your right hand monopolized him

To believe the whole earth was enchanted,

حَيثُ وَسَدَتهُ يَمينِكِ حَتّى

كادَ يَنسى شِمالَهُ مِن يَمينَه

Till he nearly forgot his left hand

Where you pillowed him on your right arm until

Where you would sip from his love-sickness

He could scarce tell his left hand from his right,

حَيثُ كُنتِ وَكانَ يَصقيكِ طَوراً

مِن هَواهُ وَتارَةً تَسقينَه

And at times let him sip from yours

Where you were together, and he would pour for you

Till spring dressed the garden in a gown

Of his love, and at times you would pour for him,

حَتّى حاكَ الرَبيعُ لِلرَوضِ ثَوباً

كانَ أَحلى لَدَيهِ لَو تَرتَدينَه

That seemed most beautiful had you worn it

Until Spring wove a garment for the garden,

Then kiss every flower and branch

Which he would have found sweeter had you worn it.

فَاِلثُمي كُلَّ زَهرَةٍ فيهِ إِنّي

كُنتُ أَهوى زُهورَهُ وَغُصونَه

For I loved its blossoms and boughs

So kiss every flower there, for I

Tell the birds my lover died

Used to love its blossoms and its boughs.

ثُمَّ قولي لِلطَيرِ ماتَ حَبيبي

فَلِماذا يا طَيرُ لا تَبكينَه

Why, birds, do you not mourn him?

Then say to the birds: 'My beloved has died,

And when you sit alone at night

So why, O birds, do you not weep for him?'

وَإِذا ما جَلستِ وَحدَكِ في اللَي

لِ وَهاجَت بِكِ الشُجونُ الدَفينَه

As profound sorrows engulf you

And when you sit alone in the night,

And see the clouds race west

And buried sorrows stir within you,

وَرَأَيتِ الغُيومَ تَركُضُ نحوَ الغَر

بِ رَكضاً كَأَنَّها مَجنونَه

As if possessed by madness

And you see the clouds racing toward the west,

And sense from the stars aloofness

Racing as though they were insane,

وَلَحَظتِ مِنَ الكَواكِبِ صَدّاً

وَنُفاراً وَفي النَسيمِ خُشونَه

And shyness, and in the breeze apprehension

And you notice the stars turning away

Reproach the remaining nights

In aversion, and a harshness in the breeze,

فَغَضِبتِ عَلى اللَيالي البَواقي

وَحَنَنتِ إِلى اللَيالي الثَمينَه

And yearn for the precious ones past

And you rage against the nights that remain,

Abandon the beautiful place, and visit

And long for those precious nights of old,

فَاِهجُري المَخدَعَ الجَميلَ وَزوري

ذَلِكَ القَبرَ ثُمَّ حَيِّ قَطينَه

That grave, and give it life

Then leave your beautiful chamber and visit

Scatter roses around and over it

That grave, and greet its inhabitant.

وَاِنثُري الوَردَ حَولَهُ وَعَلَيهِ

وَاِغرُسي عِندَ قَلبِهِ ياسَمينَه

And plant a jasmine at his heart

Scatter roses around and upon it,

And plant a jasmine flower over his heart.