شاهَدتُها كَالمَيتِ في أَكفانِهِ

فَوَجَمتُ إِلّا عَبرَةً أَذريها

I gazed upon her, like the dead within their shrouds,

And I stood stunned, save for a tear I let fall.

مَهجورَةً كَسَفينَةٍ مَنبوذَةٍ

في الشَطِّ غابَ وَرائَهُ ماضيها

Abandoned, like a vessel cast aside,

Upon the shore, where her past has vanished behind her.

نَسَجَت عَلَيها العَنكَبوتُ خُيوطَها

وَكَسى الغُبارُ غِلالَةً تَكسوها

The spider has woven its threads across her form,

And dust has cloaked her in a garment of its own.

أَقوَت وَباتَت كَالمَسامِعِ بَعدَها

لا شَيءَ يُطرِبُها وَلا يَشجيها

She has grown desolate, becoming like the ears left void after her song,

With nothing to bring her joy, and nothing to move her to grief.

وَكَأَنَها في صَمتِها مَشدوهَةٌ

أَن لا تَرى بِهُتافِها مَشدوها

It is as if, in her silence, she stands bewildered,

To see no one enraptured by her calling voice.

لا حِسَّ في أَوتارِها لا شَوقَ في

أَضلاعِها لا حُسنَ في باقيها

There is no sensation in her strings, no longing within

Her ribs, and no beauty in what remains of her.

فَاِرزَح بِحُزنِك يا حَزينُ فَإِنَّها

لا تَنشُرُ الشَكوى وَلا تَطويها

So succumb to your sorrow, O mourner, for she

Neither unfolds her complaint nor keeps it hidden.

وَإِذا اِنقَضى عَهدُ التَعَلُّلِ بِالمُنى

فَالنَفسُ يَشفيها الَّذي يُرديها

And when the time of finding solace in wishes has ended,

Then the soul finds its cure in that which destroys it.

لِلَّهِ عَهدٌ مَرَّ لي في ظِلِّها

أَبكي عَلَيهِ وَتارَةً أَبكيها

By God, what a time has passed for me within her shadow,

I weep for those days, and at times, I weep for her.

كانَت كَأَنَّ ضُلوعَها مَوصولَةٌ

بِأَضالِعي وَسَرائِري في فيها

It was as if her ribs were tethered

To my own ribs, and my deepest secrets resided in her mouth.

كَم مَرَّةً حامَت غَرابيبُ الأَسى

لِتَقيتَ مِن قَلبي الجَريحِ بَنيها

How often did the dark ravens of sorrow hover,

Seeking to feed their brood from my wounded heart;

فَإِذا الأَغاريدُ اللَطيفَةُ دونَها

سُوَرٌ يَصونُ حَشاشَتي وَيَقيها

But then, her gentle melodies stood before them,

A fortress wall to preserve and guard my fragile spirit.

كَمهَزَّني الشَدوُ الرَخيمُ فَساقَطَت

نَفسي هُموماً أَوشَكَت تَبليها

How the melodious singing stirred me, shedding

My soul of the burdens that had nearly worn it away.

فَإِذا أَنا مِثلُ البَنَفسَجَةِ الَّتي

ذَبُلَت فَباكَرَها النَدى يُحيِّها

Until I became like the violet that,

Having withered, is visited by the early dew to revive it.

وَلَكَم سَمِعتُ خُفوقَ أَجنِحَةِ المُنى

وَحَفيفَها في نَغمَةٍ توحيها

And how often I heard the beating of the wings of hope,

And their rustling within a melody she inspired.

فَسَكِرتُ حَتّى ما أَعيَ سُكرَ اِمرِئٍ

بِالخَمرِ أَترَعَ كَأسَهُ ساقيها

And I became intoxicated, far beyond the drunkenness of one

With wine, whose cup the cupbearer has filled to the brim.

وَرَأَيتُني في جَنَّةٍ سِحرِيَّةٍ

لا يَرتَوي مِن حُسنِها رائيها

I saw myself within an enchanted paradise,

Whose beholder can never have his fill of its beauty.

وَلَمَحتُ أَحلامَ الشَبابِ مَواكِباً

تَتَرى أَمامي وَالهَوى حاديها

I glimpsed the dreams of youth moving in processions,

Passing before me, with passion leading their march.

سِرُّ السَعادَةِ في الرُأى إِنَّ الرُأى

لا كَفَّ تُثبِتُها وَلا تَمحوها

The secret of happiness lies in visions, for truly, visions—

No hand can fasten them down, nor can any wipe them away.

وَلَكَم سَمِعتُ دَبيبَ أَشباحِ الأَسى

عِندَ المَسا في أَنَّةٍ تُزجيها

And how often I heard the creeping of sorrow’s ghosts,

At eventide, in a moan she would send forth.

فَذَكَرتُ ثَمَّ مَحاسِناً تَحتَ الثَرى

غابَت وَشَوَّهَها البِلى تَشويها

Recalling then beauties now buried beneath the soil,

That have vanished, disfigured by the ravages of decay.

فَإِذا أَنا كَالسِنديانَةِ شَوَّشَت

أَغصانَها الريحُ الَّتي تَلويها

Then I became like the oak tree, its branches disarrayed,

By the wind that twists and bends them.

أَو كَالسَفينَةِ في الضَبابِ طَريقَها

ضَلَّت وَغابَت أَنجُمٌ تَهديها

Or like a ship lost within the fog,

Straying from its course as the guiding stars fade away.

شَهِدَ الدُجى وَالفَجرُ إِنّي جازِعٌ

لِسُكوتِها جَزَعَ الغَديرِ أَخيها

The darkness and the dawn bear witness to my anguish,

For her silence, an anguish like that of the brook, her kin.

ما أَن سَمِعتُ أَنينُهُ وَنَشيجُهُ

إِلّا وَيَعرو النَفسَ ما يَعروها

No sooner did I hear its moaning and its sobbing,

Than my soul was seized by what seized it.

رَوّى الثَرى يا لَيتَ روحِيَ في الثَرى

أَو في النَباتِ لَعَلَّهُ يَرويها

It watered the earth—would that my soul were in the earth,

Or within the plants, that it might be watered too.

يا صاحِبَيَّ وَفي حَنايا أَضلُعي

هَمٌّ يَكُظُّ الروحَ بَل يُدميها

O my two companions, within the cage of my ribs,

Is a sorrow that stifles the spirit, nay, makes it bleed.

إِنَّ الَّتي نَقَلَت حِكاياتِ الهَوى

لَم يَبقَ غَيرَ حِكايَةٍ تَرويها

She who once conveyed the tales of passion

Has nothing left but to become a tale herself.

كَمَدينَةٍ دَكَّ القَضاءُ صُروحَها

دَكّاً وَكَفَّنَ بِالسُكوتِ ذَويها

Like a city whose citadels Fate has razed to the ground,

Crushing it utterly, and shrouding its people in silence.

نُعِيَت فَريعَ الفَجرُ وَاِرتَعَشَ الدُجى

ما كانَ أَهوَنَها عَلى ناعيها

Her death was announced; the dawn was terrified, and the darkness trembled—

How little she meant to the one who cried her news!

لا تَعجَبا في الغابِ مِن نَوحِ الصِبا

وَعَويلِها إِنَّ الصِبا تَرثيها

Marvel not in the forest at the wailing of the wind,

And its howling cry, for the wind is singing her dirge.

لَو تَسمَعانِ نَجِيَّهَا مُتَمَشِياً

كَالسِحرِ في الأَرواحِ يَستَهويها

Could you but hear her intimate whisper drifting,

Like magic through souls, holding them in its sway,

لَعَلِمتُما أَنَّ القَضاءَ اِغتالَها

كَيلا تَبوحَ بِكُلِّ سِرٍّ فيها

You would know that Fate assassinated her

Lest she reveal every secret held within her.