يا رُبَّ لَيلٍ بِلا سَناءِ

كَأَنَّما بَدرُهُ يَتيمُ

O Lord of a starless night

Oh, how many a night is without luster,

Whose moon is like an orphan

As though its full moon were an orphan.

مَشى بِهِ اليَأسُ في الرَجاءِ

كَأَنَّهُ النارُ وَالحَشيمُ

Dragged by despair into hoping

Despair walked within it amidst hope,

As if it were fire and kindling

Like fire consuming dry tinder.

لَيتَ الدُجى رَقَّ لِلمُحِبِّ

أَو لَيتَ لي مُهجَةً حَجَر

If only the darkness would soften for the lover

Would that the darkness softened for the lover,

Or if only I had a stony heart

Or would that I possessed a soul of stone.

أَقَضَّ هَذا الفِراشُ جَنبي

كَأَنَّ في مَضجَعي الإِبَر

This bed has squeezed my side

This bed has robbed my side of rest,

As if there were needles in my bedding

As if needles lay within my couch.

هَل بِكَ يا نَجمُ مِثلُ كَربي

أَم أَنتَ مِن طَبعِكَ السَهَر

Is there a star that suffers like me

Do you suffer, O star, an anguish like mine?

Or are you wakeful by nature

Or is sleeplessness simply your nature?

سَهِرتَ شَوقاً إِلى ذَكاءِ

أَم عِندَكَ المِقعَدُ المُقيمُ

Did you stay up yearning for the dawn

Did you wake out of yearning for the sun,

Or is your resting place permanent

Or are you bound to that steadfast seat?

أَبكي وَتُصغي إِلى بُكائي

يا رَبُّ هَل تَعشَقُ النُجومُ

I cry and you listen to my crying

I weep, and you listen to my weeping;

O Lord, do the stars fall in love

O Lord, do the stars also fall in love?

قَد نالَ فَرطُ السُهادِ مِنّي

وَاِشتاقَ طَرفي إِلى الهُجوعِ

Excessive drowsiness has taken me

Excessive wakefulness has taken its toll on me,

And my eyes yearn to sleep

And my eyes yearn for slumber.

وَقَرَّحَ الجَفنَ ماءُ جَفني

في الحُبِ ما فاضَ مِن دُموعي

My eyelids sore from my tears

The water of my eyelids has wounded my lids,

Spilt in love, and old age

With all the tears that overflowed for love.

وَشابَ رَأسي مِنَ التَجَنّي

يا لَيتَ ذا الشَيبَ في الوَلوعِ

Has seizure my head because of passion

My head has turned grey from false accusations,

If only this gray hair were because of delight

Would that this greyness were merely from passion.

لَعَلَّ في سَلوَتي شِفائي

هَيهاتَ داءُ الهَوى قَديمُ

Perhaps in my gloom there lies my remedy

Perhaps in my solace lies my cure,

Alas, the malady of love is chronic

Alas! The sickness of love is ancient.

ما يَحسَبُ الناسُ في رِدائي

في بُردَتي هَيكَلٌ رَميمُ

People don't reckon the state I'm in

People wonder what is within my cloak;

In my cloak lies a crumbling ruin

Inside my robe is a crumbling skeleton.

فَقَد طالَ يا لَيلُ فيكَ صَبري

وَأَشبَهَت ساعُكَ القُرونا

My patience, O night, has worn long within you,

And your hours have come to resemble centuries.

فَقُل لِهَذي النُجومِ تَسري

أَو فَاِسأَلِ الصُبحَ أَن يَبينا

So tell these stars to move along,

Or ask the dawn to reveal itself.

وَإِن تَشَء أَن تَكونَ قَبري

فَكُن كَما شِئتَ أَن تَكونا

And if you wish to be my grave,

Then be whatever you wish to be.

فَبي سُكونٌ إِلى البَلاءِ

قَد يَألَفُ العِلَّةَ السَقيمُ

For I have a resignation towards affliction;

The invalid eventually grows accustomed to illness.

مَن كانَ في قَبضَةِ الهَواءِ

هانَ عَلى نَفسِهِ النَسيمُ

He who is in the grip of the storm

Finds the breeze trivial upon his soul.

قَرَّبَ بَينَ الضَنى وَجِسمي

ما أَبعَدَ النَومَ عَن جُفوني

It has bridged the gap between emaciation and my body;

How far sleep has fled from my eyelids!

يا لَيلُ فيكَ الرُقادُ خَصمي

يا لَيلُ ما فيكَ مِن مُعينِ

O night, within you slumber is my adversary;

O night, there is no helper to be found in you,

سِوى شَجٍ هَمُّهُ كَهَمّي

يُنشِدُ وَاللَيلُ في سُكونِ

Save for a grieving soul whose sorrow mirrors mine,

Singing out while the night lies in stillness.

أَيَمرَحُ البومُ في الخَلاءِ

وَتُمسِكُ البُلبُلَ الهُمومُ

Does the owl frolic in the open void,

While cares hold the nightingale captive?

هَذا ضَلالٌ مِنَ القَضاءِ

فَلا تَلُمني إِذا أَلومُ

This is an aberration of fate,

So blame me not if I cast blame.

يا سَيِّدَ المُنشِدينَ طُرّاً

وَصاحِبَ المَنطِقِ المُبينِ

O master of all singers, without exception,

And possessor of eloquent expression:

لَو كُنتَ بوماً أَو كُنتَ نَسرا

ما بِتَّ في أَسرِكَ المَهينِ

Had you been an owl or a vulture,

You would not have remained in your humiliating cage.

خُلِقتَ لَمّا خُلِقتَ حُرّا

فَزَجَّكَ الحُسنُ في السُجونِ

You were created, when first created, free,

But beauty has cast you into prisons.

وَأَطلَقَ البومَ في الفَضاءِ

زَعمُ الوَرى أَنَّهُ دَميمُ

While it released the owl into the vast expanse,

Because mankind claims it is hideous,

وَأَنَّهُ غَيرُ ذي رُواءِ

وَلا لَهُ صَوتُكَ الرَخيمُ

And possessed of no grace in appearance,

Nor does it possess your melodious voice.

تَيَّمَكَ الرَوضُ فيهِ حَتّى

تَخِذتَ باحاتِهِ مَقاما

The garden enthralled you so, until

You adopted its courtyards as your home.

رَأَيتَ فيهِ النَعيمَ بَحتا

وَلَم تَرَ عِندَهُ الأَناما

You saw within it pure bliss,

But you did not notice the people lurking there.

مَدّوا الأَحابيلَ فيهِ شَتّى

أَقَلُّها يَجلِبُ الحِماما

They laid out various snares within it,

The least of which brings certain death.

لَو كُنتَ كَابومِ في الجَفاءِ

ما صادَكَ المَنظَرُ الوَسيمُ

Had you been like the owl in coarseness,

The handsome view would not have ensnared you.

أَصبَحتَ تَبكي مِنَ الشَقاءِ

لِيَضحَكَ الآسِرُ المُضيمُ

You have come to weep from misery,

That the oppressive captor might laugh.

وَالمَرءُ وَحشٌ فَإِن تَرَقّى

أَصبَحَ شَرّاً مِنَ الوُحوشِ

Man is a beast; and if he ascends in rank,

He becomes more evil than the wild beasts.

فَخَفهُ حُرّاً رِقّا

وَخَفهُ مَلكاً عَلى العُروشِ

So fear him when free, and fear him in bondage,

And fear him as a king upon the throne.

فَالشَرُّ في الناسِ كانَ خَلقا

وَأَيُّ طَيرٍ بِغَيرِ ريشِ

For evil is innate in mankind's creation—

And what bird exists without feathers?

ما قامَ فيهِم أَخو وَفاءِ

يَحفَظُ عَهداً وَلا رَحيمُ

No brother of loyalty has risen among them

To keep a covenant, nor anyone merciful.

فَكُلُّ مُستَضعَفٍ مُرائي

وَكُلُّ ذي قُوَّةٍ غَشومُ

For every weakling is a hypocrite,

And everyone with power is a tyrant.

إِن كانَ لِلوَحشِ مِن نُيوبِ

فَالناسُ أَنيابُهُم حَديدُ

If the wild beast possesses fangs,

Then the fangs of men are made of iron.

ما كانَ وَاللَهِ لِلحُروبِ

لَولا بنو آدَمٍ وُجودُ

By God, war would not have

Any existence, were it not for the sons of Adam.

لَو اِمَّحى عالَمُ الخُطوبِ

لَقامَ مِنهُم لَها مُعيدُ

If the world of calamities were erased,

One of them would rise to restore it.

قَد نَسَبوا الظُلمَ لِلسَماءِ

وَكُلُّهُم جائِرٌ ظَلومُ

They have attributed injustice to Heaven,

Yet they are all unjust and oppressive.

لَم يَخلُ مِنهُ أَخو الثَراءِ

وَلا الفَتى البائِسُ العَديمُ

The wealthy man is not free of it,

Nor is the miserable, destitute youth.

أَعجَبُ ما في بَني التُرابِ

قِتالَهُم فَوقَهُ عَلَيهِ

The strangest thing about the sons of dust,

Is their fighting upon the earth, for the earth.

قَد صَيَّروا الأَرضَ كَالكِتابِ

وَاِنحَشَروا بَينَ دَفَّتَيهِ

They have made the earth like a book,

And crowded themselves between its covers.

وَاِستَعجَلو المَوتَ بِالعَذابِ

وَكُلُّهُم صائِرٌ إِلَيهِ

They hastened death with torment,

Though all of them are journeying toward it.

ما خابَ داعٍ إِلى العِداءِ

وَلَم يَفُز ناصِحٌ حَكيمِ

No caller to hostility has ever failed,

While no wise counselor has ever triumphed.

ما رَغِبَ الناسُ في الفَناءِ

لَكِنَّما ضاعَت الحُلومُ

People do not desire annihilation,

But their reason has been lost.

لَو لَم يَكُ الظُلمُ في الطَبائِعِ

ما اِستَنصَرَ العاجِزُ العَدالَه

Were injustice not in their nature,

The helpless would not have sought the aid of justice.

لَو عَدَلَت فيهِمُ الشَرائِع

ما اِستَحدَثوا لِلقِتالِ الَه

Had the laws been just among them,

They would not have invented machines for war.

عَجِبتُ لِلقائِلِ المُدافِع

جَزائَهُ المَوتُ لا مَحالَه

I marvel at the fighter who defends,

Whose reward is inevitably death.

لَكِنَّما سافِكو الدِماءَ

يَومَ الوَغى قادَةٌ قُرومُ

Yet those who shed blood,

On the day of battle, are hailed as noble lords.

وَهَكَذا المُجرِمُ الفِدائي

في عُرفِهِم فاتِحٌ عَظيمُ

And thus the criminal aggressor

Is, in their custom, a great conqueror.

أَقبَحُ مِن هَذِهِ الضَلالَه

أَن يَحكُمَ الواحِدُ الأُلوفا

More hideous than this error

Is that a single man should rule over thousands,

وَيَدَّعي الفَضلَ وَالنَبالَه

مَن يَسلُبُ العامِلَ الرَغيفا

And claim virtue and nobility,

While he robs the worker of his loaf.

يا قَومُ ما هَذِهِ الجَهالَه

قَد حانَ أَن تُنصِفوا الضَعيفا

O my people, what is this ignorance?

The time has come to do justice to the weak.

فَراقِبوا ذِمَّةَ الإِخاءِ

وَلتَنسَ أَحقادَها الخُصومُ

So respect the covenant of brotherhood,

And let adversaries forget their grudges.

لا تَتبَعوا سُنَّةَ البَقاءِ

فَإِنَّها سُنَّةٌ ظَلومُ

Do not follow the law of survival,

For it is a law of oppression.