مَرَّ جُنحٌ مِنَ الظَلامِ وَقَلبي

لَم يَزَل يَستَمِرُّ في خَفَقانِه

Wings of darkness passed, and my heart

Kept on throbbing steadily.

وَهفا النَومُ عَن جُفوني فَروحي

في وُجودٍ ضَلَّ الهدى عَن مَكانه

Sleep forsook my eyelids, so my soul

Exists confused, losing its way.

أَنا في مُخدعٍ تَكادُ لَآها

تي تَسيلُ الدُموعُ من جدرانِه

I am in a narrow, gloomy closet,

Whose walls are soaked with my tears and sighs.

ضَيِّقٍ مُظلِمٍ فَلَو أَقبَلَ النو

رُ إِلَيهِ لخافَ لَونَ دهانِه

Were light to enter it, it would fear

The color of its paint.

وَأَمامي القَندنيل يَلمَعُ نوراً

فَإِخالُ الجَحيمَ في لَمَعانِه

Before me the lantern glows,

Though hellish is its gleam.

وَأَراهُ يسآلني عَن شُجوني

لَو حباهُ الإِلهُ نطقَ لِسانِه

I see it asking about my sorrows—

If God had granted speech to its tongue!

يشعُر القَلبُ من دَمي بِدَبيبٍ

كَدَبيبِ البُركانِ في هَيَجانِه

My heart feels a throbbing in my blood

Like the boiling of a volcano in eruption.

وَأَرى بَينَ إِصبَعيَّ لفافاً

تَتَلاشى أَعمارُنا كَدُخانه

And I see between my fingers a coil

Of our vanishing lifetimes like smoke.

ساهِرٌ في كَآبَتي وَحَبيبي

بِسَلامٍ يَنام عن أَشجانِه

Sleepless am I in my gloom while my beloved

Sleeps in peace, not minding my misery.

فَبنان الرقاد تسكبُ سِحراً

وَتُذيبُ الأَحلامَ في أَجفانِه

The wings of slumber shed their charm

And melt dreams on the eyelids.

أَنصفَ اللَيلُ ما لِقَلبي يُناجي

في سُكون الدُجى هَوى سكّانِه

Midnight impartially hears my heart

Complaining in the stillness of darkness.

مسَّهُ عارِضُ الجنونِ فَلَولا

أَضلُعي لاِستَطارَ عن جُثمانِه

Madness has touched it, else but for

My ribs, it would have burst out of my body.

أَسمَعُ اللَيلَ في الفَضاءِ يُغَنّي

وَحَفيفُ الأَوراقِ مِن أَلحانِه

I hear the night singing in space

And the rustling of leaves making its melodies—

تِلكَ أُنشودَةُ الحَياةِ يُغَنّي

ها لِسانُ الدُجى عَلى عيدانِه

That is the song of life the night sings

Through the tongue of darkness on its branches.

وَأَرى ظُلمَةَ الدَجنَّةِ إِبلي

ساً نجومُ الفَضاءِ من أَعوانِه

I see the darkness of black night like an army,

The stars in space its aides.

موكبُ من عرائِس الجِنِّ يَمشي

لِلِقاءِ الشَيطانِ في إِيوانِه

A procession of jinn brides walking

To meet Satan in his hall.

هُم يَقولونَ ما بِهِ وَهواه

حسبُما يَبتَغي وَطوعُ بنانه

They say whatever he and his passion dictate,

However his fingers and melodies fancy.

حينَ نادى جَنانُه رحمَةَ الحُ

بِّ اِستَجابَ الهَوى نِداءَ جَنانِه

When his soul called for the mercy of love,

Desire responded to the call of his soul.

إِي وَلكِن لَو يُدرِكونَ أُموراً

قَد رماها الفُؤاد في كِتمانِه

Oh, but if they knew all the things

The heart has hidden in its closets!

لَو هُمُ يَعلَمونَ ماذا يُقاسي

عاشِقٌ يستَجيرُ في لبنانِه

If they but knew what a lover who takes

Refuge in Lebanon suffers!

لَو دَرَوا أَنَّ في الطَبيعَة عَدلاً

قَطع الظُلمُ كَفَّتَي ميزانِه

If they realized that nature is just

And injustice has tilted its scales!

لاِستَباحوا كُفرانَه وَاِستَحَلّوا

أَن يَظَلَّ الحَزينُ في كُفرانِه

They would have permitted his blasphemy

And sanctioned the sorrowing blasphemer to stay in his blasphemy.

رَبِّ عَفواً لَقَد فَقَدتُ شُعوري

فَشُعوري يَهيمُ في تيهانِه

Lord, forgive me! I have lost my senses

So my feelings roam about confused.

كُن شَفيقاً عَلَيَّ وَاِرحَم فُؤادي

إِذ تَراهُ قَد ضَلَّ عَن إيمانِه

Be gentle with me and have mercy on my heart

When you see it has strayed from faith.

إِنَّ قَلبي مَأوىً لكُلِّ عَذابٍ

قَد أَواهُ الضَنا بِلا اِستِئذانِه

My heart is a harbor for every torment.

Grief has lodged in it without even asking leave.

فَكَأَنّي وُجِدتُ في الكَون حَتّى

أَشربَ الكَأسَ مِن يَدي شيطانِه

So it's as though I was created in the universe only

To drink from the devil's cup.

يا صَديقي إِن شِئتَ تِبيانَ قَلبي

فَجَبيني يَنبيك عَن تبيانِه

My friend, if you want to know my heart,

My forehead weeps to make it plain.

رَسم القَلبُ طيفَه فيهِ فَاِنظُر

يَعرفون الكِتاب من عُنوانه

The heart outlined its phantom there, so look!

They know a book by its title.

يا صَديقي أُنظُر لِبُستانِ عُمري

كَيفَ دَبَّ الذُيولُ في أُقحُوانِه

My friend, look at the garden of my life.

See how decline has crept into its vines.

فَشَبابي أَخنَت عَلَيهِ صُروفٌ

أَفقَدَتهُ النضار من ريعانِه

My youth was worn down by hardships

That stripped it of its freshness and prime.

صِرت في وِحدَتي أُخاطِب موسه

راشِفاً في الظَلامِ سِحرَ بَيانِه

In my solitude I talk to a reed flute,

Rhapsodizing in the dark the magic of its words.

كانَ مِثلي فَغَيَّبَ القَبرُ مِنهُ

جَسداً بالياً قُبَيلَ أَوانِه

He was like me, but the grave took him

Before his time, his body worn out and sickly.

شاعِرَ الدَمعِ هَل مِن الدَمعِ بدٌّ

في وُجودٍ أَلعينُ من غدرانِه

Poet of tears, is there any escape from tears

In an existence I'm cursed with from its treachery?

أَفعمَ الكَون بِالعَذابِ حَياتي

فَلِهذا تاقَت إِلى أَكفانِه

Did the universe fill my life with torment?

Is that why it yearned for its own winding sheets?