ضَيَّعتُ في هِضَبِ الهَوى رُشدي

وَفَقَدتُ ما أَبقى الحجى عِندي

I lost my sanity in love's plateau

And lost what reason had sustained in me

وَسَعَيتُ نَحوَ المَجدِ مُجتَهِداً

فَهَويتُ دون مدارِك المَجدِ

And strove for glory with great diligence

Yet tumbled short of reaching glory's keep

أَجدُ الشَبابَ يَلوحُ مُنتَعِشاً

وَأَنا نَحيلٌ أَصفَرُ الخَدِّ

I see youth gleaming, rejuvenated

While I am frail and sallow-cheeked

في كُلِّ لَيلٍ جار أَسودهُ

يَبني الرَدى حَجَرَينِ من لحدي

Each night my dark-cloaked neighbor

Adds two stones toward my tomb from quarry's heap

بَعُدَ الكَرى عَن مُقلَتَيَّ كَما

بَعُدَ الفَتى الصادي عَن الوِردِ

As distant are the stars from my poor eyes

As distant as the horseman from the rose

فَكَأَنَّ أَهدابي ظَبيً بَرَزَت

لِتحولَ دونَ النَومِ بِالسَهدِ

My lids like a gazelle have come to be

To bar the way 'gainst sleep with their repose

لَو كنتَ تَعلَمُ يا أَبي وَأَنا

طِفلٌ مَصيري العادمَ السَعدِ

If you had known, my father, when I was

A babe, my fate would be devoid of bliss

لَبَكيتَ عِندَ وِلادَتي نَدَماً

وَخنَقتَني وَأَنا عَلى مَهدي

You would have wept when I was born in woe

And choked me while I lay in cradle's midst

يَتَهامَسونَ عَلَيَّ من أَسَفٍ

هو سَيف عَقلٍ مُرهَفُ الحَدِّ

They whisper of me in despair

"He is a sword of keen and piercing wit"

إِن كنت سَيفاً لِلحجى فَأَنا

لَم يَمتَشِقني الدَهرُ من غَمدي

If I'm a sword of reason, then I am

A blade not yet unsheathed from out its slit

أَرَدتَنيَ الأَيّامُ طاعِنَةً

صَدري بِأَسيافٍ لَها تُردي

The days desired to stab me

My chest with swords that have no clue to quit

وَأَنا فَتىً ما زِلتُ أَجمَعُ من

رَوضِ الصَبابَةِ وَالهَوى عَقدي

While I, a lad, still gather in a knot

From meadows of my youth the rose's wit

عاثَت صُروف الدَهرِ في جَسَدي

بِمَخالِبٍ كَمَخالِبِ الأُسدِ

The turns of fate clawed savagely my frame

With talons like the talons of the beast

وَيلاهُ أَشباح الرَدى قَربت

ماذا سعاد تَصير من بَعدي

Alas, specters of doom have come so close

What will Saada's fate be after my decease?

أُمّاهُ أَينَ أَبي فَإِنَّ لَهُ

عِندي شُؤوناً ضَيَّعَت رُشدي

Mother! Where is my father, for with him

Are matters lost that stole away my wit

أَأَبي رَعاك اللَهُ كيفَ تَرى

خَلَّفتَني وَتَرَكتَني وَحدي

My father, may God grant you peace, how can it be

You left me and abandoned me, fending alone?

هَل كُنتَ مِثلي يائِساً تَعِباً

فَعَثيتَ في الدُنيا عَلى جَدّي

Were you like me, despairing and fatigued,

So you roamed the world pursuing your own deed?

لا بَأسَ نَم وَالروحُ طاهِرَةٌ

فاليكَ وَجدي لَم يَزَل وَجدي

No matter, sleep, and let the soul be pure

For to you my passion has always cleaved.