ولهان ذو خافق رقّت حواشيه

يصبو فتنشره الذكرى وتطويه

With fluttering wings,

Memory pours it and folds it.

كأنّه وهو فوق الغصن مضطرب

قلب المشوق وقد جدّ الهوى فيه

As if it, while fluttering above the branch,

Is the throbbing heart that passion has ignited in it.

رأى الربيع وقد أودى الخريف به

بين الطيور كميت بين أهليه

It saw spring after autumn had destroyed it,

Among the birds, like a corpse among its family.

فراح يرسلها أنّات محتضر

إلى السماء ويشكو ما يعانيه

So it began sending dying moans

To the sky, complaining of its torment.

لا الروض زاه ولا الاكمام باسمة

ولا عرائسه سكرى فتلهيه

Neither the meadows delighted it, nor the thickets with their jasmine,

Nor its brides drunk with joy entertaining it.

يجيل ناظره فيه ويطرق في

صمت فيجيه مرآه ويبكيه

Its gaze wanders over it and lingers silently,

Then its mirror comes to it and makes it weep.

ماذا رأى غير أعوادٍ مبعثرة

على هشيم به وأرى أمانيه

What did it see but scattered twigs

Over debris that showed its hopes?

فللخريف صراخ فيه يذعره

والريح تزفر في شتى نواحيه

Autumn's screams terrify it,

And the winds roar from all directions.

حيران ما انفك مذهولا كمتهم

لم يجن ذنبا ولم ينجح محاميه

Bewildered, it remains confused like an accused

Who committed no crime and whose lawyer failed.

تطل من كوّة الماضي عليه وقد

أشجاه حاضره أطياف ماضيه

The past peeks at it from a crevice,

While the present haunts it with ghosts of its past.

يرنو إليها كما يرنو المريض وما

أبلّ بعد إلى عيني مداويه

It longs for them as a sick man longs, but still

No remedy has come yet to its eyes.

فيستمرّ نواحاً كالفطيم رأى

نديا فصاح وأين الثدي من فيه

So it continues wailing like an orphan who saw

A breast, and cried out, where is the milk in it?

وإن غفا راحت الأحلام عابثة

به فتدنيه أحيانا وتقصيه

And if it sleeps, dreams play with it mischievously,

Sometimes drawing near and sometimes avoiding it.

وكم تراءت له من خلفها صور

يختال فيها الربيع البكر في تبه

And how many images behind them appeared to it

Where spring parades in its prime.

فيستفيق فلا الأغصان مورقة

كلا ولا السامر الشادي يناجيه

So it wakes up - no blossoming branches,

No nightingale confiding to it.

فيسكب اللحن أنّاتٍ بغصّ بها

ويح الشتاء فما أقسى لياليه

It pours out a melody in choking sobs,

Oh how cruel are its nights!

ولّى الشتاء فوافى الدوح بلبله

وجاء آذار بالبثرى يهنيه

Winter departed, and spring came with its bulbul,

And March approached with good tidings consoling it.

وأقبلت سحرا نشوى نسائمه

تهفو وتلثمه شوقا فتشفيه

The dawn breezes came, panting

And kissing it passionately, healing it.

واستقبل الروض بالأطياب شاعره

وهبّت الطير أسراباً تحبيه

The garden welcomed its poet with perfumes,

And flocks of birds came to congratulate it.

فأين داوود من أثغام مطربه

وأين معبد من ألحان شاديه

Where is David compared to its singing thrushes,

And where is the temple compared to its melodious tones?

جذلان يظفر من غصن إلى غصن

وبسمة الصبح بالإنشاد تغريه

Sparrows vie from branch to branch,

And the smile of dawn seduces it to sing.

فيورد الشعر آيات يرتلها

من وحي نيسان والأوتار ترويه

It pours forth verses it recites

Inspired by April, the strings making it flow.

الروح تهفو لموسيقاه في مرح

والقلب يرشف أحلاما معانيه

The soul ardently craves its music in joy,

And the heart sips dreams of its meanings.

تكاد تسمع فيه حين يرسله

دقات خافقه والوجد يكويه

When it sends it forth, you almost hear

The beating of its fluttering heart, passion scorching it.

وتلمح الفنّ في دنيا ترنمه

وتشرب السحر خمرا في تغنيّه

You glimpse art in its singing world,

And drink magic wine in its melodies.

سكران يرقص فوق الدوح مبتهجا

والورق راد الضحى ولهى تصابيه

Drunk, it dances happily above the meadow,

As the leaves call one another to play with it.

الفجر خماره يبدو فيصبحه

والروض معشوقه والأيك ناديه

Dawn is its wine that appears at dawn,

And the meadow is its beloved, the nest its friend.

رفّت على الورد والريحان شادية

أحلامه وبها خفّت أغانيه

It fluttered joyfully over the roses and basil,

Its dreams making its songs gentle.

حنا الربيع عليه وهو في جذل

كالطفل حين يناغيه مربيه

Spring sang tenderly to it while it hopped,

Like a child when its nanny lulls it.

ذر الطبيعة يا هذا تدلله

ذره بأحضانها يشدو وتسقيه

Leave it to nature's pampering,

Leave it to sing and water it.

ذرة وأفراخه في العش مغتبطا

بقربها ناعما دعها تناغيه

Leave it and its chicks happily in the nest

To be close to it, gentle, let it lull it.