أيَّامُ قُرْبِكَ عِنْدي مَا لَهَا ثَمَنُ

لَكِنَّنِي صَدَّنِي عَنْ قُرْبِكَ الزَّمَنُ

The days of your nearness, to me, are beyond all price.

But Time has barred me from drawing near to you.

حَطَطْتُ بَعْدَكَ يَاأَهْلِي وَيَاوَطَنِي

رَحْلَ الْغَرِيبِ فَلاَ أَهْلٌ وَلاَ وَطَنُ

Away from you, O my family, O my homeland, I set down

a stranger’s baggage—no family now, no homeland.

قَدْ حَلَّ حُبُّكَ مِنْ قَلْبِي بِمَنْزِلهٍ

لاَ الْمَاءُ يَجْرِي مَجَارِيهَا وَلاَ اللَّبَنُ

Your love has taken up, within my heart, a dwelling

whose channels neither water nor milk can ever run.

لَمَّا تَحَمَّلتُ عَنْكَ الرَّكْبَ مُرْتَحِلاً

وَالْقَلْبُ فِيكَ غَدَاةَ الْبَيْنِ مُرْتَهَنُ

When, departing, I let the caravan bear me away from you,

my heart, that morning of parting, remained with you in pawn.

وَلاَ واللهِ مَا سَكَنَتْ نَفْسِي إِلَى أَحَدٍ

يَوْماً وَلاَ رَاقَ عَيْنِي مَنْظَرٌ حَسَنُ

By God, never has my soul found rest in anyone,

nor has any lovely sight ever pleased my eye.

كَمْ لِي بِرَبْعِكَ مِنْ أُنْسٍ وَمِنْ طَرَبٍ

كَأَنَّمَا كَانَ حُلْماً جَرّه الْوَسَنُ

How much intimacy and rapture were mine in your quarter—

as though it had all been a dream spun out by drowsiness.

وَالأَمْرُ أَمْرِي والدُّنْيَا مُسَخَّرَةٌ

وَكُلَ قَصْدٍ بِهِ الإِسْعَادُ مُقْتَرِنُ

Then command was mine, and the world lay at my service,

and good fortune attended every purpose.

حَتَّى تَنَبَّهَ جَفْنُ الدَّهْر مِنْ سِنَةٍ

وَالدَّهْرُ مُضْطَرِبٌ وَالحُرُّ مُمْتَحَنُ

Until the eyelid of Time awakened from its slumber:

Time turned turbulent, and the noble man was put to trial.

حَمَامَةَ الْلبَانِ مَا هَذَا الْبُكَاءُ عَلَى

مَرِّ الزَّمَانِ وَهَذا الشَّجْو وَالشَّجَن

O dove of al-Labān, why all this weeping over

the passage of time, this ache, this sorrow?

لاَ مَسكنٌ بِنْتَ عَنْهُ أَنْتَ تَنْدُبُهُ

وَلاَ حَبِيبٌ وَلاَ خِلٌّ وَلاَ سكَنُ

You have no dwelling you departed from to mourn,

no beloved, no true friend, no home.

كَفٌّ خَضِيبٌ وَأطوَاقٌ مُلَوَّنَةٌ

مَا هَكَذَا الْبَثُّ يَا وَرْقَاءُ وَالشَّجَنُ

A henna-dyed palm and many-colored neck-rings—

this is not how anguish and grief appear, O ring-dove.

لَوْ كُنْتَ تَنفُثُ عَنْ شَوْقٍ مُنِيتَ بِهِ

يَوْماً لَصَارَ رَمَاداً تَحْتَكَ الْغُصُنُ

Had you been breathing out the longing that afflicted you,

the branch beneath you would one day have turned to ash.

يَا نَسْمَةَ الرِّيحِ كَيْفَ الدَّارُ هَلْ عَمَرَتْ

كَلاَّ وَهَلْ أَخْصَبَتْ مِنْ بَعْدِهاَ الدِّمَنُ

O breeze, how is the dwelling? Has it stayed inhabited?

No—and could the ruined traces have flourished after it?

لَعَلَّ مَنْ قَدْ قَضَى يَوْماً بِفُرْقَتِنَا

تَحُلُّ مِنْهُ بِرَفْعِ الْفُرقَةِ الْمِنَنُ

Perhaps the one who once decreed our separation

will send favors from himself that bring our parting to an end.

نَسْتَغْفُر الله كَمْ للهِ مِنْ مِنَحٍ

لُذْنَا بِهَا بَعْدَ أَنْ لاَذَتْ بِنَا مِحَنُ

We ask God’s forgiveness—how many gifts belong to God,

gifts in which we took refuge after trials lodged themselves in us.

وَنَسْأَلُ اللهَ فِي عُقْبَى نُسَرُّ بِهَا

فَقَدْ تَسَاوَى لَدَيْهِ السِّرُّ وَالْعَلَنُ

And we beseech God for an outcome in which we may rejoice,

for before Him, secret and open are alike.