ترى يذكر الأحياء أهل المقابر

ويعتادهم فيها كشوق المسافر

Do the living remember those in the graves,

And grow accustomed to them as the longing of a traveler?

وهل تظمأ الأم العطوف إلى ابنها

إذا انتزعتها منه أيدي المقادر

Does the compassionate mother thirst for her son

When the hands of fate snatch him away?

تقول ألا يا ليته لصق أضلعي

كعهدي به والنوم ملء المحاجر

Saying, "Oh, if only he clung to my ribs

As was my habit with him, with sleep filling my eyelids."

أضم إلى صدري حشاشة نفسه

وأملأ قلبي منه بعد النواظر

I would press his whispering soul to my chest

And fill my heart with him after seeing him.

وهل يحمل الصب المشوق ولوعه

ويصبو إلى سحر العيون الزواهر

Does the enamored youth bear his torment

And yearn for the magic of radiant eyes?

ويذكر أيام القطعية والنوى

وأيام وصل الآنسات الغرائر

Remembering the days of trysts and tokens

And days of joining with gentle companions.

فإن جشأت في صدره غصص الجوى

وجلله وجد الحسان النوافر

If the pangs of love stirred in his chest

And passion's agony seized him,

بكى شجوه في ظلمة القبر وانثنى

يعالج المام الخيال المزاور

He would weep his lament in the grave's darkness

Wrestling with imaginings, the persistent visitor.

وما حال طفلٍ ضامر ظامئ الحشا

إذا غاله سهم المنايا الجوائر

What is the state of a withered, thirsty child

When the arrow of death, so cruel, strikes him?

أيذكر ثدي الأم في كل لحظةٍ

ويبكي حجور المحصنات الحرائر

Does he remember at every moment his mother's breast

And weep for the veiled, noble ladies?

وهل يحلم المفلوك في رقدة الردى

بما كان يلقى في الليالي الغواير

Does the wretched dream in the slumber of decay

Of what he used to encounter on wanton nights?

فيحلم بالأيسار طوراً وبالغنى

وبالفقر والإملاق في كل آخر

Thus he dreams of wealth at times and luxury

And poverty and destitution at others.

وهل يسع اللملحود ريعان زفرة

ينفسها قلبٌ جريح الضمائر

Can the scorned breathe a sigh

From a heart wounded in conscience?

على هرم هم برى الدهر عظمة

وقوسه عبء السنين المواقر

On a peak of anxiety heaped by the days of life

And its bow is the burden of crushing years.

قراه أسىً قد ضاق عنه احتماله

ومؤنسه في العيش سود الخواطر

He read it as sorrow that exceeded his endurance

And his companion in life was the darkness of thoughts.

وتحسبه مما تقيد دميةً

سوى حسراتٍ أردفت بزاوفر

You would think him a bound doll

Besides regrets that followed in succession.

وتحسبه مما تقوس طائراً

ولكنه عنه عشه غير طائر

You would think him a bird that arched its wings

But it was not a bird freed from its nest.

ستخبرني نفسي إذا حان حينها

وصرت كمن بادوا رهين حفائر

My soul will tell me when its time comes

And I become like one captive in graves.