عَاشَ هَذَا الفَتَى مُحِباً شَقِيَّا

وَقَضَى نَحْبَهُ مُحِباً شَقِيَّا

This youth lived loving miserably

And spent his sighs loving miserably

وَبَكَى دَمْعَ عَيْنَيهِ فِي سُطُورٍ

جعلَتْه عَلَى المَدَى مَبكِيَّا

And shed tears from his eyes in lines

That made him forever weeping

مُنْشِدٌ لِلْغَرَامِ لَمْ يَشْدُ إِلاَّ

كَانَ إِنْشَادُهُ نُواحاً شَجِيَّا

A singer of passion who sang naught but

Songs of profound lament

شَاعِرٌ كَانَ عُمْرُهُ بَيْتَ تَشْبِي

بٍ وَكَانَ الأَنِينُ فِيهِ الرَّوِيَّا

A poet whose life was but a house of longing

Wherein sorrow was the refrain

فَاقْرَئِي شَرْحَ حَالِهِ وَاعْجَبِي مِنْ

ذَلِكَ القَلْبِ كَيْفَ بَاتَ خَلِيَّا

So read the tale of his state and wonder

How that heart stayed vacant

إِنَّ فِي نَظْمِهِ لَحِسّاً لَطِيفاً

بَاقِياً مِنْهُ فِي السُّطُورِ خَفِيَّا

For in his verse there is subtle sweetness

Lingering in lines hidden

فَاذْرِفي دَمْعَةً عَلَيْهِ تُعِيدِي

وَرَقَ الطِّرْسِ بِالحَيَاةِ نَدِيَّا

Shed a tear for him that would

Revive the leaves with life anew

وَتُثِيرِي مِنْ رُوحِهِ نَسَمَاتٍ

وَتُفِيحِي مِنْهَا عَبِيراً ذَكِيَّا

And stir from his soul gentle breezes

Exhaling from them a scent refreshed