مطوقةٌ علَى فَنَنِ

أثارَ هتافُها شجني

Surrounded by various arts,

Her cry stirred my sorrows,

نفى عن مقلةٍ عبرى

لذيذَ الغمْضِ والوسن

She removed the veil from a weeping eye,

Of sweet slumber and charm.

وَنبَّه من غراميَ ما

عفاه اليأْسُ من زمن

And awakened in me from my passion what,

Despair had pardoned from time,

وَزاد إلى همومِ النف

س هَمّاً قبل لم يكن

And increased unto the griefs of my soul,

A grief before that was not.

فيا للهِ ما ضمن ال

هتافُ لقلبيَ الضَّمنِ

Oh Allah, what did the cry

Contain for my laden heart!

عجبتُ لها تجيدُ البثَّ

والشكوى وَلم تبن

I wondered at her, skilled in lament

And plaint, though she built not.

فما تنفكُّ نائحةً

وَلستُ عن البكاءِ أَني

Ceaseless in her wailing,

While I weep not over cessation.

إذا ضنَّتْ بدمعتِها

أَجودُ بدمعيَ الهَتِنِ

When she is miserly with her tears,

I spend my tears generously.

كذاك الحالُ في الدنيا

فذو حزنٍ لذي حزن

Such is the case in life,

One of sorrow for another of sorrow.

مقاسمةُ الحزينِ على الأ

سى من أَحسنِ السنن

Sharing the sorrowful his ease

Is of the best deeds.

هناك ذكرتُ من لميا

ءَ عهداً جد مؤتمن

I remembered there one whose covenant

In the past was very faithful.

أُواسيها وترثي لي

وأَرعاها وتحفظني

I console her and mourn for myself,

And delight her while she protects me.

وآنا الدهرُ في دعةٍ

وعيشٍ باللقاءِ هني

While time was gentle with me

And life was sweet with union.

فأحفظه تدانينا

فأَبعدها وخلَّفني...

So keep our intimacy,

And distance her while leaving me...

غريباً عن أَخلائي

وعن أهلي وعن سكني

A stranger to my brethren

And family and home.

كأَني بينهم طراً

أسيرٌ لزَّ في قَرَن

As though I were prey

Captured in fetters.

وبدَّلني عن (القصري

ن) بالأطلال والدمن

And changed me from “Al-Qusayr”

To ruins and edifices.

بكيتُ غداة فرقتها

بكاءَ (عمارة اليمني)

I wept the morn she parted from me

Weeping like ‘Amarah Al-Yemeni’.

أقول ومدمعي يهمي

وقد برزتْ تودِّعني

I say while my tears pour,

As she bid me farewell:

أقلبٌ سُلَّ من صدرٍ

وروح فكَّ عن بدن؟

“A throat is it severed from a breast

And soul detached from body?

أَحنُّ إِلى مغانيها

حنينَ العَوْد للعَطَن

I yearn for her songs,

Yearning of lute for rhythm.

وَكم هزتنيَ الذكرى

كهزِّ الريحِ للغصنِ

And how memory shook me

Like shaking of wind to branch!

وَتِقْتُ إلى منازلها

كتوْقِ الطير للوكن

And I aim toward her dwellings,

Like the bird’s aim for nest.”

لقد رقدتْ عيونُ العا

ذلين بما يؤرقني

Eyes of intimates have slept

With what keeps me awake.

عجبتُ لهم أَمنّاهمْ

فخانونا وَلم نخنِ

I wondered at them while trusted,

They betrayed us and we betrayed not.

دللناهمْ علينا إِذْ

أَضلّونا عن السنن

We pampered them against us when

They misguided us from proper deeds.

إذا ما استنجزوا وعداً

أَجابوا بعد لم يحن

When they accomplished a promise,

They responded after it expired.

نسام الخسف والأهوا

ن ثم ننوءُ بالمنن

Whispers of ruin and passions,

Then we regretted the favors.

أَلا هل

وقد ذلتْ بنو وطني

Lo! Has it not

While my people's home was abased?

ألا

من الأَحداثِ والفتن

Lo! Were not their consciences

Folded on rancor and malice?

لقد طويتْ ضمائرُهمْ

عَلى الأضغانِ والإِحن

And in them every despicable,

Evil of secret and open?

وفيهم كلُّ مشاءِ

خبيثِ السرِّ والعلن

I have parted with them, so who will

Deliver me from them?

بَرمتُ بهمْ فمن لي بال

ذي منهم يخلِّصني