يا ليل طلت جناحا

متى تريني الصباحا

O Night, you have spread your wings long,

When will you reveal to me the morning?

أرى الكرى صد عنيي

بوجهه وأشاحا

I see that slumber has turned away from me,

Averting its face and looking elsewhere.

أمسى علي حراما

ما كان منه مباحا

It has become forbidden to me,

That which was once permissible.

قد ضمت بالهم ذرعا

وما وجدت انشراحا

My patience has grown weary from distress,

And I have found no relief or solace.

ملت فراشي نفسي

واستوحشت منه ساحا

My soul has grown weary of my bed,

And feels desolate within its bounds.

كأنني رهن سجن

لم أرج منه سراحا

As though I am a hostage in a prison,

Expecting no release from it.

كأن تحتي شوكا

يشوكني أو رماحا

As if beneath me lies a bed of thorns,

Piercing me, or perhaps spear-points.

أبيت وسنان مضنى

أرجو المنى أن تتاحا

I spend the night drowsy yet tormented,

Hoping that my desires might be granted.

ظمآن أنشد ماء

يشفي الغليل قراحا

Thirsty, I seek out water,

Pure water to quench this burning thirst.

أجيل بالرأيى فكري

كمن يجيل القداحا

I turn my thoughts over in my mind,

Like one casting divining arrows.

وانظم الشعر وردا

ونرجسا وأقاحا

And I arrange poetry like roses,

Like narcissus and chamomile flowers.

تأبى البلابل إلا

ترنما وصداحا

The nightingales refuse to do anything,

But chant and sing aloud.

وقد أرى الجد أجدى

فأستحب الكفاحا

At times I deem diligence to be more useful,

And so I favor the struggle.

وقد أرى الصبر أولى

فأطمئن ارتياحا

At times I see patience as most fitting,

So I settle down in comfort.

وقد يهم فؤادي

بأن يطير جماحا

And sometimes my heart yearns,

To take flight in wild defiance.

وقد أسر بكائي

وقد أضج نواحا

Sometimes I conceal my weeping,

And sometimes I erupt in wailing.

ولا يقر قراري

إلا إذا الديك صاحا

And I find no rest or settlement,

Until the rooster crows.

أرى أخا الشعر يسعى

ولا يصيب نجاحا

I see the companion of poetry striving,

Yet achieving no success.

موكلا بخيال

في جوه الرحب ساحا

Entrusted to imagination,

Wandering through its vast atmosphere.

يخطو به خطوات

إلى الأمام فساحا

Taking strides within it,

Wide strides toward the front.

لكنها خائبات

نهاية وافتتاحا

But they are futile steps,

In both their ending and beginning.

في قلبه نزوات

مثل الزناد انقداحا

In his heart are sudden impulses,

Like the sparking of a flint.

وفي حشاه سهام

قد أثخنته جراحا

And within his soul are arrows,

That have riddled him with deep wounds.

أتى المسراب ليروى

يا ويحه واستماحا

He approached the mirage to slake his thirst,

Woe to him, as he begged for a drink.

فلم ير السؤل جدا

حتى استحال مزاحا

He did not find his quest to be real,

Until it transformed into a mockery.

فلا جناح عليه

في يأسه لا جناحا

So let there be no blame upon him,

No blame at all in his despair.

أقبح بآمال نفسي

وإن تبدت ملاحا

How wretched are the hopes of my soul,

Even if they appear beautiful to the eye.

قد أوثقتني كتافا

فما استطعت براحا

They have bound me tight in shackles,

So that I could not break away.

كتمتها منذ حين

لكن بها الشعر باحا

I concealed them for a long time,

But poetry has revealed them all.

إن الشعور لداء

أضر بي وأطاحا

True feeling is indeed a disease,

That has harmed me and cast me down.

من لا شعور بشيء

له نجا واستراحا

He who feels nothing at all,

Is the one who survives and finds rest.

يا ليل أسرفست بردا

وظلمة ورياحا

O Night, you have been excessive in your cold,

In your darkness and your winds.

أطفئ حروبك عنا

ولا تزدها لقاحا

Extinguish your wars against us,

And do not stoke their fires further.

وقف لنعقد حلفا

ما بيننا واصحطلاحا

Halt, that we may form a truce,

And a reconciliation between us.

إنا عليك اقترحنا

فما أجبت اقتراحا

We have made a proposal to you,

Yet you answered no proposal.

ياليل ما فيك نجم

جلا الدجى وأزاحا

O Night, there is no star within you,

To clear the darkness and drive it away.

إلا كواكب حيرى

لم تتضح لي اتضاحا

Only confused, wandering stars,

That do not appear clearly to my eyes.

بطيئة لست أدري

بها ونى أم كساحا

Slow-moving—I do not know,

Do they suffer from fatigue or lameness?

تحكي أدلاء قومي

مرضى تسوس صحاحا

They resemble the guides of my people:

The sick governing the healthy.