كأنَّ القلب ليلةَ قيل يُغدى

بليلى العامريةِ أو يُراحُ

As if the heart one night was told it would

Visit Al-Amriya's Laila or find rest,

قطاةٌ عزّها شَرَكٌ فباتت

تُعالجهُ وقد عَلِقَ الجناحُ

A wildcat whose company was confinement found herself

Doctoring it, its wing now broken.

لها فرخانِ قد علقا بوكرٍ

فعشّهما تصفقّه الرّياحُ

It had two fledglings that clung to an empty nest—

The winds would flap their cradle.

فلا بالليلِ نالتْ ما تَرجّى

ولا بالصّبح كان لها بَراحُ

So neither night nor morning brought what she hoped for,

Nor did the dawn grant her relief.