رَأَيتُكَ بصّاصَ الثِيابِ مُزَوِّقاً

رَأَيتُكَ بصّاصَ الثِيابِ مُزَوِّقاً

فَقُلتُ لِنَفسي قَد وَجَدتُ فَتىً حُرّا

فَقُلتُ لِنَفسي قَد وَجَدتُ فَتىً حُرّا

I saw you in gleaming garments, richly adorned,

I saw you with tattered clothes,

So I said to myself, 'I have found a noble young man.'

So I said to myself, I have found a free man.

فَجِئتُكَ وَالأَطماعُ تَجذِبُ مِقَودي

فَجِئتُكَ وَالأَطماعُ تَجذِبُ مِقَودي

لِأَمرٍ فَما أَنجَزتَ لي ذَلِكَ الأَمرا

لِأَمرٍ فَما أَنجَزتَ لي ذَلِكَ الأَمرا

So I came to you, hopes tugging at my rein,

I came to you with high hopes pulling me,

With a request—but you did not fulfill that request for me.

For something, yet you did not accomplish that for me.

فَكُنتُ كَأَنّي مُمحِلٌ شامَ بارِقاً

فَكُنتُ كَأَنّي مُمحِلٌ شامَ بارِقاً

فَلَم يَرَ مَرقاهُ لِخُلَّبِهِ قَطرا

فَلَم يَرَ مَرقاهُ لِخُلَّبِهِ قَطرا

So I was like a drought-stricken man who spied lightning,

So I was like one carrying an empty waterskin,

But from his lookout he saw no rain, for the lightning was deceptive;

Its drippings were not seen from its wetness.

وَإِلّا كَظامٍ طافَ رائِدُ لَحظِهِ

وَإِلّا كَظامٍ طافَ رائِدُ لَحظِهِ

إِلى أَن رَأى آلاً فَقَدَّرَهُ بَحرا

إِلى أَن رَأى آلاً فَقَدَّرَهُ بَحرا

Or else like a thirsty man whose scouting gaze roamed,

Or like one wandering, following his hopes,

Until he saw a mirage and took it for a sea.

Until he saw mirages which he imagined as a sea.

فَما زالَ يَقفوهُ وَيَزدادُ ما بِهِ

فَما زالَ يَقفوهُ وَيَزدادُ ما بِهِ

إِلى أَن غَدَت تِلكَ الفَلاةُ لَهُ قَبرا

إِلى أَن غَدَت تِلكَ الفَلاةُ لَهُ قَبرا

So he kept following it as his thirst increased,

So he continued to follow it and his condition worsened,

Until that wilderness became his grave.

Until that wilderness became for him a grave.