1. من مُبْلغٌ عني فلا

    نَ الدّين والأنباءُ تَنْمي

    Who will tell, on my behalf, Fula—

    —n al-Din, as tidings spread,

  2. أنّي هجرتُك لا كظنْ

    نِكَ طائعاً لكنْ برَغمِي

    that I forsook you—not, as you sup—

    —pose, willingly, but against my will?

  3. أوهَتْ خطوبُ الدهرِ من

    هِمَمِي وفلَّتْ حدَّ عَزمي

    Time’s calamities have weakened

    my aspirations and blunted the edge of my resolve.

  4. ورَمَتْنِيَ الأيَّامُ عن

    قوسي فأردتني بسَهمِي

    And the days have shot me from

    my own bow, and felled me with my own arrow.

  5. وغدَا الذين بهم أُسَلْ

    لِي الهمَّ حين يُلِمُّ هَمِّي

    And those through whom I would dis—

    —pel grief when it struck have become my grief.