سقى دارهم هامي الغمام وهامله

سقى دارهم هامي الغمام وهامله

ونور ذاوي الروض فيها وذابله

ونور ذاوي الروض فيها وذابله

May pouring clouds and their streaming rain water their home,

Their abode was watered by clouds of sorrow, drenching it,

And may the garden's withered and drooping growth blossom there.

The light in the garden faded and withered away,

وعاد بها طيب الليالي التي خلت

وعاد بها طيب الليالي التي خلت

وغبطة عيش قد تقضت غياطله

وغبطة عيش قد تقضت غياطله

And may the sweetness of bygone nights return there,

And it brought back pleasant nights now passed,

And the bliss of a life whose lush bowers have passed away.

Along with the bliss of a life whose joys are no more.

منى يتمناها على بعد نيلها

منى يتمناها على بعد نيلها

كذوب الأماني ذاهب القلب ذاهله

كذوب الأماني ذاهب القلب ذاهله

Wishes he longs for, though their attainment is distant—

I yearn for what is beyond my reach,

A man of false hopes, his heart wandering and heedless.

My fanciful hopes betray my wistful heart.

وبعض الأماني ضلة وإذا انقضت

وبعض الأماني ضلة وإذا انقضت

أواخر دهر كيف تثنى أوائله

أواخر دهر كيف تثنى أوائله

And some wishes are delusion; when there have passed

Some hopes lead astray, and when life ends,

The last days of a lifetime, how can its first days return?

How can its beginnings be repeated?

ديار بها صاحبت شرخ شبيبتي

ديار بها صاحبت شرخ شبيبتي

أجادده طورا وطورا أهازله

أجادده طورا وطورا أهازله

Homes where I kept company with the prime of my youth,

A place where I spent my exuberant youth,

At times earnest with it, at times jesting with it.

At times conversing, at times joking and teasing.

أروح إلى لهو الصبا ونعيمه

أروح إلى لهو الصبا ونعيمه

وأغدو على ليث كمي أنازله

وأغدو على ليث كمي أنازله

At evening I went to youth's play and bliss,

I revisit the pleasures and bliss of youth,

And in the morning against a lion, an armored warrior, to fight him.

And attack every difficulty like a lion.

عهدت بها عين المها دون حجبها

عهدت بها عين المها دون حجبها

أسود الشرى يلقى لأردى من تصاوله

أسود الشرى يلقى لأردى من تصاوله

There I knew wide-eyed oryxes, before whose veils

I knew it before the eyes of fascination unveiled it -

Stood lions of al-Shara; whoever they assailed met [death].

Black fate meets the one who aspires beyond his limits.

وسرب ظباء تحجب الشمي دونه

وسرب ظباء تحجب الشمي دونه

وتحجب عن طيف الخيال عقائله

وتحجب عن طيف الخيال عقائله

And a herd of gazelles, from which the [sun] was screened,

A herd of gazelles conceals the valley beyond,

And whose noble women were veiled from imagination's phantom.

Concealing from my imagination their young.

وكل أخي بأس كريم تخاله

وكل أخي بأس كريم تخاله

إذا ما انتفى سيفا جلته صياقله

إذا ما انتفى سيفا جلته صياقله

And every noble man of valor—you would deem him,

Each brother of mine is generously defiant -

When he proclaimed his lineage, a sword burnished by its polishers.

When he unsheathes his sword its polish gleams.

فلم يبقى مما كان إلا ادكاره

فلم يبقى مما كان إلا ادكاره

وحسرة قلب لا تقر بلابله

وحسرة قلب لا تقر بلابله

So nothing remained of what once was but its remembrance,

Of what was, only memories remain,

And a heart's anguish, its anxieties never still.

And the regret of a heart that knows no rest.

وكنت أرى ما سرني غير زائل

وكنت أرى ما سرني غير زائل

ويخطئ نهج الحزم من هو جاهله

ويخطئ نهج الحزم من هو جاهله

And I thought what pleased me would never pass away,

I used to think the transient would remain,

And whoever is ignorant of it misses the path of prudence.

And the misguided strays from the path of wisdom.

فما كان إلا الطيف يحسب في الكرى

فما كان إلا الطيف يحسب في الكرى

يينا فإن بان الكرى بان باطله

يينا فإن بان الكرى بان باطله

So it was only a phantom, deemed in sleep

It was but a specter I mistook for reality -

To be [real]; when sleep departs, its falsehood becomes clear.

When reality appears, the specter disappears.