حِدائي نعيقٌ بقفرِ الخرابَهْ

حِدائي نعيقٌ بقفرِ الخرابَهْ

وأعْلَنَ فأسُ الزمانِ احْتِطابَهْ

وأعْلَنَ فأسُ الزمانِ احْتِطابَهْ

My camel-driving chant is a caw in the wasteland of ruin.

My wailing echoes in the ruins' desert

And time's axe announced its woodcutting.

And time's axe has loudly announced its felling

غزا الشيبُ قلبي وليسَ مجازاً

غزا الشيبُ قلبي وليسَ مجازاً

إذا النبضُ نادى سُعالا أجابَهْ

إذا النبضُ نادى سُعالا أجابَهْ

Gray hair invaded my heart—not metaphorically.

Grey hair invaded my heart, and it's no metaphor

When the pulse called, a cough answered it.

When my pulse calls out coughing, it responds

وأسْقيتُ شعري ذؤافَ جِراحي

وأسْقيتُ شعري ذؤافَ جِراحي

ولمّا تَعَنَّى شَرِبتُ عذابَهْ

ولمّا تَعَنَّى شَرِبتُ عذابَهْ

And I gave my poetry the deadly poison of my wounds to drink.

I watered my poetry with the kindness of my wounds

And when it suffered, I drank its torment.

And when it grew weary, I drank its torment

وكنتُ إذا لاحَ ومضُ انفراجٍ

وكنتُ إذا لاحَ ومضُ انفراجٍ

بوهْمِ التمنّي امْتطيتُ رِكابَهْ

بوهْمِ التمنّي امْتطيتُ رِكابَهْ

And whenever a gleam of relief appeared,

And whenever a glimmer of hope shone

In the delusion of wishful thinking, I would ride its mounts.

On fanciful wishes I rode its steeds

ولكن حظي شقيٌّ تشظّى

ولكن حظي شقيٌّ تشظّى

بجرْدِ الفيافي أطالَ اغترابَهْ

بجرْدِ الفيافي أطالَ اغترابَهْ

But my fortune is wretched and has splintered;

But my luck is miserable, it crumbled

In the barren deserts, it prolonged its exile.

In the barren wilderness, prolonging my estrangement

فليلي بَهيم كحزنِ اليتامى

فليلي بَهيم كحزنِ اليتامى

وسعدي ذهابٌ أضاع إيابَهْ

وسعدي ذهابٌ أضاع إيابَهْ

So my night is pitch-black, like the grief of orphans.

So my night is helpless like the orphans' sorrow

And my good fortune is a departure that has lost its return.

And my bliss is loss, having missed its return

وأرتَجَ نحسي رحابةَ نفسي

وأرتَجَ نحسي رحابةَ نفسي

وأطلقَ دهري عليّ ذئابَهْ

وأطلقَ دهري عليّ ذئابَهْ

And my ill fortune closed off my soul's expanse.

My wretchedness shook the serenity of my soul

And my fate unleashed its wolves upon me.

And my fate unleashed its wolves upon me

كأني سهوتُ بساذجِ حلمٍ

كأني سهوتُ بساذجِ حلمٍ

ولم أدرِ أنّ الحياةَ كغابَهْ

ولم أدرِ أنّ الحياةَ كغابَهْ

As though I had been heedless in a naïve dream,

As though in the naivete of a dream I forgot

And did not know that life is like a forest.

That life is like a jungle

وأقدمُ موتٍ عرفناهُ قتلاً

وأقدمُ موتٍ عرفناهُ قتلاً

وأصعبُ قتلٍ بنصلِ "القرابَهْ"

وأصعبُ قتلٍ بنصلِ "القرابَهْ"

And the earliest death we have known was a killing,

The death we knew as murder

And the most painful killing is by the blade of kinship.

And the hardest murder is by the blade of "kinship"