أما آن للخلّ المريض بأن يبرا

أما آن للخلّ المريض بأن يبرا

فإن صحيح الجسم منه شكا الضرا

فإن صحيح الجسم منه شكا الضرا

Is it not time for the ailing friend to recover?

Is it not time for the ailing friend to be healed?

For even one sound of body has complained of hardship because of him.

For truly, even the healthy body complains of the harm afflicted.

توالت عليه جوعةٌ بعد جوعةٍ

توالت عليه جوعةٌ بعد جوعةٍ

أخوكم لها قد صار كالقلم المبرى

أخوكم لها قد صار كالقلم المبرى

One bout of hunger after another befell him.

Pang after pang of hunger has descended upon him in succession,

Because of it, your brother has become like a whittled pen.

Until your brother has become, through them, like a sharpened pen.

به وكل الجوع المعطل للقوى

به وكل الجوع المعطل للقوى

فللّه ما أنكاه فينا وما أجرا

فللّه ما أنكاه فينا وما أجرا

Hunger, the crippler of strength, was set upon him.

Entrusted to him is a hunger that nullifies all strength;

By God, how sorely it wounds us, and how brazen it is!

By God, how deep it wounds us, and how bold it is!

إذا نمتُ أمسى لي ضجيعاً ملازماً

إذا نمتُ أمسى لي ضجيعاً ملازماً

وإن قمتُ أضحى كالغريم بنا مغرى

وإن قمتُ أضحى كالغريم بنا مغرى

When I sleep, it becomes my inseparable bedfellow.

When I sleep, it becomes my inseparable bedfellow,

And if I rise, it becomes like a creditor bent on pursuing us.

And when I rise, it is like a creditor obsessed with us.

وقد عشت أياماً بظلّ جنابكم

وقد عشت أياماً بظلّ جنابكم

فللّه عيشٌ ما ألذّ وما أمرا

فللّه عيشٌ ما ألذّ وما أمرا

And I lived for days in the shade of your presence.

I once lived days beneath the shade of your protection—

By God, what a life—how sweet and how wholesome!

By God, what a life! How sweet it was, how wholesome!

إلى أن دهانا الدهر يوما بجده

إلى أن دهانا الدهر يوما بجده

بعادات بين ما أحدّ وما أفرى

بعادات بين ما أحدّ وما أفرى

Until one day Time assailed us in grim earnest,

Until Time struck us one day with its severity,

with its customary partings—how sharp and how cutting!

With habits of separation—how sharp they are, how cutting!

ففرقنا جمعا وكدّر صفونا

ففرقنا جمعا وكدّر صفونا

وجوّعنا جوعا فقدنا له الصبرا

وجوّعنا جوعا فقدنا له الصبرا

So it scattered us, once united, and clouded our serenity.

It scattered our gathering and muddied our serenity,

And made us hunger with a hunger we had no patience left to bear.

And starved us with a hunger for which we have lost all patience.

فإن شئت فلتبرا لعلك مدركي

فإن شئت فلتبرا لعلك مدركي

وإلا فإن الجوع قد هيّأ القبرا

وإلا فإن الجوع قد هيّأ القبرا

So, if you wish, recover—perhaps you may reach me in time.

So if you will, grant relief; perhaps you may yet rescue me,

And if not, hunger has already prepared the grave.

Otherwise, hunger has already prepared the grave.

بهذا أشار الناصحون لعلكم

بهذا أشار الناصحون لعلكم

ترقّون أو تأتي لنا منكم البشرى

ترقّون أو تأتي لنا منكم البشرى

The well-wishers advised this, in the hope that you

With this the counselors have advised, hoping that you

might take pity, or that glad tidings might come to us from you.

Might show compassion, or that good tidings from you might come to us.