1. كئيب بطيء الخطا مؤلم

    يسير إلى حيث لا يعلم

    Gloomy, slow of step, painful,

    it walks toward a place it does not know.

  2. ويسري ويسري فلا ينتهي

    سراه ولا نهجه المظلم

    And it journeys by night, and journeys; there is no end

    to its journey, nor to its dark path.

  3. وتنساب أشباحه في السكون

    حيارى بخيبتها تحلم

    And its specters glide through the stillness,

    bewildered, dreaming in their disappointment.

  4. هو الليل في صمته ضجة

    وفي سره عالم أبكم

    It is the night: in its silence, an uproar,

    and in its secret, a mute world.

  5. كأن الصبابات في أفقه

    تئن فترتعش الأنجم

    As though the passionate longings in its horizon

    moan, and so the stars tremble.

  6. حزين غريق بأحزانه

    كئيب بآلامه مفعم

    Sad, drowned in its sorrows,

    gloomy, brimming with its pains.

  7. كأن النجوم على صدره

    جراح يلوح عليها الدم

    As though the stars upon its breast

    were wounds upon which blood gleams.

  8. هو الليل يطوي بأعطافه

    قلوباً بأشواقها تضرم

    It is the night, enfolding within its folds

    hearts ablaze with their longings.

  9. تساهره أعين الساهرين

    وتقتات أحلامه النوم

    The eyes of the wakeful keep it company through the night,

    and its dreams feed on sleep.

  10. ويشكو إلى جوه عاشق

    ويشدو على صمته ملهم

    And a lover laments to its air,

    and an inspired one sings over its silence.

  11. يناجي المعنى المعني به

    ويهفو إلى المغرم المغرم

    The love-tormented whispers to the one who cares for him,

    and the love-stricken yearns for the one who inspires love.

  12. ويبتهج القصر في ظله

    وينتحب الكوخ والمعدم

    And the palace rejoices in its shade,

    and the hut and the destitute sob.

  13. ففيه التآويه والأغنيات

    وفي طيه العرس والمأتم

    For in it are sighs and songs,

    and within its folds, the wedding and the funeral.

  14. وفي صدره سر هذا الوجود

    فماذا يذيع وما يكتم؟

    And in its breast lies the secret of this existence:

    so what does it reveal, and what does it conceal?