ألاAh! يــــاO ظــبــيةgazelle اinitial fragment of 'the bān tree' لــبــاmiddle fragment of 'the bān tree' نfinal fragment of 'the bān tree'
ألا يــــا ظــبــية ا لــبــا ن
أعــــيــديgive back قــلــبيmy heart الــفــانيthe perishing
أعــــيــدي قــلــبي الــفــاني
Ah, O gazelle of the bān tree,
Oh doe of the wilderness
give me back my perishing heart.
Return my fleeting heart
فــكــمfor so many أهـــوالterrors أضــنــتنيhave worn me down
فــكــم أهـــوال أضــنــتني
بــقــســمby splitting الــقــلــبthe heart اثــنــينin two
بــقــســم الــقــلــب اثــنــين
For so many terrors have worn me down,
How many horrors have distressed me
by splitting the heart in two.
By dividing the heart in two
فــكــونــيso be مــثــلماjust as أبــغــيI desire
فــكــونــي مــثــلما أبــغــي
حــبــيــباa beloved جـــاءcame يــرعــانيcares for me
حــبــيــبا جـــاء يــرعــاني
So be, as I desire,
So be as I wish
a beloved who has come to care for me.
A lover who came to shepherd me
فــهــياso come فـــاso (fragment) فــرجيdispel هــميmy sorrow
فــهــيا فـــا فــرجي هــمي
لــنــحــياso we may live حــبــنــاour love ثــــانــيagain
لــنــحــيا حــبــنــا ثــــانــي
So come, dispel my sorrow,
So come relieve my worries
that we may live our love anew.
That we may live our love again
هــفــاstrayed قــلــبيmy heart فـــلاso do not تــنسيforget
هــفــا قــلــبي فـــلا تــنسي
لــمــاfor what أهـــوىI love مـــنfrom الآنnow!
لــمــا أهـــوى مـــن الآن!
My heart has strayed, so do not forget
Listen, my heart, do not forget
what I long for, from now on!
What I yearn for from now!
حــبــيــبــيmy beloved لاdo not تــكــايــدنيplay spiteful games with me
حــبــيــبــي لا تــكــايــدني
فــمــاfor what عـــذريmy plea لــتهوانيthat you might love me؟
فــمــا عـــذري لــتهواني؟
My beloved, do not play spiteful games with me.
My beloved, do not torment me
For what plea have I, that you might love me?
For what is my excuse for my surrender?
فـــلاso do not تــقــسوbe cruel فــماfor ... is not الــقسوةcruelty
فـــلا تــقــسو فــما الــقسوة
دواءa cure لـــلـــذيfor the one who جـــانـــيis guilty
دواء لـــلـــذي جـــانـــي
So do not be cruel, for cruelty is no
So do not be harsh for harshness
cure for one who is guilty.
Is no cure for the one who hurt me
فـــرقـــيso be tender لاdo not تــجــاريــنــيvie with me
فـــرقـــي لا تــجــاريــنــي
أيـــاO ســلــوىSalwa أنـــاI am جــانيa wrongdoer
أيـــا ســلــوى أنـــا جــاني
So be tender; do not vie with me.
Grant me relief, do not oppose me
O Salwa, I am the guilty one.
Oh Solwa, I am the guilty one
فــمــاso what لــلــقلبwith the heart يــخــدعنيdeceives me
فــمــا لــلــقلب يــخــدعني
بــتــصــويرby depicting.... لــــغــزلانof gazelles
بــتــصــوير.... لــــغــزلان
Why, then, does my heart deceive me
Why does the heart deceive me
with images... of gazelles?
With depicting....for gazelles
لأنbecause الــــحــبlove يــجــرحــنيwounds me
لأن الــــحــب يــجــرحــني
ويــرمــيــنــيand casts me لأحــــضــانinto embraces
ويــرمــيــنــي لأحــــضــان
For love wounds me
Because love wounds me
and casts me into embraces.
And throws me into arms
فــهــذاso this الـــروضgarden يــجمعناbrings us together
فــهــذا الـــروض يــجمعنا
بــــوردwith roses بــيــنamong أغــصــانbranches
بــــورد بــيــن أغــصــان
So this garden brings us together,
So this is the meadow that unites us
with roses among the branches,
With roses among branches
وعــــشــبand grass نــــاعــمsoft أثـــلtamarisk
وعــــشــب نــــاعــم أثـــل
يــنــاغــيmurmurs tenderly to مـــاءwater غـــدرانpools
يــنــاغــي مـــاء غـــدران
and soft grass, and tamarisk
And smooth grass, more beautiful
murmuring to the waters of the pools,
Than the water of betrayal
وصـــوتand a voice شـــاديa songster غـــردtuneful
وصـــوت شـــادي غـــرد
يــغــنــيsings عـــذبsweet ألــحــانmelodies
يــغــنــي عـــذب ألــحــان
and a songster's lilting voice
And the voice of a singing bird
singing sweet melodies,
Sings sweet melodies
وضـــوءand light الــشمسthe sun يــرمقناgazes at us
وضـــوء الــشمس يــرمقنا
يــداعــبــنــاcaresses us .....بــــألــوانwith colors
يــداعــبــنــا .....بــــألــوان
and sunlight gazes at us,
And the sun's glow gazes upon us
caressing us with colors.
It caresses us.....with colors
أغــيــثــينيrescue me لــقــدindeed هــاجــتhave surged
أغــيــثــيني لــقــد هــاجــت
هــمــوميmy cares بـــلindeed; rather ووجــدانيand my feelings
هــمــومي بـــل ووجــداني
Rescue me, for they have indeed surged—
Relieve me, for my worries have raged
my cares, indeed, my feelings too.
Even my conscience
فــنــاغــيــنــيso murmur tenderly to me أنــــاغــيــكI murmur tenderly to you
فــنــاغــيــنــي أنــــاغــيــك
فــــأنfor الــوجــدpassionate longing أضــنــانيhas worn me down
فــــأن الــوجــد أضــنــاني
So murmur tenderly to me, and I shall murmur to you,
So lull me, I will lull you
for yearning has worn me down.
For ardour has distressed me
فــلــلأوصالso, for the limbs فــيin جــسميmy body
فــلــلأوصال فــي جــسمي
دبــيــبcreeping الـــداءdisease بــحرمانيbecause of my deprivation
دبــيــب الـــداء بــحرماني
For through the limbs of my body
So my limbs have in my body
disease creeps because of my deprivation.
The throbbing of illness and deprivation
فــيــاso O قــلــبيmy heart ويـــاand O حــبِّــيmy love
فــيــا قــلــبي ويـــا حــبِّــي
لــمwhy الــشكوىthe lament عــلىover فــانيa mortal؟
لــم الــشكوى عــلى فــاني؟
So, O my heart, O my love,
Oh my heart, oh my love
why lament one who is mortal?
Why complain about the fleeting one?
فــزدتــمso you all added فــيin هــجرتمyou all forsook لــيfor me
فــزدتــم فــي هــجرتم لــي
عــــلــىto ثــقــلــيmy burden بــأطــنانby tons
عــــلــى ثــقــلــي بــأطــنان
So in forsaking me, you have added
You have increased your estrangement from me
tons to my burden.
With my burdens in tons
فــبــعديfor my distance عــنكfrom you يــحرمنيdeprives me
فــبــعدي عــنك يــحرمني
فــهــلاthen why not الــخــلthe beloved لا'met me' (first fragment) قــانــي'met me' (final fragment)؟
فــهــلا الــخــل لا قــانــي؟
For my distance from you deprives me;
For your distance from me deprives me
then why has my beloved not met me?
Won't the confidante save me?
المنصورةAl-Mansurah بلوكblock 4 م19671967 CE
المنصورة بلوك 4 م1967
Al-Mansurah, Block 4, 1967 CE.
Partial English translation: 40 of 41 Arabic lines translated.