مالي أطارح نحو أسود صادح

شجوي فلا يُلغي بذاك مطارحي

Why do I share with a black songbird

my grief, when my fellow singer does not thereby dispel it?

لهفي لشُحْرُور أَلفت بسُحْرة

ترنامه هَزَجاً بصوت جارح

Alas for a blackbird! At daybreak I grew used to

its lilting warble in a piercing voice.

حُوٍّ قوائمهُ دجوجي الكسا

حمر ملائمه طروب فادح

Dusky-legged, with plumage black as night,

red about its [mouth-parts?], melodious and overpowering,

يشجي القلوب برنّة تذكي الجَوى

وتُثير نار الوجد بين جوانحي

it saddens hearts with a ringing note that kindles heartache

and stirs the fire of longing between my ribs.

يرتاد كل حديقة غناء قد

حُفّتْ جوانُبها بنهْرٍ سارح

It visits every lush garden that has

its sides bordered by a freely flowing river.

فيحلّ في فَنَنٍ ويعلو آخراً

دانٍ ويستولي بآخر نازح

It settles on one bough, then mounts another

nearby, and claims another far away,

متنقلاً في الدَّوْح فوق غصونه

كتنقل الأفياء فوق مسارح

moving among the great trees, over their branches,

like shadows shifting over pastures.

يندي يمنتحل الرَذَاذ جناحه

فيظلُّ مرتعشاً بِطلّ راشح

It moistens its wing with [sifted?] spray,

then stays shivering with dripping dew.

عاهدته أن لا يزال مساجلي

شكوى عقابيل الجوى ومناوحي

I made a pact with it: always to match me

in lamenting love's lingering pains, and to mourn beside me.

يشكو فأسمع ما يقول وأنثني

أشكو فيسمع لي مقالة طافح

It would lament, and I would hear what it said; then I would turn

to lament, and it would hear my overflowing words.

فلوى بعهدي واستقل به النوى

عني وغادرني بدمع سافح

But it broke my pact, and separation carried it away

from me, leaving me with streaming tears.