1. فَوقَ هَذا التل عن هذي الرمال

    في انفرادي

    Atop this hill, away from these sands,

    in my solitude,

  2. ها أَنا ما بين فرسان الخيال

    عَن جوادي

    here I am, right among the horsemen of imagination,

    away from my steed.

  3. أرمق الليل بعين الانذهال

    وهو هادي

    I gaze at the night with an astonished eye,

    while it is calm.

  4. أَنتَ يا ليل حَبيبي وأنا

    في اِرتياحي

    You, O night, are my beloved, and I

    am at ease.

  5. ان لي فيك سويعات هنا

    وانشراح

    Indeed, in you I have a few hours of bliss

    and gladness.

  6. وَلِذا أَبدو إِذا كنت هنا

    غير صاح

    And so I seem, when you are here,

    not sober.

  7. كلما اقبلت راح الظالِمون

    حيث ناموا

    Whenever you approach, the oppressors depart

    to where they sleep.

  8. كلما أدبرت عاث المفسدون

    حين قاموا

    Whenever you retreat, the corrupters wreak havoc

    when they rise.

  9. ما اِستَقاموا عبثا تَمضي السنون

    ما اِستَقاموا

    They have not mended their ways; the years pass in vain—

    they have not mended their ways.

  10. هَكَذا يا لَيل اهواك كَما

    أَنتَ تَدري

    Thus, O night, I love you, as

    you know.

  11. هَكَذا أَرنو بِعَيني للسما

    نحو بَدري

    Thus I gaze with my eye toward the sky,

    toward my full moon.

  12. فاِستَمِع مني حَديثا عندَما

    ضاقَ صَدري

    So listen to my words, now that

    my breast has grown tight.

  13. أَينَ قلب دأبه جرح القلوب

    لهف قَلبي

    Where is the heart whose habit is to wound hearts?

    Alas for my heart!

  14. ما له لما اِستَفَقنا لا يَذوب

    حار لبي

    Why, when we have awakened, does it not melt?

    My mind is bewildered.

  15. أَين ما يحويه من حب العيوب

    قل بربي

    Where is the love of faults it harbors?

    Tell me, by my Lord!

  16. أَينَ عين كلما لحنا لها

    احرقتنا

    Where is the eye that, whenever we appeared before it,

    burned us?

  17. أَينَ كف كلما لذنا بها

    فرقتنا

    Where is the hand that, whenever we sought refuge in it,

    scattered us?

  18. يا لَها من كف سوء ما لها

    أَرهَقَتنا

    What an evil hand! What ails it?

    It has worn us out.

  19. أَينَ أَصوات رعود قصفت

    من مدافع

    Where are the sounds of thunder that boomed

    from cannons?

  20. ما لها إِذ انت ترخي خمدت

    لا تدافع

    Why, as you relax, have they fallen silent,

    no longer resisting?

  21. أَينَ نار الكور لما نسفت

    كل نافع

    Where is the furnace's fire that once blasted away

    everything useful?

  22. اين اقلام لها السم مداد

    للكتابه

    Where are the pens whose ink is poison

    for writing?

  23. وَيد مدت إِلى الشرق الحداد

    فَأَصابه

    And the hand that brought mourning to the East,

    so that mourning struck it,

  24. مزقت قلبا بسكين العناد

    وَثيابه

    tearing a heart with the knife of obstinacy,

    and its garments?

  25. كلها في عالم الأَموات لا

    شيء منها

    All are in the realm of the dead; there is no

    trace of them.

  26. ان تكن للفتك رامت أَملا

    حاد عنها

    If they had sought some hope of slaughter,

    it has turned away from them.

  27. لم يخنها نومها واخجلا

    لَم يخنها

    Their sleep did not betray them—oh, the shame!

    It did not betray them.

  28. كلها يا ليل في نوم عميق

    كل ذلك

    All of them, O night, lie in deep sleep,

    all of that.

  29. حبذا لو انها لا تَستَفيق

    بزوالك

    How I wish they would not awaken

    when you depart!

  30. فاِنتقالي من مسرات لضيق

    في انتقالك

    For my passage from delights to distress

    comes with your departure.

  31. وَرِجال الشرق هَل خلفي همو

    أَو امامي

    And the men of the East—are they behind me

    or ahead of me?

  32. كَيفَ ناموا علهم قد سلموا

    من سقامي

    How did they sleep? Perhaps they were spared

    my sickness.

  33. ما اِعتَراهم يا ترى هَل علموا

    بالمَرامي

    What has come over them, I wonder? Have they learned

    of the aims?

  34. أَسَفي عَن عهدهم واأسفي

    عَن بِلادي

    My grief for their era—oh, my grief

    for my country!

  35. فرقتهم ساعد الأَغراض في

    كل وادي

    The arm of self-interest scattered them through

    every valley.

  36. كم اناديهم وَلا من يقتَفي

    كَم أُنادي

    How often I call them, yet no one follows!

    How often I call!

  37. ايه لَيلي ايه بدري فرحَتي

    إِذ اصونك

    Speak on, my night! Speak on, my full moon! My joy

    comes when I guard you.

  38. نامَ من في الحي الا مقلتي

    وَعيونك

    All in the quarter have fallen asleep, save my eye

    and your eyes.

  39. فأجبني انني من ثقتي

    لا أَخونك

    So answer me, for in my trust I

    will not betray you.

  40. هَل أَرى الشرقي ان قام غَدا

    قام حيا

    Shall I see the Easterner, if he rises tomorrow,

    rise alive,

  41. وَتَماشى للعلا واِجتَهدا

    وَتيها

    and stride toward the heights and strive,

    proudly,

  42. وَالى نجم السها مديدا

    والثريا

    and reach far toward the star al-Suha

    and the Pleiades?

  43. لا تجبني حيث قد لاح الصباح

    يتوعد

    Do not answer me, since dawn has appeared,

    threatening,

  44. مسمعا صوت نَحيب وَصياح

    يَتَصاعد

    making the sound of sobbing and cries heard,

    rising ever higher.

  45. فابتعد هيهات ان يشكو الجراح

    من تباعد

    So withdraw; how could wounds be lamented

    by one who stays far away?

  46. للقا دعني وَلا تبك علي

    ذا الفراق

    Leave me until we meet, and do not weep for me

    at this parting.

  47. وَغَدا وَجهك ان غاب الملا

    سألاقي

    And tomorrow, if the throng is gone, your face

    I shall meet,

  48. للتَلاقي بعد ساعات البلا

    للتَلافي

    for reunion after the hours of affliction,

    for redress.