جزاءُ فتىً تَعَرَّضَ للبعادِ

جزاءُ فتىً تَعَرَّضَ للبعادِ

تجافي مُقلَتَيه عن الرُّقادِ

تجافي مُقلَتَيه عن الرُّقادِ

The recompense of a youth who courts separation

The fate of a young man estranged from his loved ones

Is his two eyes’ estrangement from sleep.

Is sleepless eyes heavy with grief

وإن يُغري به شوقٌ مُوالٍ

وإن يُغري به شوقٌ مُوالٍ

يغالبُهُ على صَبرٍ مُعادِ

يغالبُهُ على صَبرٍ مُعادِ

And if a loyal yearning goads him,

And if longing tempts him

He wrestles with it for a hostile patience.

He resists with practiced patience

وأجفانٌ تُرَوِّي كلَّ شيءٍ

وأجفانٌ تُرَوِّي كلَّ شيءٍ

سوى قلبٍ إلى الأخبار صادي

سوى قلبٍ إلى الأخبار صادي

And eyelids drench everything

While his eyes relay everything

Except a heart thirsting for news.

Except a heart calling out for news

بذاك جزيتُ إذ فارَقتُ قوماً

بذاك جزيتُ إذ فارَقتُ قوماً

لِبستُ لِبَينهم ثوبَي حِدادِ

لِبستُ لِبَينهم ثوبَي حِدادِ

Thus was I repaid when I parted from a people

Thus I'm punished when I left a people

For whose parting I donned two robes of mourning:

And donned the robes of sorrow

معادنُ حكمةس وغُيوث جَدبٍ

معادنُ حكمةس وغُيوث جَدبٍ

وأنُجمُ جيرةٍ وَصُدُور نادي

وأنُجمُ جيرةٍ وَصُدُور نادي

Mines of wisdom and rains in drought,

Wellsprings of wisdom, clouds full of rain

And stars among neighbors, and leaders of the assembly.

And stars of a neighborhood, and breasts of a comrade

نأوا عِّني وعندهم فؤادي

نأوا عِّني وعندهم فؤادي

وِغبتُ ولم يَغِب عنهم ودادي

وِغبتُ ولم يَغِب عنهم ودادي

They went far from me, while my heart was with them;

They shunned me though my heart was with them

And I was absent, but my affection was not absent from them.

I was absent yet my love for them remained

ولولا شِقوَتي ما فارقُوني

ولولا شِقوَتي ما فارقُوني

وكانوا بين جَفني والسَّوَادِ

وكانوا بين جَفني والسَّوَادِ

And but for my ill fortune, they would not have left me,

And had I not been so unlucky they would not have left me

And would have remained between my eyelid and my pupil.

But stayed between my eyelids and pupils

فقُل في حالِ مأسورٍ ضعيفِ

فقُل في حالِ مأسورٍ ضعيفِ

يلوذُ من الأَعَادِ بالأَعَادي

يلوذُ من الأَعَادِ بالأَعَادي

So speak of the plight of a frail captive

So speak, while in a state of weakness and captivity

Who seeks refuge from foes with foes.

Seeking refuge from enemies in friends