شام برقاً من أقاصي الشّآمِ

شام برقاً من أقاصي الشّآمِ

مُستَطيراً من نَشاصِ الغَمامِ

مُستَطيراً من نَشاصِ الغَمامِ

He watched lightning from the farthest reaches of al-Sham,

A flash of lightning from the distant Levant

flaring out from towering masses of cloud.

Soaring from the buds of clouds

لم يَجِدْ دمعاً فأكثرَ لَمْعاً

لم يَجِدْ دمعاً فأكثرَ لَمْعاً

خَوْفَ أنْ يُسْمَى بجَهْمٍ جَهام

خَوْفَ أنْ يُسْمَى بجَهْمٍ جَهام

It found no tears, so it flashed all the more,

Finding no tears, it shone more brightly

lest a rainless cloud be called grim.

Fearing to be called indifferent

كُلّما طولبَ بالقَطْرِ وَهْناً

كُلّما طولبَ بالقَطْرِ وَهْناً

وهْو لا يَملِكُ غيرَ ابْتسام

وهْو لا يَملِكُ غيرَ ابْتسام

Whenever it was asked for rain at night,

Whenever it was reproached for being weak

while it possessed nothing but a smile,

It could only smile

غَرِمَتْ عنه جُفوني فجادَتْ

غَرِمَتْ عنه جُفوني فجادَتْ

إنّما يَغْرَمُ أهلُ الغَرام

إنّما يَغْرَمُ أهلُ الغَرام

my eyelids paid on its behalf and poured forth generously;

My eyelids were enchanted by it and overflowed

only lovers bear the cost.

For only the enamored are so enchanted

قُلْ لإلْفٍ باتَ يَمْطُرُ خَدّي

قُلْ لإلْفٍ باتَ يَمْطُرُ خَدّي

مُذْ نأى عنّي غَمامُ اغْتِمام

مُذْ نأى عنّي غَمامُ اغْتِمام

Tell a beloved: my cheek has been showered through the night,

Say to the beloved who made my cheeks rain

since he left me, by a cloud of grief.

Ever since the clouds of sorrow departed

طَرْفُه قد قاسمَ السُّقْمَ جَفْني

طَرْفُه قد قاسمَ السُّقْمَ جَفْني

فاقْتَسمْنا أطْرَفَ الاقْتسام

فاقْتَسمْنا أطْرَفَ الاقْتسام

His eye has shared sickness with my eyelid,

Its gaze shared my sickness and my eyelids

so we divided it in the most curious way.

So we shared the most intimate gaze

أثَّر السُّقْمُ به وبجِسْمي

أثَّر السُّقْمُ به وبجِسْمي

من سَقامِ العَيْنِ عَيْنُ السَّقام

من سَقامِ العَيْنِ عَيْنُ السَّقام

Sickness has left its mark on it and on my body:

Sickness left its mark on it and my body

from the eye's languor came sickness itself.

The sickness of the eye, the eye of sickness

ما شِفائي منه لو كان يُرجَى

ما شِفائي منه لو كان يُرجَى

غيرُ لَثْمي ما وراءَ اللِّثام

غيرُ لَثْمي ما وراءَ اللِّثام

My cure for it, if a cure could be hoped for, is nothing

I cannot be cured but by

but my kissing what lies behind the veil.

Kissing what is behind the veil