زَمانٌ كُلُّهُ هَجْرٌ

زَمانٌ كُلُّهُ هَجْرٌ

وَوَعْدٌ كُلُّه مَطْلُ

وَوَعْدٌ كُلُّه مَطْلُ

A time that is all estrangement,

Time is all estrangement

and a promise that is all delay.

And promise is all delay

وموقوفٌ على التَّعْذي

وموقوفٌ على التَّعْذي

بِ لا يأسٌ ولا وَصْلُ

بِ لا يأسٌ ولا وَصْلُ

And I am confined to torment,

And I'm suspended in suffering

with neither despair nor union.

With neither despair nor union

فكونوا كيفما شِئْتُمْ

فكونوا كيفما شِئْتُمْ

فما أجْفو ولا أسْلو

فما أجْفو ولا أسْلو

So be however you wish;

So be however you wish

for I neither shun you nor cease to love.

For I am neither harsh nor gentle

وما أعْجَب حِرْماني

وما أعْجَب حِرْماني

وأنتُمْ للنَّدى أصْلُ

وأنتُمْ للنَّدى أصْلُ

And how strange my deprivation,

And I do not wonder at my deprivation

when you are the source of generosity!

While you are the origin of tenderness

سَرى طَيْفُكُمُ وَهْناً

سَرى طَيْفُكُمُ وَهْناً

ومنْ دونِكُمُ الرَّمْلُ

ومنْ دونِكُمُ الرَّمْلُ

Your phantom came in the still of night,

Your specter passed gently by

and sands lay between us.

While without you is the sand

فما بَلَّ مِن الشَّوْقِ

فما بَلَّ مِن الشَّوْقِ

فأينَ الجِدُّ والهَزْلُ

فأينَ الجِدُّ والهَزْلُ

Yet it did not quench my longing;

So from yearning no affliction befell me

where, then, are earnestness and jest?

Where then is the truth and the jest?

سُروري بكُمُ والهَمُّ

سُروري بكُمُ والهَمُّ

حالٌ منهُ لا أخْلُو

حالٌ منهُ لا أخْلُو

My joy is in you, and sorrow

My joy with you and grief

is a state I am never free of.

Are conditions I do not lack

فَحُلْوي بكُمُ مُرٌّ

فَحُلْوي بكُمُ مُرٌّ

ومُرِّي بكُمُ يَحْلو

ومُرِّي بكُمُ يَحْلو

So my sweetness with you is bitter,

So my sweetness with you is bitter

and my bitterness with you turns sweet.

And my bitterness with you is sweet