تُؤَمِّلُ لِلنَّفسِ الشَجِيَّةِ فَرحَةً

تُؤَمِّلُ لِلنَّفسِ الشَجِيَّةِ فَرحَةً

وَتأبى الخُطوبُ السودُ إِلّا تَماديا

وَتأبى الخُطوبُ السودُ إِلّا تَماديا

You hope for joy for the sorrowful soul,

You give hope of joy to the anguished soul

yet black calamities insist on persisting.

Yet misfortunes insist on growing worse

لَياليكَ في زاهيكَ أَصفى صَحِبتُها

لَياليكَ في زاهيكَ أَصفى صَحِبتُها

كَما صَحبَت قَبلي المُلوكُ اللَياليا

كَما صَحبَت قَبلي المُلوكُ اللَياليا

Your nights in your Zahi were more serene; I kept them company,

Your nights in your prime were the most loyal companions

as kings before me kept company with the nights.

Just as nights in the past accompanied kings

نَعيمٌ وَبؤسٌ ذا لِذَلِكَ ناسِخٌ

نَعيمٌ وَبؤسٌ ذا لِذَلِكَ ناسِخٌ

وَبعدَهُما نَسخُ المَنايا الأَمانيا

وَبعدَهُما نَسخُ المَنايا الأَمانيا

Bliss and misery—the latter effaces the former,

Bliss and misery - for that is their nature

and after both comes death’s erasure of hopes.

And after them the erasure of dreams by mortality