1. مَرَّ جُنحٌ مِنَ الظَلامِ وَقَلبي

    لَم يَزَل يَستَمِرُّ في خَفَقانِه

    A span of darkness has passed, and my heart

    still goes on beating.

  2. وَهفا النَومُ عَن جُفوني فَروحي

    في وُجودٍ ضَلَّ الهدى عَن مَكانه

    And sleep has fluttered from my eyelids; so my soul

    dwells in a world where guidance has strayed from its place.

  3. أَنا في مُخدعٍ تَكادُ لَآها

    تي تَسيلُ الدُموعُ من جدرانِه

    I am in a bedchamber that, at my sighs, almost

    sheds tears from its walls.

  4. ضَيِّقٍ مُظلِمٍ فَلَو أَقبَلَ النو

    رُ إِلَيهِ لخافَ لَونَ دهانِه

    Narrow and dark—if light should come

    into it, it would fear the color of its paint.

  5. وَأَمامي القَندنيل يَلمَعُ نوراً

    فَإِخالُ الجَحيمَ في لَمَعانِه

    And before me the lamp shines with light,

    so I imagine hell in its gleam.

  6. وَأَراهُ يسآلني عَن شُجوني

    لَو حباهُ الإِلهُ نطقَ لِسانِه

    And I see it asking me about my sorrows,

    if God had given its tongue the power of speech.

  7. يشعُر القَلبُ من دَمي بِدَبيبٍ

    كَدَبيبِ البُركانِ في هَيَجانِه

    The heart feels a stirring in my blood,

    like a volcano's stirring in its fury.

  8. وَأَرى بَينَ إِصبَعيَّ لفافاً

    تَتَلاشى أَعمارُنا كَدُخانه

    And I see a cigarette between my two fingers;

    our lives dissolve like its smoke.

  9. ساهِرٌ في كَآبَتي وَحَبيبي

    بِسَلامٍ يَنام عن أَشجانِه

    I am wakeful in my melancholy, while my beloved

    sleeps in peace, oblivious to his sorrows.

  10. فَبنان الرقاد تسكبُ سِحراً

    وَتُذيبُ الأَحلامَ في أَجفانِه

    For slumber's fingertips pour out magic

    and dissolve dreams in his eyelids.

  11. أَنصفَ اللَيلُ ما لِقَلبي يُناجي

    في سُكون الدُجى هَوى سكّانِه

    Night is half spent—why does my heart commune

    with its dwellers' love in the stillness of darkness?

  12. مسَّهُ عارِضُ الجنونِ فَلَولا

    أَضلُعي لاِستَطارَ عن جُثمانِه

    A fit of madness has touched it; were it not for

    my ribs, it would have flown from its body.

  13. أَسمَعُ اللَيلَ في الفَضاءِ يُغَنّي

    وَحَفيفُ الأَوراقِ مِن أَلحانِه

    I hear the night singing in the sky,

    and the rustle of leaves is among its melodies.

  14. تِلكَ أُنشودَةُ الحَياةِ يُغَنّي

    ها لِسانُ الدُجى عَلى عيدانِه

    That is the song of life, sung

    by the tongue of darkness upon its lutes.

  15. وَأَرى ظُلمَةَ الدَجنَّةِ إِبلي

    ساً نجومُ الفَضاءِ من أَعوانِه

    And I see night's darkness as Iblis;

    the stars of the sky are among his helpers.

  16. موكبُ من عرائِس الجِنِّ يَمشي

    لِلِقاءِ الشَيطانِ في إِيوانِه

    A procession of jinn brides walks

    to meet Satan in his hall.

  17. هُم يَقولونَ ما بِهِ وَهواه

    حسبُما يَبتَغي وَطوعُ بنانه

    They say, “What ails him, when his love

    is as he wishes, obedient to his fingertips?

  18. حينَ نادى جَنانُه رحمَةَ الحُ

    بِّ اِستَجابَ الهَوى نِداءَ جَنانِه

    When his heart called for the mercy of love,

    passion answered his heart's call.”

  19. إِي وَلكِن لَو يُدرِكونَ أُموراً

    قَد رماها الفُؤاد في كِتمانِه

    Yes—but if only they understood the things

    the heart has cast into its secrecy;

  20. لَو هُمُ يَعلَمونَ ماذا يُقاسي

    عاشِقٌ يستَجيرُ في لبنانِه

    if only they knew what is endured

    by a lover seeking refuge in his Lebanon;

  21. لَو دَرَوا أَنَّ في الطَبيعَة عَدلاً

    قَطع الظُلمُ كَفَّتَي ميزانِه

    if only they knew that in nature there is justice

    whose scales injustice has shorn of both pans,

  22. لاِستَباحوا كُفرانَه وَاِستَحَلّوا

    أَن يَظَلَّ الحَزينُ في كُفرانِه

    they would permit his unbelief and deem it lawful

    for the sorrowful one to remain in his unbelief.

  23. رَبِّ عَفواً لَقَد فَقَدتُ شُعوري

    فَشُعوري يَهيمُ في تيهانِه

    My Lord, pardon me; I have lost my senses,

    for my senses wander in their bewilderment.

  24. كُن شَفيقاً عَلَيَّ وَاِرحَم فُؤادي

    إِذ تَراهُ قَد ضَلَّ عَن إيمانِه

    Be compassionate toward me, and have mercy on my heart,

    for You see it has strayed from its faith.

  25. إِنَّ قَلبي مَأوىً لكُلِّ عَذابٍ

    قَد أَواهُ الضَنا بِلا اِستِئذانِه

    Indeed, my heart is a refuge for every torment

    that suffering has lodged there without its permission.

  26. فَكَأَنّي وُجِدتُ في الكَون حَتّى

    أَشربَ الكَأسَ مِن يَدي شيطانِه

    So it is as though I came into being in the universe only

    to drink the cup from the hands of its devil.

  27. يا صَديقي إِن شِئتَ تِبيانَ قَلبي

    فَجَبيني يَنبيك عَن تبيانِه

    O my friend, if you wish to understand my heart,

    then my brow will make it plain to you.

  28. رَسم القَلبُ طيفَه فيهِ فَاِنظُر

    يَعرفون الكِتاب من عُنوانه

    The heart has drawn its image there—look:

    a book is known by its title.

  29. يا صَديقي أُنظُر لِبُستانِ عُمري

    كَيفَ دَبَّ الذُيولُ في أُقحُوانِه

    O my friend, look at the garden of my life,

    how withering has crept into its chrysanthemums.

  30. فَشَبابي أَخنَت عَلَيهِ صُروفٌ

    أَفقَدَتهُ النضار من ريعانِه

    For my youth has been laid waste by vicissitudes

    that robbed it of the freshness of its prime.

  31. صِرت في وِحدَتي أُخاطِب موسه

    راشِفاً في الظَلامِ سِحرَ بَيانِه

    In my solitude, I have come to address Musset,

    sipping, in the darkness, the magic of his eloquence.

  32. كانَ مِثلي فَغَيَّبَ القَبرُ مِنهُ

    جَسداً بالياً قُبَيلَ أَوانِه

    He was like me; then the grave concealed

    his wasted body, shortly before its time.

  33. شاعِرَ الدَمعِ هَل مِن الدَمعِ بدٌّ

    في وُجودٍ أَلعينُ من غدرانِه

    O poet of tears, is there any escape from tears

    in a world whose pools include the eye?

  34. أَفعمَ الكَون بِالعَذابِ حَياتي

    فَلِهذا تاقَت إِلى أَكفانِه

    The universe has filled my life with torment,

    and so it has yearned for its shrouds.