أَباحَ عَيني لِطولِ اللَيلِ وَالأَرَقِ

أَباحَ عَيني لِطولِ اللَيلِ وَالأَرَقِ

وَصاحَ إِنسانُها في الدَمعِ بِالغَرَقِ

وَصاحَ إِنسانُها في الدَمعِ بِالغَرَقِ

He gave my eye over to the long night and sleeplessness,

My eyes allowed for the long night and insomnia

And its pupil cried out amid the tears that it was drowning—

And its soul cried with drowning in tears

ظَبيٌ مُخَلّى مِنَ الأَحزانِ أَوقَرَهُ

ظَبيٌ مُخَلّى مِنَ الأَحزانِ أَوقَرَهُ

ما يَعلَمُ اللَهُ مِن حُزنٍ وَمِن قَلَقِ

ما يَعلَمُ اللَهُ مِن حُزنٍ وَمِن قَلَقِ

A gazelle free of sorrows; my pupil was weighed down

A startled gazelle burdened with sorrows and worries

By such sorrow and anxiety as God knows.

What does God know of sadness and anxiety

كَأَنَّهُ وَكَأَنَّ الكَأسَ في يَدِهِ

كَأَنَّهُ وَكَأَنَّ الكَأسَ في يَدِهِ

هِلالُ تَمٍّ وَنَجمٌ غابَ في شَفَقِ

هِلالُ تَمٍّ وَنَجمٌ غابَ في شَفَقِ

As though he and the cup in his hand were

As if it and as if the cup in its hand

A perfect crescent and a star lost in twilight.

Is a crescent of completion and a star that has faded into the sunset