1. بَكيتُ أَسىً لو ردَّ عنكِ البُكا حَتفا

    وأعولتُ وجداً لو شَفت عَولةٌ لَهفا

    I wept in sorrow—if only weeping could ward death from you.

    And I wailed in anguish—if only a wail could heal heartache.

  2. أُغالبُ فيكَ الوجدَ والوجدُ غالبٌ

    وَأيد اِصطِباري لم يزَل واهياً ضَعفا

    I wrestle with anguish for you, and anguish prevails,

    and the strength of my endurance remains frail with weakness.

  3. وَهَل لامرئٍ أَودى الرَدى بجنَانِه

    عزاءٌ وكفُّ الدَهر جذَّت له كفّا

    And can one whose heart death has laid waste

    find solace, when time's hand has severed his hand?

  4. لكِ اللَهُ من يُمنى طوتها يَدُ البلى

    وَعينٍ رَمت عينُ الرَدى نحوها طَرفا

    God be with you, a right hand folded away by decay's hand,

    and an eye toward which death's eye cast a glance;

  5. وَدَوحةِ مَجدٍ بالمَعالي وَريقةٍ

    أَلَمَّت بها الأَقدارُ حتّى ذَوت عَصفا

    and a great tree of glory, leafy with high honors,

    upon which the fates descended until it withered to chaff;

  6. وَشَمسِ عُلاً بالمكرُمات منيرةً

    أَتاحَت لها الأَيّامُ من خطبها كَسفا

    and a sun of eminence, shining with noble deeds,

    upon which the days inflicted an eclipse through their calamities;

  7. وَذاتِ حجابٍ بالعَوالي منيعةٍ

    يَمدُّ عليها المَجدُ من صَونها سَقفا

    and a veiled lady, well defended by spears,

    over whom glory stretches a roof of protection.

  8. نُعاني لها الناعونَ حُزناً وإنَّما

    سَقاني بها الناعونَ كأسَ الأَسى صِرفا

    The death-announcers mourned me in sorrow for her; yet in truth,

    through her they made me drink the cup of sorrow unmixed.

  9. أَأُختيَ إِن أَمسيتِ رهنَ مقابرٍ

    فَقَلبيَ قد أَمسى على حُزنه وَقفا

    O my sister, if you have become a captive of graves,

    then my heart has become an endowment to its grief.

  10. تكاثرني الأَشجانُ فيكِ وإنَّما

    تكاثرُ مضنىً شفّ بالوَجدِ أَو أَشفى

    Sorrows overwhelm me over you, yet they only

    overwhelm a sufferer wasted by anguish, or near death.

  11. لئن كانَ أَخفى القَلبُ يوماً تجمُّلاً

    جَواهُ فقد أَبدى لرزئِكِ ما أَخفى

    If the heart once concealed, to preserve its composure,

    its burning grief, it has revealed at your loss what it hid.

  12. وَلي كربةٌ قد باينَ الصبرُ لهفَها

    فَها أَنا أَنزو في حبائلها رَجفا

    And I have a torment whose anguish patience has deserted;

    so here I am, leaping in its snares, trembling.

  13. أَبيتُ بهاجا في المبيتِ وقد وَرَت

    بجَنبيَّ نارٌ من جَنانيَ لا تَطفا

    I spend the night in this torment, shunning my bed, while there has flared

    at my sides a fire from my heart that never goes out.

  14. أَراوحُ ما بين اليدين على الحَشا

    وأُسبلُ من جَفني لها مَدمعاً وَكفا

    I alternate my hands upon my breast,

    and let a streaming flow of tears fall from my eyelid for it.

  15. وَلَو وعيَت أَذناك كثرَ تأوُّهي

    عَلمت إِخائي ما أَبرَّ وَما أَصفى

    Had your ears heard my many groans,

    you would know how devoted and how pure my brotherly love is.

  16. وَكَم عبرةٍ لا تملكُ العَينُ ردَّها

    وَجأتُ بها مَقروحَ جَفنيَ إِذ أَغفى

    And how many a tear the eye cannot hold back

    have I struck my wounded eyelid with when it dozed;

  17. وَزفرةِ وجدٍ رمت بالصَبر كظمَها

    فَما كدتُ حتّى أَعقَبتني الأَسى ضِعفا

    and how many a sigh of anguish I sought to stifle with patience,

    yet scarcely had I managed when it left me twice the sorrow.

  18. فَلِلَّهِ دَهرٌ لا تَزال صروفُه

    إِذا ما اِنقضى صَرفٌ أَتاحَت لنا صَرفا

    What an age, by God! Its vicissitudes never cease:

    whenever one calamity ends, they bring us another.

  19. عليَّ لأَصنافِ الرَزايا تناوبٌ

    أُساور منها كلَّ آونةٍ صِنفا

    The kinds of calamity take turns assailing me;

    I wrestle with one kind of them at every moment.

  20. أَفي كلِّ عامٍ لي قَريبٌ يَروعُني

    برُزءٍ وَإِلفٌ يخلفُ الحزنَ لي أَلفا

    Must a kinsman of mine terrify me each year

    with bereavement, and a dear companion leave me grief a thousandfold?

  21. إِلى اللَه أَشكوها نوائبَ جمّةً

    وَصَرفَ زَمانٍ لا أُطيق له صَرفا

    To God I complain of them—many calamities,

    and a turn of time I have no power to turn aside.

  22. كَذاكَ خطوبُ الدهر تعدو على الوَرى

    فَكَم أَسبَلَت طَرفاً وَكَم سَلَبَت طِرفا

    Thus the calamities of time assail mankind:

    how many eyes they have made stream, and how many treasures they have stolen.

  23. وَكَم أَنزلَت من شامخ المَجدِ ماجِداً

    تشيد له العَلياءُ من عزِّهِ كَهفا

    And how many a noble man have they cast down from glory's heights,

    for whom eminence builds a refuge out of his might;

  24. إِذا رامَ أَمراً هزَّ أَسمرَ عاسِلاً

    وإِن سُئِل المَعروفَ هزَّ له عِطفا

    who, when he sought an aim, brandished a quivering brown lance,

    and when asked for bounty, stirred his shoulder in response.

  25. أَناخَت عليه لم تراقب له عُلاً

    فألوَت به خَسفاً وأَزرت به عَسفا

    They settled upon him, with no regard for his eminence,

    and swept him into abasement and debased him with oppression.

  26. وَلَم تَرع إِذ أَمّته جرداءَ سابحاً

    وأَجردَ يَحموماً وَناجيةً حَرفا

    Nor, when they came to him unarmed, did they heed a galloping horse,

    nor a sleek, jet-black horse, nor a swift, lean she-camel.

  27. وَكَم قد سَبت من مَعقِل العزِّ حُرَّةً

    تَوَدُّ الثريّا أَن تَكونَ لها شَنفا

    And how many a freeborn lady have they taken captive from honor's stronghold,

    whose earring the Pleiades would wish to become!

  28. تخطَّت إِليها مُرهفات بواتراً

    وَخَطّيَّةً سمراً وماذيَّة زغفا

    To reach her they stepped past keen-edged, cleaving swords,

    and brown Khatt spears and fine, ample coats of mail.

  29. فأَخنَت عليها لا تهاب جموعَها

    وَلَم تخشَ سِتراً قد أُذيلَ ولا سجفا

    So they brought ruin upon her, unafraid of her hosts,

    nor did they fear a covering let down, or a curtain.

  30. وَها أَنا قد حاوَلتُ صَبري تأَسّياً

    وَكيف التأَسّي والأَسى لم يزل حِلفا

    And here I am: I have sought my patience for consolation,

    but how can there be consolation, when sorrow remains a sworn companion?

  31. أَبى الوَجدُ إِلّا أَن أريقَ مدامعاً

    تبادرُني لا أَستَطيعُ لَها كفّا

    Anguish insists that I pour out tears;

    they outrun me, and I cannot restrain them.

  32. فَيا قَبرَها لا زلتَ أَشرفَ حُفرةٍ

    تشبَّثُ أَذيالُ النَسيم بها عَرفا

    O her grave, may you ever remain the noblest of hollows,

    to which the breeze's trailing skirts cling for fragrance.

  33. يؤمُّكَ رضوانٌ من اللَه واسعٌ

    يقرِّب من ضُمِّنتَ من رَبِّها زُلفا

    May abundant favor from God seek you out,

    drawing the one entrusted to you close to her Lord.

  34. وَلَستُ بمُستَسقٍ لكَ المزن ما همى

    لجفنيَ دَمعٌ لا أُبالي له نَزفا

    I ask no rain of the clouds for you, so long as there flow

    tears from my eyelid—I care nothing for their depletion.

  35. لؤمتُ إِذا لَم أسقكَ الدمعَ هاطِلاً

    وأَصبحت أَستَسقي لك الديمَ الوطفا

    I would be base if I did not water you with pouring tears,

    and instead turned to seeking the steady rain of laden clouds for you.