ترى يذكر الأحياء أهل المقابر

ترى يذكر الأحياء أهل المقابر

ويعتادهم فيها كشوق المسافر

ويعتادهم فيها كشوق المسافر

I wonder: do the dwellers of graves remember the living,

Do the living remember those in the graves,

and does a longing like a traveler's keep visiting them there?

And grow accustomed to them as the longing of a traveler?

وهل تظمأ الأم العطوف إلى ابنها

وهل تظمأ الأم العطوف إلى ابنها

إذا انتزعتها منه أيدي المقادر

إذا انتزعتها منه أيدي المقادر

And does the tender mother thirst for her son

Does the compassionate mother thirst for her son

when the hands of fate wrench her away from him?

When the hands of fate snatch him away?

تقول ألا يا ليته لصق أضلعي

تقول ألا يا ليته لصق أضلعي

كعهدي به والنوم ملء المحاجر

كعهدي به والنوم ملء المحاجر

She says, “Oh, if only he lay against my ribs,

Saying, "Oh, if only he clung to my ribs

as I remember him, sleep filling his eye sockets.

As was my habit with him, with sleep filling my eyelids."

أضم إلى صدري حشاشة نفسه

أضم إلى صدري حشاشة نفسه

وأملأ قلبي منه بعد النواظر

وأملأ قلبي منه بعد النواظر

I clasp the last spark of his life to my breast,

I would press his whispering soul to my chest

and fill my heart with him after my eyes have had their fill.”

And fill my heart with him after seeing him.

وهل يحمل الصب المشوق ولوعه

وهل يحمل الصب المشوق ولوعه

ويصبو إلى سحر العيون الزواهر

ويصبو إلى سحر العيون الزواهر

And does the yearning lover carry his passion,

Does the enamored youth bear his torment

and yearn for the enchantment of radiant eyes,

And yearn for the magic of radiant eyes?

ويذكر أيام القطعية والنوى

ويذكر أيام القطعية والنوى

وأيام وصل الآنسات الغرائر

وأيام وصل الآنسات الغرائر

and remember days of estrangement and separation,

Remembering the days of trysts and tokens

and days of union with innocent maidens?

And days of joining with gentle companions.

فإن جشأت في صدره غصص الجوى

فإن جشأت في صدره غصص الجوى

وجلله وجد الحسان النوافر

وجلله وجد الحسان النوافر

Then, if the choking pangs of love rise in his breast,

If the pangs of love stirred in his chest

and longing for elusive beauties shrouds him,

And passion's agony seized him,

بكى شجوه في ظلمة القبر وانثنى

بكى شجوه في ظلمة القبر وانثنى

يعالج المام الخيال المزاور

يعالج المام الخيال المزاور

he weeps his sorrow in the grave's darkness, then turns

He would weep his lament in the grave's darkness

to contend with the visiting phantom's arrival.

Wrestling with imaginings, the persistent visitor.

وما حال طفلٍ ضامر ظامئ الحشا

وما حال طفلٍ ضامر ظامئ الحشا

إذا غاله سهم المنايا الجوائر

إذا غاله سهم المنايا الجوائر

And what of a gaunt child, his belly parched,

What is the state of a withered, thirsty child

when the arrow of pitiless death strikes him down?

When the arrow of death, so cruel, strikes him?

أيذكر ثدي الأم في كل لحظةٍ

أيذكر ثدي الأم في كل لحظةٍ

ويبكي حجور المحصنات الحرائر

ويبكي حجور المحصنات الحرائر

Does he remember his mother's breast at every moment,

Does he remember at every moment his mother's breast

and weep for the laps of chaste, free women?

And weep for the veiled, noble ladies?

وهل يحلم المفلوك في رقدة الردى

وهل يحلم المفلوك في رقدة الردى

بما كان يلقى في الليالي الغواير

بما كان يلقى في الليالي الغواير

And does the luckless man dream in death's slumber

Does the wretched dream in the slumber of decay

of what he encountered in nights gone by,

Of what he used to encounter on wanton nights?

فيحلم بالأيسار طوراً وبالغنى

فيحلم بالأيسار طوراً وبالغنى

وبالفقر والإملاق في كل آخر

وبالفقر والإملاق في كل آخر

dreaming at times of prosperity and wealth,

Thus he dreams of wealth at times and luxury

and at every other turn of poverty and destitution?

And poverty and destitution at others.

وهل يسع اللملحود ريعان زفرة

وهل يسع اللملحود ريعان زفرة

ينفسها قلبٌ جريح الضمائر

ينفسها قلبٌ جريح الضمائر

And can the grave contain the first surge of a sigh

Can the scorned breathe a sigh

breathed out by a heart wounded in its inmost depths,

From a heart wounded in conscience?

على هرم هم برى الدهر عظمة

على هرم هم برى الدهر عظمة

وقوسه عبء السنين المواقر

وقوسه عبء السنين المواقر

over a decrepit old man whose bones time has worn away,

On a peak of anxiety heaped by the days of life

and whom the burden of the weighty years has bent?

And its bow is the burden of crushing years.

قراه أسىً قد ضاق عنه احتماله

قراه أسىً قد ضاق عنه احتماله

ومؤنسه في العيش سود الخواطر

ومؤنسه في العيش سود الخواطر

His fare is sorrow beyond his endurance,

He read it as sorrow that exceeded his endurance

and dark thoughts keep him company in life.

And his companion in life was the darkness of thoughts.

وتحسبه مما تقيد دميةً

وتحسبه مما تقيد دميةً

سوى حسراتٍ أردفت بزاوفر

سوى حسراتٍ أردفت بزاوفر

And, so fettered, you would think him a doll,

You would think him a bound doll

save for sorrows followed by sighs.

Besides regrets that followed in succession.

وتحسبه مما تقوس طائراً

وتحسبه مما تقوس طائراً

ولكنه عنه عشه غير طائر

ولكنه عنه عشه غير طائر

And, so bent, you would think him a bird,

You would think him a bird that arched its wings

yet he does not fly away from his nest.

But it was not a bird freed from its nest.

ستخبرني نفسي إذا حان حينها

ستخبرني نفسي إذا حان حينها

وصرت كمن بادوا رهين حفائر

وصرت كمن بادوا رهين حفائر

My soul will tell me when its appointed time comes,

My soul will tell me when its time comes

and, like those who perished, I become a captive of grave-pits.

And I become like one captive in graves.