هل في العصيب المدلهم

مصغٍ لشاكٍ لم ينم

Is there, in this grievous, pitch-dark hour,

someone to hear a sufferer who has not slept?

سهدٌ على سهدٍ وذك

رى فوق ذكرى تزدحم

Sleeplessness upon sleeplessness, and memory

crowding upon memory;

وحنين قلب لا يثو

بُ إلى حيالٍ لا يلم

and a heart's yearning that will not turn

to any recourse, nor settle.

يا من أحب وأفتدي

ويلذ لي فيه الألم

O you whom I love and would give my life for,

in whose love pain is sweet to me,

لو كنت تسمع لاسترح

ت من الشكاية للظلم

if you could hear, I would find relief

from complaining to the darkness.

إن الكواكب ضقن بي

ذرعاً وآسيها سئم

Indeed, the stars have run short

of patience with me, and their comforter is weary.

ومن العجائب في الليا

لي والحوادث تستجم

And among the marvels of the nights,

while calamities take their rest,

شكوى الحيارى في الحيا

تِ إلى حيارى في السدم

is the lament of those bewildered in life

to those bewildered among the nebulae.

لمن انتظاري في الظلا

مِ كأنَّ بي شبه اللمم

For whom do I wait in the darkness,

as though a touch of madness were upon me?

وتساؤلي في حالك

لا صوت فيه ولا قدم

And my questioning in a blackness

where there is neither sound nor footstep?

وعلام إصغائي لعل

لَ خطاك هذي عن أمم

And why do I listen, in the hope

that these footsteps of yours are close at hand?

ليلي العشية مثل لي

لِي في غرامك من قدم

My night this evening is like my night

of loving you in days long past.

يا طالما أدنتكِ أو

هامٌ كواذب كالحلم

Ah, how often you were brought near by

false illusions, like a dream!

فلمحت صبحك في السوا

دِ وخلتُ روحكِ في النسم

So I glimpsed your dawn amid

the blackness, and fancied your spirit in the breezes.

وشفيت وهمي من رضا

كِ وربَّ ذي يأسٍ وهم

And I soothed my fancy with

your favor—many a despairing soul has been deluded.

ورويت أذني من حدي

ثكِ وهو معبود النغم

And I slaked my ear's thirst with

your speech, the idol of melody.

وحرقت قلبي من سنا

كِ على جمالٍ يضطرم

And I burned my heart with

your radiance, upon a beauty all ablaze,

كفراشةٍ حامت علَي

كِ وأيّ قلبٍ لَم يحم

like a moth that hovered around

you—and what heart has not hovered?

لك حسن نوّار الخمي

لة طلَّ صبحاً فابتسم

Yours is the beauty of the grove's blossoms,

dew-kissed at dawn, then smiling.

لك نظرة الفجر الجَمي

لِ على الذوائبِ والقمم

Yours is the gaze of the beautiful dawn

upon the crests and summits.

لك طلعة البرءِ المرج

جَى بعد مستعصى السقم

Yours is the dawning of hoped-for healing

after an intractable illness.

لك كل ما أوفى على

قدر النهاية واستتم

Yours is all that has attained

the furthest limit and reached completion.

فبأي قلبٍ أتقي

وبأي حصنٍ أعتصم

With what heart, then, can I guard myself,

and in what fortress seek refuge?

يا زائراً عجلان لَم

يطل اللقاء ولَم يقم

O hurried visitor, the meeting did not

last long, nor did it linger.

ودّعت ما أشبعت لي

روحي ولا نظري النهم

You bade farewell without having sated

my soul or my ravenous gaze.

ومضيت عن دنيا خلَت

وجرت بنعمى لَم تتم

And you left a world grown empty,

where bliss had flowed but never reached fulfillment.

لم يبق من أثر اللقا

ءِ بها سوى عبقٍ ينم

Nothing remained of the meeting's trace

there but a telling fragrance,

وسؤال دمعك حين يس

ألني ومَن لي بالكلم

and the question of your tears, as they

ask me—and who will grant me words?

لِمَ يا أليفَ خواطري

غفت العيون ونحن لَم

Why, O companion of my thoughts,

have eyes fallen asleep, while we have not?

وإلامَ تدفعنا الحوا

دث في عُبابٍ يلتطم

And how long will calamities drive us

through a sea of crashing waves?

دَفَعت بمركبنا المقا

دِيرُ الخفية والقسم

Our vessel was driven onward by

hidden destinies and allotted lots.

خَرَجَت وما تدري الغَدا

ةَ بأي صخرٍ ترتَطِم

It set out, not knowing, come morning,

against what rock it would crash.

بدَأت عَلى ريح الرضا

والله يدري المختتم

It began upon a wind of contentment,

and God knows the ending.