1. خَطَرت بِالأَمس ريحٌ صَرصَرُ

    فَالتوى غُصن شَبابي الأَخَضَرُ

    Yesterday a bitter, howling wind swept by,

    So the green bough of my youth bent.

  2. وَرَأَيت الزَهر عَنهُ يَنثر

    مثلما يَنثر دَمعي

    And I saw the blossoms scattered from it,

    Just as my tears are scattered.

  3. يا شَبابي أَنتَ أَحرى بِدَمي

    لا بِدَمعي أَو شكايات فَمي

    O my youth, you are more deserving of my blood,

    Not of my tears or the complaints of my mouth.

  4. خلّ عَني فَصحابي لوّمي

    مَلأوا بِاللوم سَمعي

    Leave me be, for my companions are my reproachers;

    They have filled my ears with reproach.

  5. سَئِموا نوحي وَعافوا منطقي

    هُم ذوو أَفئدة لَم تَخفق

    They wearied of my lament and spurned my speech;

    They have hearts that have never throbbed.

  6. أَنا إِن يَدروا بِحتفي ملتقِ

    وَغَداً يَهدأ روعي

    I—if they only knew—am to meet my death,

    And tomorrow my dread will subside.

  7. وَطَأةُ اللَيل عَلى قَلبي الحَزين

    مَزَجت مِنهُ بِأَنفاسي أَنين

    The weight of night upon my sorrowful heart

    Has mingled a moan from it with my breath.

  8. ما لَهُ وَقع بِسَمع العالمين

    وَبِسَمعي أَي وَقع

    It has no resonance in the ears of the world,

    Yet in my own ears, what resonance!

  9. أَنت يا وَرقاء مِن دون الأَنامِ

    تَسمَعين النوح مني في الظَلام

    You, O gray dove, alone among all creatures,

    Hear my lament in the darkness.

  10. فَإِذا ما نَحت يا رَمز السَلام

    عارِضي نوحي بِسجع

    So when I lament, O symbol of peace,

    Answer my lament with cooing.