يا هاتف الشعر فتني

يا هاتف الشعر فتني

يوماً أرتب أموري

يوماً أرتب أموري

O voice of poetry, pass me by

O inspirer of poetry, you have seduced me

For a day, that I may put my affairs in order.

One day I will set my affairs in order

زاملتني الدهر حتى

زاملتني الدهر حتى

ملأتني بالغرور

ملأتني بالغرور

You kept me company through the years, until

Time has accompanied me until

You filled me with conceit.

It has filled me with arrogance

فجزت معه الصاري

فجزت معه الصاري

وطفتما بالقصور

وطفتما بالقصور

So you passed the mast with it,

So I have harvested with it the loftiness

And you two toured the palaces.

And we have wandered through palaces

وزرتما كل شعبٍ

وزرتما كل شعبٍ

في دوره والثغور

في دوره والثغور

And you two visited every nation,

We have visited every nation

In its homes and frontier towns.

In its homes and borders

وقلت صفها بشعرٍ

وقلت صفها بشعرٍ

وأين منها سطوري

وأين منها سطوري

And you said, “Describe them in verse.”

And I said, describe it in poetry

Yet what are my lines beside them?

Where are my lines among them

فكم له من مجالٍ

فكم له من مجالٍ

في الحسن خلف الستور

في الحسن خلف الستور

For how much scope it has

For it has much scope

In beauty behind the veils!

For beauty behind the veil

وكل هذا تولى

وكل هذا تولى

إثر الشباب النضير

إثر الشباب النضير

And all this has passed away,

And all this was undertaken

In the wake of youth in bloom.

After flourishing youth

لم يبق إلا انتهاز الباقي

لم يبق إلا انتهاز الباقي

بعمرٍ قصير

بعمرٍ قصير

Nothing remains but to seize what is left

Nothing remains except seizing the remainder

In a short lifetime.

With a short life

فإن لله عندي

فإن لله عندي

أمر الحساب العسير

أمر الحساب العسير

For God has a claim upon me:

For with God I have

The matter of the arduous reckoning.

The matter of the difficult reckoning

أخذت بالخدع عقلي

أخذت بالخدع عقلي

ورحتما للمرور

ورحتما للمرور

With tricks you took my mind,

It has fooled my mind

And you two set off on your travels.

And we have gone for a stroll

زرعتما الأرض سيراً

زرعتما الأرض سيراً

وسحتما في البحور

وسحتما في البحور

You two sowed the earth with your steps,

We have sown the land with travel

And you two roamed the seas.

And sailed the seas

وعدتما بالمآسي

وعدتما بالمآسي

في أهل دنيا الفجور

في أهل دنيا الفجور

And you two returned with tragedies

And promised calamities

Among the people of the world of depravity.

To the people of the sinful world

أجريت مني يراعي

أجريت مني يراعي

قبلا بحقٍ وزور

قبلا بحقٍ وزور

You made my reed pen flow from me,

It has made me a shepherd

Once, with truth and falsehood.

Before truth and lies

وكم له من موالٍ

وكم له من موالٍ

والاهُ بين الخدور

والاهُ بين الخدور

And how many a devotee it has,

And it has many confidants

Who was loyal to it amid the women's chambers!

While God is between the cheeks

يا هاتف الشعر فتني

يا هاتف الشعر فتني

ألهيتني عن مصيري

ألهيتني عن مصيري

O voice of poetry, pass me by.

O inspirer of poetry, you have seduced me

You distracted me from my destiny.

You have distracted me from my fate

أقضيه في حسن أجرى

أقضيه في حسن أجرى

من اللطيف الخبير

من اللطيف الخبير

I would fulfill it with my good reward

I will spend it in the best of ways

From the Gentle, the All-Aware.

From the Subtle, the Expert

أما كفاك انهدامي

أما كفاك انهدامي

ورقدتي في السرير

ورقدتي في السرير

Has my collapse not been enough for you,

Is it not enough, my downfall

And my lying in bed?

And my sleeping in the bed