هُوَ اليَومُ لَنْ أَنْسَاهُ مَا ظَلْتُ بَاقِياً

هُوَ اليَومُ لَنْ أَنْسَاهُ مَا ظَلْتُ بَاقِياً

إِذَا آبَ أَلفَانِي وَمَا زِلْتُ بَاكِيَا

إِذَا آبَ أَلفَانِي وَمَا زِلْتُ بَاكِيَا

It is the day I shall not forget as long as I live.

That day I will never forget as long as I live

Whenever it returns, it finds me still weeping.

When you came to bid farewell while I kept crying

أَخَيْرُ شَبابِ العَصْرِ نُبْلاً وَهِمَّةً

أَخَيْرُ شَبابِ العَصْرِ نُبْلاً وَهِمَّةً

طَفَرْتَ إِلَى العُلْيَا فَجُزْتَ المَرَاقِيَا

طَفَرْتَ إِلَى العُلْيَا فَجُزْتَ المَرَاقِيَا

O finest of the age’s youth in nobility and resolve,

The best of the youth of the age in nobility and aspiration

You leapt to the heights, passing beyond the steps of ascent.

You rose to the highest and attained the loftiest goals

برُوحِي ذَاكَ الوجْهُ كَالبَدْرِ مُشْرِقاً

برُوحِي ذَاكَ الوجْهُ كَالبَدْرِ مُشْرِقاً

وَذَاكَ القَوَامُ اللَّدْن كَالرمْحِ عَالِيا

وَذَاكَ القَوَامُ اللَّدْن كَالرمْحِ عَالِيا

My soul for that face, radiant as the full moon,

By my soul your face shone like the full moon

And that supple figure, tall as a spear.

And your slender figure towered like a lofty spear

مَضَتْ أَرْبَعٌ لَمْ تَبْتَسِمْ ضَحواتُهَا

مَضَتْ أَرْبَعٌ لَمْ تَبْتَسِمْ ضَحواتُهَا

وَلَمْ تَكُنِ الأَيَّامُ إِلاَّ لَيَالِيا

وَلَمْ تَكُنِ الأَيَّامُ إِلاَّ لَيَالِيا

Four [years] have passed; their mornings have not smiled,

Four years have passed with no smiles on their mornings

And the days have been nothing but nights.

And the days were but dark nights

وَمَا نَظَرَتْ عيْنِي مَعَاهِدَ أُنْسِنَا

وَمَا نَظَرَتْ عيْنِي مَعَاهِدَ أُنْسِنَا

سَأَبْكِي وَأَسْتَبْكِي عَلَيْكَ القَوَافِيَا

سَأَبْكِي وَأَسْتَبْكِي عَلَيْكَ القَوَافِيَا

And whenever my eye beholds the haunts of our companionship,

My eyes saw none of the joys of our companionship

I shall weep and make the rhymes weep for you.

I will cry and weep for you in verse after verse