1. تجاورني وَتَنفُر في نَداكا

    وَتَهرُبُ إِن دَنَوتُ إِلى لُقاكا

    You dwell beside me, yet shy away as you call,

    and flee if I draw near to meet you.

  2. تَبَربر أَعجَميّاً لَستُ أَدري

    كَلامَكَ حَيثُ أَزعَجَني بُكاكا

    You babble in a foreign tongue; I do not understand

    your speech, for your weeping has distressed me.

  3. فَوَيحَكَ يا غُرابُ البَينُ ماذا

    وَراءَكَ أَيُّ شَيءٍ قَد عَراكا

    Alas for you, O crow of parting! What

    lies behind you? What has befallen you?

  4. تَقَرَّبُ في نَعيّكَ مُشكِلاتٍ

    وَتُبعِدُها إِذا رُمت الفَكاكا

    You bring perplexities close in your death-tidings,

    and push them far away when I seek release.

  5. وَتَطلُب في جِوار النيل دَمعي

    كانَّ الفَيض لَم يَكفِ إِرتواكا

    And beside the Nile you seek my tears,

    as though the flood had not quenched your thirst.

  6. تُشيرُ إِلى الشَمال عَلى إِضطِرابٍ

    فَيَظلُم بي الجُنوبُ لَدى نِداكا

    You point northward in agitation,

    so the south grows dark around me at your call.

  7. لَقَد أَبطَأتَ وَيحَكَ مُستَطيراً

    تُخبِرُني بِطارِقَةٍ وَراكا

    You have indeed been slow, alas, in flight,

    telling me of a calamity behind you.

  8. وَنَحنُ البَرقُ يَخدمنا بِعَصرٍ

    بِهِ قَد صارَ يُضحِكُنا سَراكا

    And we have lightning to serve us in an age

    when your night journey has come to make us laugh.

  9. جَعَلتَ الاَزبَكية في عُيوني

    كَسجنٍ لا أُطيقُ بِهِ الحِراكا

    You have made al-Azbakiyya, in my eyes,

    like a prison where I cannot bear to move.

  10. كَأَنَّ غُصونَها لَيلٌ بَهيمٌ

    تَغَشاني فَحَيَرني إِرتِباكا

    As though its branches were a pitch-black night

    that shrouded me and plunged me into confusion.

  11. وَعَهدي بِاليَمامَةِ في حِماها

    تُغازِلُني عَلى أَمنٍ عِداكا

    And I remember the dove within its sanctuary,

    wooing me in safety, save for you.

  12. فَقُمتَ مَكانَها أَشقى بَديلٍ

    وَأَخبَث صاحِبٍ عَثَرت خُطاكا

    So you took her place, the most wretched substitute,

    and the foulest companion—may your steps stumble!

  13. تُشيرُ إِلى اليَمامة وَهِيَ صَرعى

    بمخلب خاطِفٍ نَصبَ الشِراكا

    You point to the dove, lying slain

    by the talon of a predator who set the snares.

  14. مُصابٌ قَد أَطارَ الرُشدَ حُزناً

    فَكانَ أَشَدَّ بُؤساً مِن بُكاكا

    A calamity that put reason to flight with grief,

    and proved more grievous than your weeping.

  15. إِلا يا أَيُّها الرَجُلُ المَعنّى

    أَذابَ قُلوبَنا سَهمٌ رَماكا

    Ah, O tormented man,

    an arrow that struck you has melted our hearts.

  16. فَما أَنا يا سَليمُ سَليمُ عَقلٍ

    إِذا شَخصتُ هَولاً قَد دَهاكا

    For I am not, O Salim, sound of mind

    when I picture the horror that has befallen you.

  17. غَريبٌ قَد جَنَنتَ عَلى غَريبٍ

    بِدارٍ قَد حَرَمتَ بِها صَفاكا

    A stranger, you have gone mad with grief for a stranger,

    in a land where you have been deprived of your serenity.

  18. سَطا فَجَنى عَلَيكَ الآن دَهرٌ

    مَضى بِأَعَز شَيءٍ مِن جِناكا

    Time has now assailed and wronged you,

    carrying off the dearest fruit of your harvest.

  19. مَضى غَدراً بِوَردِ صِباكَ يَخفي

    حَبيبتكَ الَّتي سَلَبَت نُهاكا

    Treacherously it bore away the rose of your youth, hiding

    your beloved, who had stolen your reason.

  20. وَكانَت وَردَةً مِن غَير شَوكٍ

    فَكانَ الشَوك حُزناً في حَشاكا

    And she was a rose without thorns,

    so the thorns were grief within your breast.

  21. مَهاة الشام أَين دَفنتُموها

    بِأَرض الروس لا تَجد اِنفِكاكا

    The oryx of al-Sham—where have you buried her?

    In the land of the Russians, she finds no release.

  22. أَرى لُبنان يَدعوها مُشَوِقاً

    لِوادٍ في حِماهُ بِهِ حِماكا

    I see Lebanon calling her, stirring longing

    for a valley in its sanctuary, where your sanctuary lies.

  23. وَلَكن لا رجاءَ وَلا مُجيبٌ

    سِوى رَجع الصَدى فَأقصر عَناكا

    But there is no hope and no one to answer

    save the echo's return; so lessen your suffering.

  24. تَجَلد وَاَستَعن بِاللَهِ تَحيي

    فُؤاداً كُل بَغيتهِ لُقاكا

    Be steadfast and seek God's help; you will revive

    a heart whose only desire is to meet you.

  25. وَلا تَسقط أَمام الدَهر ضُعفاً

    فَإِنَّكَ قَد أَطَلتَ لَهُ عِراكا

    And do not fall before Time out of weakness,

    for you have long kept up your struggle against it.

  26. فَما هَذي الحَيوة سِوى غَرورٍ بِهِ

    الأَنام تَختبط اشتِباكا

    For this life is nothing but delusion, in which

    humankind flounders, entangled.

  27. فَكُن بِالحَقِّ مُعتَصِماً رَشيداً

    وَلا يَعلو الضَلالُ عَلى ذَكاكا

    So hold fast to the truth and be rightly guided,

    and let not error rise above your intelligence.