أَعينا عَلَى ليلٍ حيارى كواكبُه

أَعينا عَلَى ليلٍ حيارى كواكبُه

تَطاوَلَ حتى أَنكرَ الصبحَ راقبُه

تَطاوَلَ حتى أَنكرَ الصبحَ راقبُه

You two, help me through a night whose stars are bewildered,

Eyes upon a bewildered night whose stars

It lingered until its watcher no longer believed in dawn.

Stretched on until the morn denied its watcher

بهيمٌ يضلُّ النجمُ فيه سبيلَه

بهيمٌ يضلُّ النجمُ فيه سبيلَه

وَيزورُّ ذعراً بدرُه فيجانبه

وَيزورُّ ذعراً بدرُه فيجانبه

Pitch-black: the star loses its way within it,

A beast where a star loses its way

And its full moon recoils in terror and shuns it.

And its frightened full moon avoids it

فوارحمتا للمستهامِ بجوفِه

فوارحمتا للمستهامِ بجوفِه

تهادنه آلامُه وَتوائبه

تهادنه آلامُه وَتوائبه

So, pity the lovelorn one within its depths:

So have mercy on one confounded within himself

His pains and recurring woes make a truce with him,

His pains appease him, and his regrets

كملقىً بيمٍّ موجُه متلاطمٌ

كملقىً بيمٍّ موجُه متلاطمٌ

فيطفو به آناً وَآناً يجاذبه

فيطفو به آناً وَآناً يجاذبه

Like one cast into a sea whose waves crash together,

As if thrown amidst surging waves

Now bearing him afloat, now tugging at him.

Now afloat, now pulled down again

عَلى مثلِ هذا بتُّ أَنشج بالبكا

عَلى مثلِ هذا بتُّ أَنشج بالبكا

وَأشربُ دمعاً ليس تصفو مشاربه

وَأشربُ دمعاً ليس تصفو مشاربه

In such a night I spent the hours sobbing and weeping,

Upon the likes of this I spent the night tearfully weeping

And drinking tears whose draughts are never clear.

And drank tears whose taste could not be sipped

وَأذكر أحباباً كراماً لقد نأَى

وَأذكر أحباباً كراماً لقد نأَى

بهم زمنٌ عاتٍ عظام نوائبه

بهم زمنٌ عاتٍ عظام نوائبه

And I remember noble loved ones, carried far away

And remembered noble loved ones whom time, so cruel

By a ruthless age whose calamities are immense.

In its afflictions, has made remote

يلذّع قلبي ذكرُهم فأَضمه

يلذّع قلبي ذكرُهم فأَضمه

مخافةَ إنْ جاريته هو شاعبه

مخافةَ إنْ جاريته هو شاعبه

Their memory sears my heart, so I clasp it close,

Remembering them wrings my heart so I restrain it

Fearing that, if I indulge that memory, it will rend my heart.

Fearing its ardour might become inflamed

وَربَّ حماماتٍ بكتْ فاستفزَّني

وَربَّ حماماتٍ بكتْ فاستفزَّني

بكاها وَجادتْ بالدموع غواربه

بكاها وَجادتْ بالدموع غواربه

And many doves wept, and I was stirred

How many dove haunts wept, exciting me to tears

By their weeping; its crests poured forth tears.

With their weeping, generous with their welling tears

علام البكا لا شملكنَّ مفرقٌ

علام البكا لا شملكنَّ مفرقٌ

وَلا الدهرُ تُزجى نحوكنَّ مصائبه

وَلا الدهرُ تُزجى نحوكنَّ مصائبه

Why weep? Your flock is not scattered,

Why weep when you are parted?

Nor are time's calamities driven toward you.

Neither will time bring you its afflictions

أَثرتنَّ لي وَجداً وَما كنتُ ناسياً

أَثرتنَّ لي وَجداً وَما كنتُ ناسياً

وَلكنهما ازدادتْ عليَّ متاعبه

وَلكنهما ازدادتْ عليَّ متاعبه

You stirred longing in me, though I had not forgotten,

You have provoked in me a passion, though I'd not forgotten,

Yet the two of them—its burdens on me have grown [wording unclear].

But its tribulations against me multiplied

وَطال عليَّ الليلُ حتى حسبته

وَطال عليَّ الليلُ حتى حسبته

محتْ آيةَ الإصباحِ جوراً غياهبه

محتْ آيةَ الإصباحِ جوراً غياهبه

And the night dragged on for me until I thought

The night stretched on so long I thought

Its dark depths had unjustly erased the sign of daybreak.

The verse telling of the morn’s arrival shrouded by darkness

فما هو إِلاّ أنْ بدا الفجرُ ساطعاً

فما هو إِلاّ أنْ بدا الفجرُ ساطعاً

وَشابتْ من الليلِ البهيم ذوائبه

وَشابتْ من الليلِ البهيم ذوائبه

Then, all at once, the dawn appeared, radiant,

But then dawn broke radiantly

And the pitch-black night's forelocks turned white.

And the dark beast's confusions gave way

وَغَرَّدَتِ الأطيارُ فوق غصونِها

وَغَرَّدَتِ الأطيارُ فوق غصونِها

وَقرب من قلب الشجيِّ رغائبه

وَقرب من قلب الشجيِّ رغائبه

And the birds sang atop their branches,

The birds twittered in their boughs

And the sorrowful man's desires drew near his heart.

And the wounded heart’s concerns diminished

هنالك قد أَيقنتُ أنَّ الدجى وَإنْ

هنالك قد أَيقنتُ أنَّ الدجى وَإنْ

تمادى فسيفُ الصبحِ لا شك ضاربه

تمادى فسيفُ الصبحِ لا شك ضاربه

Then I knew for certain that darkness, however

Then I knew that however protracted is the gloom

Long it lasts, will surely be struck by the sword of dawn.

Dawn’s sword will surely smite it.