1. يا ظلام النفس رفقاً بالأولى

    ظلم الدهر وقدما ظلموا

    O darkness of the soul, be gentle with those

    whom time has wronged, and who wronged others long ago.

  2. رقدوا في ساحة الهم وقد

    كانت الدنيا لهم تبتسم

    They lay asleep in sorrow's courtyard, though

    the world had once smiled upon them.

  3. قد طوى الدهر سماء لمعت

    لهم من قبل فيها أنجم

    Time has folded away a sky in which shone

    stars for them in days gone by.

  4. جفت الخمر ففي الكأس دم

    وكذا الدنيا خمور فدم

    The wine has dried up; in the cup is blood.

    And such is the world: wines, then blood.

  5. نكسوا الطرف وقد لاحت لهم

    صور عن سعدهم تزدحم

    They lowered their gaze, while before them appeared

    images of their happiness, crowding together.

  6. ندموا عما جنت أيديهم

    حيث لا ينفع يوما ندم

    They regretted what their hands had wrought,

    where regret can never avail.

  7. فهمو كالليث يبكي يائسا

    وحرام أن يضام الضيغم

    So they are like a lion, weeping in despair,

    and it is forbidden that the lion be wronged.

  8. انما الدمع لسان ناطق

    يتولى قلب من لا يرحم

    Tears are but a speaking tongue

    that takes hold of the heart of one who shows no mercy.

  9. غير أن الدهر سيف حده

    قاطع فيه القضاء المبرم

    Yet time is a sword whose edge

    is sharp; within it lies irrevocable fate.

  10. وقفت في ساحة القصر وقد

    وقفت فيه قديماً تظلم

    She stood in the palace courtyard, where

    she had stood long ago, doing wrong.

  11. ترسل الدمع على الخد دما

    والأسى في رأسها يرتطم

    She pours tears as blood upon her cheek,

    and sorrow crashes within her head.

  12. لا ترى في يومها السعد وقد

    حجب السعد غمام مرزم

    She sees no happiness in her day, for

    a thundering cloud has veiled happiness.

  13. فإذا الصبح أتاها ضاحكا

    هالها منه سواد أقتم

    And when dawn came to her smiling,

    its soot-black darkness appalled her.

  14. وغذا الزخر رنا مبتسما

    وجدت في الزهر ناراً تضرم

    And when the blossom gazed, smiling,

    she found in the blossoms a fire ablaze.

  15. تسمع الجيش يلبى ربه

    ليس في الجيش أصم أبكم

    She hears the army answer its lord;

    none in the army is deaf or mute.

  16. كل مغوار يرى الروح فدى

    لبلاد في حماها يكرم

    Every daring warrior deems his life a sacrifice

    for a land in whose sanctuary he is honored.

  17. وترى الأعداء هبوا للوغى

    وعلى النصر جميعاً أقسموا

    And she sees the enemies rise for battle,

    and all have sworn to secure victory.

  18. زمر ماجت كبحر مزبد

    قادها من للردى يقتحم

    Bands surged like a foaming sea,

    led by one who charges headlong toward death:

  19. اسد لا يرهب الموت وهل

    يرهب الموت الجرىء المقدم

    a lion who does not fear death—and does

    the bold, intrepid man fear death?

  20. فكأن الأرض ميدان به

    كل حي ثائر منتقم

    As though the earth were a battlefield where

    every living being is a rebel and an avenger.

  21. خافت العقبى وما الخوف سوى

    صارم يقطر منه الألم

    She feared the outcome, and fear is nothing but

    a sharp sword from which pain drips.

  22. هي بين النصر والأسر غدت

    شبحاً قد غاب عنه الكلم

    Between victory and captivity, she became

    a phantom from whom speech had fled.

  23. أسلمت للشك قلباً هالعاً

    فهو من أظفاره لا يسلم

    She surrendered a terrified heart to doubt,

    and it finds no safety from its claws.

  24. نادت الموت وما هابته إذ

    كل عيش بالردى يختتم

    She called upon death and did not fear it, for

    every life is brought to a close by death.

  25. كان أنطنيوس صباً مغرما

    فانقضى الحب ومات المغرم

    Antony was a lovesick, enamored man,

    so love came to an end, and the lover died.

  26. مات والآلام تستهدفه

    والأسى يلهو به والتهم

    He died while agonies took aim at him,

    and sorrow and accusations toyed with him.

  27. مات مكلوم الحشا منتحراً

    ناقماً طورا وطورا يندم

    He died, wounded deep within, by his own hand,

    resentful at times, and at times remorseful.

  28. هو والخنجر في أحشائه

    شبح للياس يعلوه الدم

    He, with the dagger in his entrails,

    is a phantom of despair, covered in blood.

  29. جاءه نعى التي فارقها

    حية يسعى اليها الكرم

    News reached him of the death of her whom he had left

    alive, toward whom generosity hastens.

  30. لم تكن ماتت ولكن هالها

    موتها والصب حي ينعم

    She had not died, but she was appalled by

    her death while her lover lived in bliss.

  31. أين من ضحى لها أوطانه

    لم يعض القلب منه الندم

    Where is the one who sacrificed his homelands for her,

    whose heart regret had never bitten,

  32. صائخا للحب لا يرعى سوى

    عهده ذاك الاثيم المجرم

    heeding love, honoring nothing but

    his pledge—that sinful criminal,

  33. ان روما مستبدا ناسيا

    أن ركن الحق لا ينهدم

    who [betrayed] Rome, tyrannically, forgetting

    that the pillar of justice does not collapse?

  34. كيف تحيا ربة الحسن وقد

    مات من كانت به تعتصم

    How can the lady of beauty live, when

    the one in whom she sought refuge has died?

  35. عقها الاعوان في نكبتها

    مثلا للغدر يا ويحهم

    Her helpers forsook her in her calamity,

    an example of treachery—woe to them!

  36. ليس في الناس وفيّ صادق

    فهم إن ماتت الدنيا هم

    Among people there is no faithful, truthful soul;

    for, should the world die, they remain themselves.

  37. ايه كليو بطره اليوم انقضت

    عنك آمال وزالت أمم

    Ah, Cleopatra, today have ended

    your hopes, and nations have vanished.

  38. أنت في القصر خيال زائل

    وهو في العين مخيف مظلم

    You are a fleeting phantom in the palace,

    and to the eye it is frightening and dark.

  39. أنت والارقم يرنو جائعاً

    حية يرنو إليها أرقم

    You, as the speckled serpent gazes hungrily,

    are a snake upon whom a speckled serpent gazes.

  40. لا تظنى أن في حسنك ما

    يسجد الليث له يسترحم

    Do not think that your beauty holds anything

    before which the lion bows, pleading for mercy.

  41. إن أوكتاف جرىء قادر

    وله النيل ومصر مغنم

    Octavian is indeed bold and powerful,

    and for him the Nile and Egypt are spoils.

  42. وجمال العهر ماض ذاهب

    وجمال الطهر لا ينعدم

    And the beauty of debauchery passes and fades,

    and the beauty of purity does not vanish.

  43. وابتداء الحي منا عدم

    وختام الحي منا عدم

    And each living being among us begins in nothingness,

    and each living being among us ends in nothingness.