يا نِعمةَ اللهِ زَخُّورُ احتَضنْتَ هنا

يا نِعمةَ اللهِ زَخُّورُ احتَضنْتَ هنا

مِتري الذي كُنتَ منهُ ترتجي خَلَفا

مِتري الذي كُنتَ منهُ ترتجي خَلَفا

O Ni‘mat Allah Zakhour, here you have embraced

O God's blessing, O Zakhur, you were embraced here

Mitri, in whom you had hoped to find a successor.

My beloved, whom you were expecting afterward

دعاكَ شوقٌ إليهِ فالتَحقتَ بهِ

دعاكَ شوقٌ إليهِ فالتَحقتَ بهِ

مُستعجِلاً وعليهِ بِتَّ مُنعكِفا

مُستعجِلاً وعليهِ بِتَّ مُنعكِفا

Longing for him called you, and you joined him

A yearning for him called you, so you joined him

In haste, and you spent the night bent over him.

In haste and bent over him

غُصنٌ نضيرٌ نشا من أصل مَكرُمةٍ

غُصنٌ نضيرٌ نشا من أصل مَكرُمةٍ

قبلَ البلوغِ أتاهُ البينُ مُختَطِفا

قبلَ البلوغِ أتاهُ البينُ مُختَطِفا

A verdant branch sprang from a root of nobility;

A tender branch grew from an esteemed origin

Before maturity, parting came upon him, snatching him away

Before maturity, separation came and took it away

في تُربةٍ قُلتُ لمَّا أرَّخوه بِها

في تُربةٍ قُلتُ لمَّا أرَّخوه بِها

يا ويحَ قلبي على غُصنٍ قد انقَصفَا

يا ويحَ قلبي على غُصنٍ قد انقَصفَا

Into a grave; when they recorded his death-date there, I said:

In a soil I said, when they planted it there

Oh, woe to my heart for a branch that has snapped!

Oh my heart, for a branch that was broken in two