أَلُبنى لَقَد جَلَّت عَلَيكَ مُصيبَتي

أَلُبنى لَقَد جَلَّت عَلَيكَ مُصيبَتي

غَداةَ غَدٍ إِذ حَلَّ ما أَتَوَقَّعُ

غَداةَ غَدٍ إِذ حَلَّ ما أَتَوَقَّعُ

O Lubna, grievous indeed will be your loss of me,

Oh my sons, indeed my misery loomed over you

tomorrow morning, when what I dread comes to pass.

The morning after tomorrow when what I feared befell

تُمَنّينَني نَيلاً وَتَلوينَني بِهِ

تُمَنّينَني نَيلاً وَتَلوينَني بِهِ

فَنَفسِيَ شَوقاً كُلَّ يَومٍ تَقَطَّعُ

فَنَفسِيَ شَوقاً كُلَّ يَومٍ تَقَطَّعُ

You promise me fulfillment, yet put me off with it,

You wished me attainment while it kept eluding me

so my soul is torn apart by longing every day.

Thus my soul longed everyday and was torn to pieces

وَقَلبِكِ قَطُّ ما يَلينُ لِما يَرى

وَقَلبِكِ قَطُّ ما يَلينُ لِما يَرى

فَواكَبَدي قَد طالَ هاذا التَضَرُّعُ

فَواكَبَدي قَد طالَ هاذا التَضَرُّعُ

And your heart never softens at what it sees.

While your heart was hard, unaffected by what it saw

Alas for my liver! This pleading has gone on so long.

Thus my plaints went on far too long

أَلومَكِ في شَأني وَأَنتِ مُليمَةٌ

أَلومَكِ في شَأني وَأَنتِ مُليمَةٌ

لَعَمري وَأَجفى لِلمُحِبِّ وَأَقطَعُ

لَعَمري وَأَجفى لِلمُحِبِّ وَأَقطَعُ

I reproach you for my plight, and you are blameworthy—

Do I blame you for my cause while you remain unforgiving?

by my life—and harsher to the lover, readier to sever ties.

By my life! Most callous towards the lover and most hard-hearted!

أَخُبِّرتِ أَنّي فيكِ مَيِّتُ حَسرَتي

أَخُبِّرتِ أَنّي فيكِ مَيِّتُ حَسرَتي

فَما فاضَ مِن عَينَيكِ لِلوَجدُ مَدمَعُ

فَما فاضَ مِن عَينَيكِ لِلوَجدُ مَدمَعُ

Were you told that I am dying of my anguish for you,

You were told I was dying of despair over you

yet not a tear of longing flowed from your eyes?

Yet tears of anguish never flowed from your eyes for me

وَلَكِن لَعَمري قَد بَكَيتُكِ جاهِداً

وَلَكِن لَعَمري قَد بَكَيتُكِ جاهِداً

وَإِن كانَ دائي كُلُّهُ مِنكِ أَجمَعُ

وَإِن كانَ دائي كُلُّهُ مِنكِ أَجمَعُ

But, by my life, I have wept for you with all my strength,

But by my life, I cried over you vigorously

though all my illness, every bit, came from you.

Even when my whole malady was from your hands

صَبيحَةَ جاءَ العائِداتُ يَعُدنَني

صَبيحَةَ جاءَ العائِداتُ يَعُدنَني

فَظَلَّت عَلَيَّ العائِداتُ تَفَجَّعُ

فَظَلَّت عَلَيَّ العائِداتُ تَفَجَّعُ

On the morning the women came to visit me in my illness,

The dawn came and the returning women told me:

the visiting women kept lamenting over me:

As they returned, they keened over me

فَقائِلَةٌ جِئنا إِلَيهِ وَقَد قَضى

فَقائِلَةٌ جِئنا إِلَيهِ وَقَد قَضى

وَقائِلَةٌ لا بَل تَرَكناهُ يَنزِعُ

وَقائِلَةٌ لا بَل تَرَكناهُ يَنزِعُ

one said, 'We came to him, and he had already died';

One said: "We came to him and he had passed"

and another said, 'No, rather, we left him in his death throes.'

Another said: “Nay! But we left him as his soul departed”

فَما غَشِيَت عَينَيكِ مِن ذاكَ عَبرَةٌ

فَما غَشِيَت عَينَيكِ مِن ذاكَ عَبرَةٌ

وَعَيني عَلى ما بي بِذِكراكِ تَدمَعُ

وَعَيني عَلى ما بي بِذِكراكِ تَدمَعُ

Yet no tear at that veiled your eyes,

Yet not a teardrop clouded your eyes at this news

while my eye, for all I suffer, weeps at the thought of you.

While my eyes overflow with tears at the mere thought of you

إِذا أَنتِ لَم تَبكي عَلَيَّ جَنازَةً

إِذا أَنتِ لَم تَبكي عَلَيَّ جَنازَةً

لَدَيكِ فَلا تَبكي غَداً حينَ أَرفَعُ

لَدَيكِ فَلا تَبكي غَداً حينَ أَرفَعُ

If you do not weep over me as a corpse

If you never cried over my corpse

before you, then do not weep tomorrow when I am borne aloft.

Then do not cry for me tomorrow when I am interred