أفي كلّ يومٍ لي حميمٌ أفارقُهُ

أفي كلّ يومٍ لي حميمٌ أفارقُهُ

وخِلٌّ نآنِي ما نَبَتْ بي خَلائِقُهْ

وخِلٌّ نآنِي ما نَبَتْ بي خَلائِقُهْ

Must I part each day with a dear companion,

Is there a confidant I part with everyday,

and a friend who has left me, though his nature never turned against me?

And a friend reminding me of all his virtues?

ومُضطجِعٌ في ريبِ دهرٍ مُسَلَّطٍ

ومُضطجِعٌ في ريبِ دهرٍ مُسَلَّطٍ

تُطالعني في كلّ فجٍّ طوارقُهْ

تُطالعني في كلّ فجٍّ طوارقُهْ

And I lie amid the vicissitudes of unbridled Time,

Lying in the doubts of a tyrannical fate,

its sudden calamities confronting me on every path.

Its calamities upon me from all sides emerge.

ومُلتَفِتٌ في إثْرِ ماضٍ مُغَرِّبٍ

ومُلتَفِتٌ في إثْرِ ماضٍ مُغَرِّبٍ

تراماهُ أجراعُ الرّدى وأبارقُهْ

تراماهُ أجراعُ الرّدى وأبارقُهْ

And I look after one departed far away,

Gazing for a past that exiled me,

whom death's sandy plains and stony ridges have tossed about.

Whose lightnings and thunders did on me converge,

فثَلْمٌ على ثَلْمٍ وزُرْءٌ مضاعفٌ

فثَلْمٌ على ثَلْمٍ وزُرْءٌ مضاعفٌ

على فتقِ رُزْءٍ ضلّ بالدّهرِ راتقُهْ

على فتقِ رُزْءٍ ضلّ بالدّهرِ راتقُهْ

So breach upon breach, and loss redoubled,

Agony over agony and sorrow redoubled,

upon a rent of grief whose mender is lost in Time.

Upon shreds of misery that in life submerge.

مصائبُ لو أُنزِلْنَ بالشّمسِ لم تُنِرْ

مصائبُ لو أُنزِلْنَ بالشّمسِ لم تُنِرْ

وَبالبدر لم تُمْدَدْ بليلٍ سُرادِقُهْ

وَبالبدر لم تُمْدَدْ بليلٍ سُرادِقُهْ

Calamities that, were they laid upon the sun, it would not shine,

Afflictions - had they rained on the sun, it would not shine,

and upon the full moon, its canopy would not spread by night.

And the moon - they would eclipse its nights with surge.

فمُعْتَبَطٌ خولِسْتُهُ ومؤجَّلٌ

فمُعْتَبَطٌ خولِسْتُهُ ومؤجَّلٌ

تلبّث حتّى خِلتنِي لا أُفارقُهْ

تلبّث حتّى خِلتنِي لا أُفارقُهْ

So one, struck down without illness, was stolen from me; another was reprieved,

So I meet it with resolve, and postponement,

who lingered until I thought I would never part from him.

Until it leaves me with no friends or peers.

تجافَى الرّدى عنه فلمّا أمِنْتُهُ

تجافَى الرّدى عنه فلمّا أمِنْتُهُ

سقانِيَ فيه مُرَّ ما أنا ذائِقُهْ

سقانِيَ فيه مُرَّ ما أنا ذائِقُهْ

Death held aloof from him; then, when I felt safe from it,

Fate shunned it, so when I felt secure,

it made me drink, through him, the bitterness I now taste.

It let me sip the bitter taste I had tried to purge.

فسُرَّ به قلبي فغال مسَرَّتِي

فسُرَّ به قلبي فغال مسَرَّتِي

زمانٌ ظلومٌ للسّرورِ يسارقُهْ

زمانٌ ظلومٌ للسّرورِ يسارقُهْ

My heart rejoiced in him, but my joy was destroyed

My heart rejoiced with it, so joy increased,

by deeply unjust Time, which steals delight away.

As time, so cruel to joy, sought to usurge.

أرى يومَه يومي وأشعرُ فقدَه

أرى يومَه يومي وأشعرُ فقدَه

بأنّي وإنْ طال التّلَوُّمُ لاحقُهْ

بأنّي وإنْ طال التّلَوُّمُ لاحقُهْ

I see his day as mine, and in his loss I sense

I see its day my day, and feel its loss,

that, however long I linger, I shall follow him.

For however long estrangement, we will converge.

وكم صاحبٍ عُلِّقْتُهُ فتقطّعَتْ

وكم صاحبٍ عُلِّقْتُهُ فتقطّعَتْ

بأيدي المنايا من يديَّ علائقُهْ

بأيدي المنايا من يديَّ علائقُهْ

And how many a friend I cherished, whose ties were severed

How many friends did I hold, yet the fates

from my hands by the hands of death.

With death, severed the ties our hands would forge!

وكيف صفاءُ العيش للمرء بعدما

وكيف صفاءُ العيش للمرء بعدما

تغيّبَ عنه رَهْطُهُ وأصادِقُهْ

تغيّبَ عنه رَهْطُهُ وأصادِقُهْ

And how can life be serene for a person, after

How can life be clear, when his tribe and friends

his kin and his friends have vanished from him?

Vanish, and he sees not their tracks emerge?

فللّهِ أعوادٌ حَمَلْنَ عشيّةً

فللّهِ أعوادٌ حَمَلْنَ عشيّةً

خبِيئةَ بيتٍ لا يرى السّوءَ طارقُهْ

خبِيئةَ بيتٍ لا يرى السّوءَ طارقُهْ

How wondrous, by God, the timbers that bore one evening

By Allah, they carried one eve, to a home,

the hidden treasure of a house whose visitor never encounters harm.

A hidden tent, safe from harm and outrage.

على الكرمِ الفَضْفاضِ لُطَّتْ ستورُهُ

على الكرمِ الفَضْفاضِ لُطَّتْ ستورُهُ

وبالبرِّ والمعروفِ سُدَّتْ مخارقُهْ

وبالبرِّ والمعروفِ سُدَّتْ مخارقُهْ

Its curtains were drawn over abundant generosity,

With generosity it spread its carpets,

and its gaps were sealed with righteousness and benevolence.

And goodness and kindness its portals did charge.

وَليسَ بهِ إلّا العفافُ وما اِنطَوَتْ

وَليسَ بهِ إلّا العفافُ وما اِنطَوَتْ

على غير ما يُرضي الإلهَ نمارِقُهْ

على غير ما يُرضي الإلهَ نمارِقُهْ

There was nothing in it but chastity; never did

Naught but chastity and what contents

its cushions enfold anything but what pleases God.

The Lord, not disobedience, behind curtains lies submerged.

قيامُ سوادِ اللّيل يَندى ظلامُهُ

قيامُ سوادِ اللّيل يَندى ظلامُهُ

وصومُ بياضِ اليومِ تُحمى ودائِقُهْ

وصومُ بياضِ اليومِ تُحمى ودائِقُهْ

Standing in prayer through the blackness of night, its darkness moist with dew,

The night's darkness comes moist, the fasting of days

and fasting through the whiteness of day, its noonday heat blazing.

Keeps its instincts burning, attractions emerge.

فدَتْني كما شاءتْ وما شئتُ أنّها

فدَتْني كما شاءتْ وما شئتُ أنّها

فَدَتْنِي ولا كانَ الّذي حُمَّ سابقُهْ

فَدَتْنِي ولا كانَ الّذي حُمَّ سابقُهْ

She ransomed me, as she wished; I never wished that she

It ransomed me, however it wished, not how I wished,

should ransom me; nor was there any who could outrun what was decreed.

To ransom me - what prior was predestined and purged.

وَلَو أَنّني أَنصَفتُها من رعايتي

وَلَو أَنّني أَنصَفتُها من رعايتي

وقابلتُه رُزءاً بما هو لائقُهْ

وقابلتُه رُزءاً بما هو لائقُهْ

And had I done her justice in my devotion,

Had I been just, caring for it,

and met that loss with what befits it,

And matched its grace with what it deserved,

لأكرعتُ نفسي بعدها مَكرعَ الرّدى

لأكرعتُ نفسي بعدها مَكرعَ الرّدى

تصابحه حزناً لها وتغابقُهْ

تصابحه حزناً لها وتغابقُهْ

I would have made my soul drink, after her, at death's watering place,

I would race my soul in kindness, matching its sorrow,

sharing its morning draught in grief for her, and its evening draught.

And dusk and dawn for it cares would converge.

سقى جَدَثاً أصبحت فيه مُجَلْجلٌ

سقى جَدَثاً أصبحت فيه مُجَلْجلٌ

رواعدُهُ ما تنجلي وبوارقُهْ

رواعدُهُ ما تنجلي وبوارقُهْ

May a rumbling cloud water the grave in which you now lie,

It quenched a grave in which I am restless,

its thunder and lightning never fading away.

Its pillars not calm, its lightnings surge.

يُطيحُ الصَّدا الدّفَّاعُ منه وتَرْتوي

يُطيحُ الصَّدا الدّفَّاعُ منه وتَرْتوي

مغاربُهُ من فيضه ومشارقُهْ

مغاربُهُ من فيضه ومشارقُهْ

Its surging flood drives thirst away, and they drink their fill—

Sadness pours from it, its sunsets quench their thirst,

the grave's western and eastern reaches, from the cloud's overflow.

Its dawns and horizons knowledge disgorge.

لئِن غبتِ عن عيني فربّ مُغيَّبٍ

لئِن غبتِ عن عيني فربّ مُغيَّبٍ

يروحُ وأبصارُ القلوبِ روامقُهْ

يروحُ وأبصارُ القلوبِ روامقُهْ

Though you have vanished from my sight, many an absent one

If you vanish from my eyes, many vanish,

goes away while the eyes of hearts gaze upon him.

While hearts' visions roam freely without verge.