يا بأبِي مَن زارَني في الدّجى

يا بأبِي مَن زارَني في الدّجى

مِن بعد ما قد كان ممنوعا

مِن بعد ما قد كان ممنوعا

Oh, may my father be ransom for the one who visited me in the dark,

O my father, he who visited me in the dark of night

after he had been kept away.

After having long been forbidden

باتَ يُعاطيني أَحاديثَه

باتَ يُعاطيني أَحاديثَه

وحبّذا ذلك مَكروعا

وحبّذا ذلك مَكروعا

He spent the night sharing his talk with me,

He began to speak to me his thoughts

and how delightful that was to drink in!

Joyfully, as if released from bondage

حتّى إِذا الصّبحُ بدا نورُهُ

حتّى إِذا الصّبحُ بدا نورُهُ

وقطّع الظّلماءَ تقطيعا

وقطّع الظّلماءَ تقطيعا

Until, when dawn's light appeared

Until dawn arrived and its light shone

and cut the darkness to pieces,

Cutting through the darkness entirely

ولَّى كأنّ اللّيلَ في وصلِهِ

ولَّى كأنّ اللّيلَ في وصلِهِ

كسا قميصاً عاد منزوعا

كسا قميصاً عاد منزوعا

he departed, as though night, during his union with me,

He slipped away as though the night during his visit

had bestowed a shirt that was now stripped away.

Had dressed in a shirt, now doffed and gone

لا فَقَدَتْه مُقلتِي لا ولا

لا فَقَدَتْه مُقلتِي لا ولا

بتُّ بشيءٍ منه مفجوعا

بتُّ بشيءٍ منه مفجوعا

May my eye never lose him—no, nor

Neither does my eye miss him, nor am I

may I spend a night bereft of any part of him.

Distraught by anything about his leave