واللَه ما التحف الحزينُ بضرِّه

واللَه ما التحف الحزينُ بضرِّه

إلّا وجرَّده الأسى من صبره

إلّا وجرَّده الأسى من صبره

By God, no grieving man wraps himself in his affliction

The sorrowful heirloom with its harm, indeed,

without sorrow stripping him of his patience.

Has stripped grief away from his patience.

وعيونُهُ ما ازداد سيلُ دموعها

وعيونُهُ ما ازداد سيلُ دموعها

إلّا وضاعف لاعجاً في صدره

إلّا وضاعف لاعجاً في صدره

And the torrent of tears from his eyes never swells

His eyes - the more their tear rivers flowed,

without doubling a burning anguish in his breast,

The more anguish raged in his chest.

حزناً على القمرين نور نواظري

حزناً على القمرين نور نواظري

ليلى وإبراهيم مفرد عصره

ليلى وإبراهيم مفرد عصره

in grief for the two moons, the light of my eyes:

Grieving the two moons whose light are my eyes’ bliss -

Layla and Ibrahim, the peerless one of his time.

Layla and Ibrahim, unmatched in his time.

فجع الردى بهما الجمال فليتني

فجع الردى بهما الجمال فليتني

كنت الفداء لشمسه ولبدره

كنت الفداء لشمسه ولبدره

Death bereaved beauty of them both; if only I

May I ransom their beauty that sadness has bereaved,

had been the ransom for its sun and its full moon!

His sun and his moon with my soul.

من مخبر الشعراء أن زعيمها

من مخبر الشعراء أن زعيمها

لم يبق غير المبكيات بفكره

لم يبق غير المبكيات بفكره

Who will tell the poets that their leader

The poets inform that their chief remains

has nothing left in his thoughts but things that bring tears?

With nothing left but dirges on his mind.

لو كان إبراهيم يعلم ما جرى

لو كان إبراهيم يعلم ما جرى

بي بعده لبكى علي بقبره

بي بعده لبكى علي بقبره

If Ibrahim knew what has befallen

If Ibrahim knew what befell me after him,

me since his passing, he would weep for me in his grave.

He would have wept for me at his grave.

أو شاهدت ليلى الحنونة مدمعي

أو شاهدت ليلى الحنونة مدمعي

لحلا لها عني الغريق ببحره

لحلا لها عني الغريق ببحره

Or if tender-hearted Layla saw my tears,

Or if the affectionate Layla saw my tears,

she would deem a man drowned in his sea better off than me.

She would have rescued the drowning with her sea.

يا رب ما بال المدامع حالفت

يا رب ما بال المدامع حالفت

حرقي عليَّ كأنها من جمره

حرقي عليَّ كأنها من جمره

O Lord, why have these tears allied themselves

O Lord, why have the teardrops pledged

with my burning anguish against me, as though they sprang from its embers?

To burn me as if they were embers?

جد يا كريم على الكريم وأخته

جد يا كريم على الكريم وأخته

بملثِّ عفوك واسقني في قطره

بملثِّ عفوك واسقني في قطره

Be generous, O Generous One, to the noble one and his sister,

Come, O Bountiful, to the aid of the bountiful and his sister

with the ceaseless rain of Your pardon, and quench my thirst in its shower.

With a full pardon and give me a drink from its droplets.

واسكب على الأم الحزينة وابنها ال

واسكب على الأم الحزينة وابنها ال

صبر الذي تطوى الهموم بنشره

صبر الذي تطوى الهموم بنشره

And pour upon the grieving mother and her son the

And pour upon the grieving mother and her son

patience whose unfolding folds cares away.

The patience with which worries are folded away.

وامنح عبيدك راحةً أو موتةً

وامنح عبيدك راحةً أو موتةً

تعفي الأسى وتريحني من شره

تعفي الأسى وتريحني من شره

And grant Your humble servant rest, or a death

And grant Your servants either respite or a death

that erases sorrow and frees me from its harm.

That would relieve the sorrow and save me from its evil.

فسواك يا رحمنُ ليس بقادرٍ

فسواك يا رحمنُ ليس بقادرٍ

أن يتحف العاني براحة سرِّه

أن يتحف العاني براحة سرِّه

For none but You, O All-Merciful, has the power

For none but You, O Merciful, has the power

to bestow on the sufferer peace in his innermost heart.

To gift respite to the weary from his secret.