أيرجعُ لي شرخُ الشبابِ وعصرُه

أيرجعُ لي شرخُ الشبابِ وعصرُه

وكيفَ رجوعُ اللّيلِ قَد لاحَ فَجرُهُ

وكيفَ رجوعُ اللّيلِ قَد لاحَ فَجرُهُ

Will youth's prime and its season return to me?

Will the crack of youth and its prime return to me,

And how can night return when its dawn has appeared?

And how can the night's coming back when its dawn has appeared?

رداءٌ قشيبٌ حالَ حالِكُ لونِهِ

رداءٌ قشيبٌ حالَ حالِكُ لونِهِ

وأنْهَجَهُ طيُّ الزّمان ونَشْرُهُ

وأنْهَجَهُ طيُّ الزّمان ونَشْرُهُ

A fine new robe—its pitch-dark color has changed,

Grey hair has draped your condition with its color,

And time's folding and unfolding have worn it threadbare.

And the long flow of time has spread it out.

وكنتُ به كلَّ الضّنِينِ فبزَّهُ ال

وكنتُ به كلَّ الضّنِينِ فبزَّهُ ال

مشيبُ فَويحَ الشّيبِ لاَ دَرّ دَرُّهُ

مشيبُ فَويحَ الشّيبِ لاَ دَرّ دَرُّهُ

And I guarded it most jealously, but it was snatched away by the

With it I used to be the most happy, but grey hair made it sad.

graying of hair—woe to gray hair; may it yield no good!

Alas to white hair! No rolling back its deterioration.

فيا سعدُ كَم أحسنتَ بي قبلَ هذه

فيا سعدُ كَم أحسنتَ بي قبلَ هذه

فدونَك بِرّا خالِصاً لكَ شُكرُه

فدونَك بِرّا خالِصاً لكَ شُكرُه

So, Saʿd, how often you have been kind to me before this!

O my good fortune, how good you were to me before this!

Then undertake a kindness whose thanks are yours alone:

Thanks purely to you for your goodness to me.

تَراءَ معي داراً بأكثِبة الحِمَى

تَراءَ معي داراً بأكثِبة الحِمَى

فقد رانَ من دمعي على العين سِتْرُهُ

فقد رانَ من دمعي على العين سِتْرُهُ

Look with me upon a dwelling amid the dunes of al-Ḥimā;

It saw a house with me in the thickets of love,

For my tears have cast their veil over my eye.

But now its veil from my tears is upon my eye.

فإن تَكُ أطلالِي فَقِف بي بِرَبْعها

فإن تَكُ أطلالِي فَقِف بي بِرَبْعها

لأُبرِدَ قلبا قد توهَّج جَمرُهُ

لأُبرِدَ قلبا قد توهَّج جَمرُهُ

If these are my ruins, halt with me at their site,

If my ruins still stand, then stop a while beside them

So I may cool a heart whose embers have blazed,

That I may cool a heart whose embers have grown hot,

وأُفرغَ فيها قَطرَ دَمعٍ يُغيرُه

وأُفرغَ فيها قَطرَ دَمعٍ يُغيرُه

إذا جَادَها من صيِّبِ الغِيثِ قَطرُهُ

إذا جَادَها من صيِّبِ الغِيثِ قَطرُهُ

And pour upon them drops of tears that rouse its envy,

And pour into it a drop of tears to change it

When the rain, in a downpour, lavishes its drops upon them.

When the rain has sent down its drops generously.

وعاهدتُ قلبيَ أنّه لِيَ مُنجِدٌ

وعاهدتُ قلبيَ أنّه لِيَ مُنجِدٌ

متى خُنْتُمُ والآنَ قَد بان غَدرُهُ

متى خُنْتُمُ والآنَ قَد بان غَدرُهُ

And I made a pact with my heart that it would come to my aid

I promised my heart that it would help me

Whenever you betrayed me—but now its treachery is plain.

When you betrayed me, and now its treachery is clear.

وأبدى الهوى منهُ تَجَهّمَ خَاذِلٍ

وأبدى الهوى منهُ تَجَهّمَ خَاذِلٍ

فمَن خَانَني مِن بَعدِه قَام عُذْرُهُ

فمَن خَانَني مِن بَعدِه قَام عُذْرُهُ

And love has revealed in it the scowl of one who forsakes me;

Love has shown from it a glowering betrayal,

So whoever betrays me after it has a valid excuse.

So who can be excused after betraying me?

وقد كان سُكرُ الحُبّ يهفو بلبِّه

وقد كان سُكرُ الحُبّ يهفو بلبِّه

وما خِلتُه يبقى مع الغَدرِ سُكْرُهُ

وما خِلتُه يبقى مع الغَدرِ سُكْرُهُ

And love's intoxication once swept away its reason,

The drunkenness of love once seethed in its midst,

And I never thought its intoxication would survive betrayal.

But I did not leave it there along with treachery and drunkenness.

ولم أَتَّبعْ ضَنّاً بكم سَقَطَاتِكُم

ولم أَتَّبعْ ضَنّاً بكم سَقَطَاتِكُم

لأسبُرَكُم والكَلْمُ يُدميه سَبْرُهُ

لأسبُرَكُم والكَلْمُ يُدميه سَبْرُهُ

And, cherishing you, I did not pursue your lapses,

I did not follow up your slips with blame,

To probe you—for probing a wound makes it bleed.

Prodding you, though my words can slit like a blade,

ولكن أرَانِيها اشتهارُكُمُ بها

ولكن أرَانِيها اشتهارُكُمُ بها

وهل يَخْتفي في حِندس اللّيل بَدْرُهُ

وهل يَخْتفي في حِندس اللّيل بَدْرُهُ

But your notoriety for them revealed them to me;

But I showed them to you when you openly flaunted them -

And can the night's full moon hide in its pitch darkness?

Can the full moon conceal itself in a flimsy veil?