1. قِفَا بي كي أُودعَها قليلاً

    قبِيلَ البين إذ أَمسَى طَويلا

    Stop with me, you two, that I may bid her a brief farewell,

    Just before the parting, now grown long.

  2. رُوَيداً حيثُ أَطلب أن أَرَاها

    فلا القى لرُؤيتها سَبيلا

    Wait a moment, as I seek to see her,

    Yet find no way to see her.

  3. ويُبليهَا الثَرَى والهفَ نفسي

    وتغدو طيَّهُ رَسماً محيلا

    And the earth wears her away—oh, my soul's anguish!

    And within its folds she becomes a faded trace.

  4. وأُمسي بعدَها كلّي قلوبٌ

    تذوبُ وأعينٌ تَجري سُيولا

    And after her, I am nothing but hearts

    That melt, and eyes that stream in torrents.

  5. وَهيهاتِ الوداعُ وقد أَتاهاَ

    رسولُ البَينِ يخطفُهَا عَجُولا

    And farewell is beyond reach, for to her has come

    The messenger of parting, snatching her away in haste.

  6. مَضَت سَنتانِ حتى حَانَ أني

    أَرَاكِ فكان نعيُكِ لي بَديلا

    Two years passed before the time came for me

    To see you—but news of your death came instead.

  7. قَضَيتِ بغُربةٍ عني ولَكن

    فؤَآدي كان معكِ بها نزيلا

    You died away from home and far from me, yet

    My heart was there, a lodger with you.

  8. يُقال لي اصبري صبراً جميلاً

    وَبعدكِ لاَ أَرَى صبراً جميلا

    I am told, 'Be patient with beautiful patience,'

    Yet after you, I find no patience beautiful.

  9. شقيقةُ مُهجتي بل شطرَ قلبٍ

    بفقدكِ قد غَدَا شطراً عَليلا

    Sister of my soul—rather, half of a heart

    That, at your loss, has become an ailing half.

  10. ومَن أحرَى بطول الحزن مني

    وأَجرَى في الأَسَى دمعاً هَطُولا

    And who has greater claim to lasting sorrow than I,

    And sheds more torrential tears in grief?

  11. إذا ناحَت وأَعوَلَت البَواكي

    اَكون أَحقُّ مَن ابدى العَويلا

    When the mourning women lament and wail,

    I am the one most entitled to voice a lament.

  12. فقدتُكِ في الصِبَا كالغصنِ رطباً

    تميلُ بهِ الصَبا هبَّت أَصيلا

    I lost you in youth, like a tender branch

    Swayed by the east wind blowing toward evening.

  13. كغصنٍ مثمرٍ لمَّا جَنَينَا

    لهُ ثمراُ ذَوَى وبَغَى الذبولا

    Like a fruit-bearing branch: when we gathered

    Its fruit, it withered and sought to fade.

  14. تركتِ لنا بنصفِ الشهر طفلاً

    قُبَيلَ رضَاعِهِ أَمسَى ثكُولا

    You left us a child at mid-month,

    Who became bereaved just before he was to suckle.

  15. كشَمسٍ رافَقَت قمراً فلمَّا

    غَدَا بَدراً بَغَت عنهُ أُفُولا

    Like a sun that accompanied a moon; then, when

    It became full, she sought to set away from it.

  16. عَروسٌ بُدِّلَت بالموتِ بَعلاً

    وسآءَ الموتُ واأَسفى الحليلا

    A bride given death in place of a husband;

    And death was a dreadful spouse—oh, my sorrow!

  17. وقَد صَارَت لها الأكفان لبساً

    ولكن لا تجرُّ لها ذيولا

    And shrouds have become her clothing,

    Yet she trails no trains behind her.

  18. وغَادَرت السِليمَ سَقيمَ قلبٍ

    وهاجَت في جَوانحهِ الغليلا

    And she left the hale man sick at heart,

    And stirred burning anguish within his breast.

  19. لئن يكُ عمرُها أَمَداً قليلاً

    فَقَد نَالَت بهِ أَجراً جزيلا

    Though her life was but a short span,

    She gained through it a bountiful reward.

  20. وإِن تَكُ فارَقَت في مصر نيلاً

    ففي العُليَا اجتَلَت نيَلاً ونيلا

    And though she left a Nile behind in Egypt,

    In heaven she beheld bounty and a Nile.

  21. هناك تمتَّعَت بنعيمِ عيشٍ

    بهِ تنَسَى المَنازلَ والنَّزيلا

    There she enjoyed a blissful life,

    Through which she forgets the dwellings and the lodger.

  22. وأَبقتنَا بأحزانٍ لَدَيها

    نعدُّ الصبرَ أَمراً مُستَحيلا

    And she left us grieving beside her;

    We deem patience an impossible thing.

  23. وَهَيهَاتِ التَصبُّر والتَّسلي

    على أَنَّ الرَدَى أَدنى حُصولا

    And far beyond reach are patient endurance and consolation,

    Though death is nearer at hand.

  24. وَما للموتِ غيرُ الموتِ مُسلٍ

    إذا أَعياكَ حزنُكَ أن يَزولا

    And only death can console for death,

    When your grief defies your efforts to dispel it.