لو كانَ لي قلبان لعشت بواحدٍ
وأفردتُ قلباً في هواكَ يُعذَّبُ
لكنَّ لي قلباً تّمَلكَهُ الهَوى
لا العَيشُ يحلُو لَهُ ولا الموتُ يَقْرَبُ
كَعُصفُورةٍ في كفِّ طفلٍ يُهِينُها
تُعَانِي عَذابَ المَوتِ والطِفلُ يلعبُ
فلا الطفل ذو عقلٍ يرِقُّ لِحالِها
ولا الطّيرُ مَطلُوقُ الجنَاحَينِ فيذهبُ
If I had two hearts I would live with one,
And devote the other to torment in your love.
Alas I only have one heart, possessed by love.
Neither pleased by living nor that death is near.
Like a tiny bird in the hands of a child, disgracing it,
Suffering the torment of death while the child is at play
Neither the child is aware of its suffering,
Nor the bird’s wings are free, for it to fly.
And devote the other to torment in your love.
Alas I only have one heart, possessed by love.
Neither pleased by living nor that death is near.
Like a tiny bird in the hands of a child, disgracing it,
Suffering the torment of death while the child is at play
Neither the child is aware of its suffering,
Nor the bird’s wings are free, for it to fly.
—Qays Ibn al-Mulawwah
Listen to If I Had Two Hearts – لو كان لي قلبان – by Al Farabi Music:
