وَوَعَدْتُ نَفْسِي سَأَنْسَاهَا، وَكُلَّ كِتَابَاتِي lyrics

وَوَعَدْتُ نَفْسِي سَأَنْسَاهَا، وَكُلَّ كِتَابَاتِي عَنْهَا سَأُحْرِقُهُ

And I promised myself I would forget her, and all my writings about her I would burn.

مَا فَعَلَتْ بِي غَيْرَ شَرٍّ، كُلَّ يَوْمِي بِهَا نَفْسِي تَتَآكَلُ، أَتَعَذَّبُ

She did nothing but evil to me; every day my soul is consumed by her, I suffer.

مَرَّ الدَّهْرُ، وَشَابَ الشَّعْرُ، وَجَفَّ المُرَكَّبُ عَلَى وَرَقِي

Time passed, and hair turned gray, and the ink dried on my paper.

وَهِيَ بَاقِيَةٌ فِي كُلِّ شِعْرٍ، فِي كُلِّ سَطْرٍ أَكْتُبُهُ

Yet she remains in every poem, in every line I write.

وَلَوْ كَتَبْتُ أَلْفَ قَصِيدَةٍ، فَكُلُّ الأَسْمَاءِ وَاحِدَةٌ: مُعَذِّبَتِي

And even if I wrote a thousand poems, all the names are one: my tormentor.

وَمَا يَوْمٌ مَرَّ عَلَى قَلَمِي، إِلاَّ كَتَبْتُ اسْمَهَا... وَأَكْسِرُهُ

And not a day passed over my pen, but I wrote her name... and then I break it.

يَوْمَهَا كُلُّ دَفَاتِرِي وَدَوَاوِينِي أَلْقَيْتُهَا عَلَى الأَرْضِ

That day, all my notebooks and collections of poetry I threw onto the ground.

مِنْ كَثْرَةِ تَكْرَارِهَا حَتَّى الأَرْضُ نَطَقَتْ بِاسْمِهَا... وَأَشُقُّهُ

Min kathrati takrārihā ḥattā al-arḍu naṭaqat bi-ismihā... wa ashuqquhu.

From the frequency of her repetition, even the earth spoke her name... and I tear it apart.

فَيَا نَفْسِي عُذْرًا لِمَا جَهِلْتُهُ، وَوَعَدْتُ بِمَا لَمْ أَفْعَلْهُ

So, my soul, forgive me for what I ignored, and for what I promised but did not do.

فَفِي بَحْرِ حُبِّهَا سَفِينَتِي تُبْحِرُ بِلا بُوصَلَةٍ... لا مَحَالَةَ أَغْرَقُ

Fa-fī baḥri ḥubbihā safīnatī tubḥiru bilā būṣalatin... lā maḥālata aghraqu.

For in the sea of her love, my ship sails without a compass... inevitably, I drown.