1. The traveler's imagination is his provision,
As well as magic, fragrance and shades.

2. Thirsty, with a cup in his hand,
As well as love, art and beauty.

3. The nights grew old in his land,
And the mountains wasted their lifetime.

4. Yet he kept seeking the homelands,
And kept asking the night and the day,

5. While people around him are drunk,
Roaming the vast horizons.

6. Alas for your sublime secret,
And your wandering, strange wave,

7. O Nile, o charmer of the unknown,
Crowned, you are, in the meadows,

8. With no palaces or domes.
How often has the sun in its glory

9. Labored because of your melting light.
And the stars of the night, how much they were veiled

10. By your mist in the nammat.
And how many strong men marched to you

11. With a procession that woke the deserts.
You sent back their riders confused,

12. While you lie in your wet cradle.
Alas for your wondrous dream

13. And the drowsy wave in the hidden.
O Nile, o charmer of the unknown.

14. I heard in your beautiful bank
What the wind said to the palms,

15. Do the birds glorify or sing?
And does love explain to the friend?

16. Are those branches or maidens
Who drank from the wine of the noble?

17. And is this a boat aflame with yearning
Or is it the joy of virgins?

18. It flows and flows, your passion burns,
I got my share of its sorcery,

19. And I wandered, ablaze with flames,
So it did not leave me without a lover.

20. O Nile, o charmer of the unknown.
O grantor of eternity to time,

21. O bearer of poetry and songs,
Give me a drink, and another, and let me

22. Wander like a bird in heavens.
I wish I were a wave, so I'd tell

23. Your nights what saddened me,
And I'd become a neighbor of winds,

24. And carry light to the confused.
For if passion made me fly,

25. The winds of nightfall were my remedy.
Alas for your sublime secret,

26. And your wandering, strange wave.
O Nile, o charmer of the unknown.