1. In the quarters of Fustat my heart found repose,
So linger in their broad expanses and call out,

2. O Egypt, has any branch offered to you,
A moon for your quarter or rain for its plains?

3. A gentle breeze sways it like the swaying
Of the slim waist of a fawn bending to drink.

4. Could it be the Nile has offered some of his sweetness
To freshen the waters of that valley?

5. It improved their taste but still
Quenches the thirst and increases the want of the thirsty.

6. Alas for those relics, for they are
Traces of my loved ones and kindred spirits.

7. I yearn for them though my dwellings
Are far away, I love them passionately though not my country.

8. Homes in which I wore the garb of youth in my prime,
Jet black, fluttering in mourning robes.

9. Life is raw, home near,
Yet I refuse my wishes, awaiting reunion.

10. My heart is hostage wherever it is,
The gazelle is intent on gazelles, the lost on the lost.

11. My tears dispersed when they dispersed -
My kin - and I awoke in Baghdad, in Baghdad!

12. Now tears course down like stars
Between the Gemini and the Single One.

13. My tears resemble the overflowing
Of sunset, pressed on my cheeks like grape juice.