1. You have refined me in feeling and meaning
So for your making, double thanks are due

2. And made the heads of enviers of me
Lower than the ancient pyramids of Egypt

3. And made the pinnacle of my home’s height
Higher than the peaks of the two pyramids

4. You settled me in a spot
Where I became of great and noble rank

5. I pass through streets outpacing
And outpacing in reaching meadows is praise

6. And I visit the monuments of kings and I was before
Associated with them and their glory esteemed

7. It is as if, when your feet tread a place
You say “I have entered a fortress”

8. Mount Muqattam, surrounding it
Is a curve like a beautiful Nun

9. Far from an enemy reaching it
And attaining what he desires

10. Have you ever seen the like of it
In this country, as refuge and protection?

11. The vegetation in its valleys
Advanced, planted and collected

12. And the thing expands in size
In its atmosphere, increasing in weight

13. The jujube is like a pomegranate and the
Jujube is like white eggs, rounded

14. And the dom-palm in it is lasting
Time passes away but it does not pass away

15. Its pottery bears the accents of the epochs
Praising it, left and right

16. It suffices to popularize eras
That it be said “It is the canal” so it is popularized

17. They said, “You headed for the canal”
So hello to the canal and its loveliness

18. They said, “You settled on the hillside” I said
“And does the hot wind settle in the coolness?”

19. The secret of life is heat
Without it no bird would sing

20. No, nor would a flower smile
Nor a branch bend

21. And the living begins its life
After taking on the egg’s embrace

22. The rivers flow from heat
And the winds blow, stirred

23. See, I am safe from cold, rheumatism,
And chest pain, reassured

24. And protected from the illnesses of dampness
And the stealing of the winds, here

25. The air casts aside, so I do not fear
Meeting it, back or front

26. And I sleep uncovered
When night pulls her dress

27. Costs are fewer as
I buy no wool or cotton

28. I save half or half the price
Of fuel

29. The sun provides my comfort
As if she were my mother, most merciful

30. So if I need something
For washing, I heat water

31. Or toss a cook-pot or fry
Bread, I cast the air into an oven

32. The dweller of villages leaves the fool
Busy with wealth, toiling

33. What enjoyments in it does he spend his money on
And when and how?

34. Every man meets him
After noon, in his home

35. And the stranger sees the prices light
In condition, and the cheating slight

36. He finds the milk just as it is
Milk, and the butter just as it is butter

37. Live in villages peacefully and do not dwell
With the riffraff in cities

38. Hold yourself back from being seen
As continuing in cowardly living

39. Leave the island, the bay
The bridge, and the most singing gazelle

40. And forget songs and singers
And ask the Merciful for Eden