1. He struck the land and plundered it,
And like a flash he was gone.

2. A sign of the times, fate turns,
As he appeared then withdrew.

3. Space narrowed in haste,
And no exile remained.

4. He seizes opportunity or almost,
Whenever he sought gain.

5. The cedars of Lebanon, how majestic!
This is Aleppo, this Aleppo.

6. O passersby who know not fatigue,
It links cities and villages

7. With two firm ropes.
Serpents, whether coiled

8. Or crawling over peaks and dales.
If it meanders between meadows,

9. You’d think it a ship on the seas.
And when trailing smoke,

10. It’s like a shooting star.
In this wispy veil

11. Are hints of steam that rose and blew away.
It is a longing for refuge

12. Where all is desirable.
The leaning of its trees is grace,

13. And in its trunks, humps.
O starry one,

14. Beauty lies in those stars.
Excellent is your share of the hoary,

15. Element of stars.
That unsullied element

16. That remained free and uncorrupted.
The element that brought Ibn Hamdan

17. All that he loved.
And with it Ahmad climbed

18. To the pinnacle of poetry in the Arabs.
Excellent is your new share

19. And the expanse it contains.
Excellent is the ancient section

20. Where ages nested below it.
The platforms with their jewels

21. Of stone or else wood.
The gardens where from the bowers

22. Fountains play.
The buildings with their fine domes

23. And remarkable cupolas.
What a visit it was!

24. And I was filled with longing.
My joy is now complete, having seen

25. Them closely today.
And for having fulfilled

26. Some of what was due to them.
Whoever says the sweetest praise of them

27. Does not lie.
I came to them, my heart

28. Pounding harder as I drew near.
“Be gentle with me,” it said,

29. “Like one returning to his tribe after long absence.”
By God, that hour

30. Eased the strain on the weary.
It is no wonder! For they are

31. The elite of East and West.
Of women, luminaries

32. Adorned with beauty and grace.
Chaste ladies nurturing

33. The highborn and elect.
And men, who when

34. They compete, win the prize.
They ennobled knowledge as much as they could,

35. And did not scorn the basic.
The most skilled of students

36. Of the honorable way of life.
The most forbearing when faced

37. With that which allays wrath.
The steadiest if excess

38. Should bring harm.
Whoever saw them in position

39. To win, would leap.
Attaining the utmost

40. Of all he sought.
Among them is the accountant

41. None can compete with in reckoning.
Among them is the scribe

42. None can match in writing.
Among them is the sage

43. Whose intellect pierces like a star.
Among them is the poet

44. Whose verse enthralls souls.
Among them is the eloquent orator

45. When addressing the crowd.
Among them is the artisan

46. Whose craft is a wonder.
Among them is the charming composer

47. Of musical modes.
O noble ones who have granted me

48. The highest stations!
You have given me a pride

49. More precious than lineage.
Who am I, and what am I

50. To poetry and literature?