1. سَقى دِمَشقَ وَأَياماً مَضَت فيها

    مَواطِرُ السحب ساريها وَغاديها

    May Damascus, and the days that passed there, be watered

    by rain-bearing clouds, those of night and those of morning,

  2. مِن كُلِّ أَدهم صهّالٍ له شيَةٌ

    صَفراء يسترها طوراً وَيُبديها

    from every neighing black steed bearing a marking

    of yellow, now concealing it, now revealing it.

  3. وَلا يَزال جَنينُ النَبت تُرضعه

    حَوامِلُ المزن في أَحشا أَراضيها

    And may the embryo of vegetation never cease to be suckled

    by pregnant rainclouds within the wombs of her lands.

  4. فَما قضى حبّه قَلبي لنيربها

    وَلا قَضى نحبه وَذي لواديها

    So my heart has not exhausted its love for her Nayrab,

    nor has [my affection] for her valley breathed its last.

  5. وَلا تسليتُ عَن سلسال ربوتها

    وَلا نَسيتُ بِبَيتي جار جاريها

    Nor have I found solace away from her Rabwa’s limpid stream,

    nor, in my home, forgotten the dweller beside her stream.

  6. كَأَنَّ أَنهارَها ماضي ظُبىً حُشيَت

    خَناجِراً مِن لجينٍ في حَواشيها

    Her rivers seem keen blades, inlaid

    with daggers of silver along their edges.

  7. فَلا سَقى اللَهُ أَشواقي بِرؤيَتها

    ان راقَ عَيني شيء بَعدَ فَقديها

    May God never quench my longings with the sight of her,

    if anything delights my eye after losing her.

  8. واهاً لَها حينَ حلّى الغَيث عاطلها

    مكلّلاً واِكتَسى الأَوراق عاريها

    Ah, for her, when rain adorned her unadorned places

    with garlands, and her naked growth put on leaves.

  9. وَحاكَ في الأَرض صَوبُ المزّن مخمله

    يُنيرُها بغواديه وَيُسديها

    And the rainclouds’ downpour wove its velvet over the earth,

    threading her with its morning showers and laying her warp:

  10. ديباجة لَم تدع حسناً مفوَّفها

    إِلّا أَتاه وَلا أَبقى موشّيها

    a brocade whose patterner left no beauty

    unrealized, nor did its embroiderer leave any untouched.

  11. تَرنو اليك بعين النَور ضاحِكة

    إِذ باتَ عين من الوسميّ تَبكيها

    She gazes at you, smiling through the eye of her blossoms,

    when an eye of autumn rain has spent the night weeping over her.

  12. وَالدوح رَيّا لَها رَيّاً قَد اِكتملت

    شَبابها حينَما شابَت نَواصيها

    And her great trees, lush and amply watered, have perfected

    their youth just as their forelocks have turned white.

  13. نَشوى يُغنّى لَها وَرقُ الحما

    م عَلى أَوراقها وَيَدُ الأَنواء تسقيها

    Intoxicated, serenaded by gray doves

    upon their leaves, while the hand of the rain-stars gives them drink.

  14. صَفا لَها الشرب فاخضرَّت أَسافلها

    حَتّى ضَفا الظل وابيضَّت أَعاليها

    Their drink ran clear, so their lower parts grew green,

    until the shade spread wide and their tops turned white.

  15. وَصفّق النهر وَالاَغصان قَد رَقَصَت

    فَنقَّطته بدرٍّ مِن تراقيها

    The river clapped, and the branches danced,

    dotting it with pearls from their collarbones.

  16. كَأَنَّما رَقصها أَوهى قَلائدها

    وَخانَها النَظمُ فاِنثالَت لآليها

    As though their dancing had loosened their necklaces,

    and the stringing failed them, so their pearls cascaded down.

  17. وَأَعين الماء قَد أَجرَت سَواقيها

    وَالأَعين النجل قَد جارَت سَواقيها

    The water-springs set their channels flowing,

    and the wide, dark eyes rivaled her watercourses.

  18. وَقابل الغصنَ غُصنٌ مثله وَشَدت

    أَقمارُها فأَجابتها قَماريها

    A branch faced another branch like itself; then sang

    her moons, and her turtledoves answered them.

  19. فللحاظ وَللأسماع ما اَقترحت

    مِن وجه شاذنِها أَو صَوت شاديها

    For sight and hearing, whatever they desired,

    from her young gazelle’s face or her singer’s voice.

  20. إِذا العَزيمة عَن فَرطِ الغَرامِ ثَنَت

    قَلباً تَثنّى لَها غصنٌ فيثنيها

    Whenever resolve drew a heart away from excessive love,

    a branch swayed before resolve, swaying it in turn.

  21. ريمٌ إِذا جَلَبَت حَيناً لواحظه

    لِلنفس حَيّا بخديه فيُحييها

    A gazelle: when his glances brought death

    to the soul, he greeted it with his cheeks and revived it.

  22. جنايةٌ طرفه المحوّر جاء بِها

    وَراس عارضه المخضرّ آسيها

    A crime his dark-ringed eye had committed,

    and the tip of his green cheek-down was its healer.

  23. يقبلُّ الكأس خجلى كُلَّما شَربت

    في ماءِ فيهِ فَقاسته بِما فيها

    He kisses the cup, which blushes whenever it drinks

    in his mouth’s water and compares it with what it holds.

  24. أَشتاق عيشي بِها قِدماً وَتُذكرني

    أَياميَ السود بيضاً مِن لَياليها

    I yearn for my former life there, and am reminded

    by my dark days of her radiant nights.

  25. وَنَحنُ في جنّة لا ذاق ساكنها

    بأساً وَلا عرفت بُؤساً مَغانيها

    And we were in a paradise whose dweller never tasted

    hardship, whose haunts never knew misery.

  26. سَماء دوح تردّ الشمس صاغرةً

    عَنّا وَتبدي نُجوماً في نَواحيها

    A sky of great trees turned back the sun, humbled,

    away from us, and revealed stars throughout its reaches.

  27. تَرى البدور بها في كُلِّ ناحية

    مَمدودة لِلنُجوم الزُهر أَيديها

    You see full moons there in every quarter,

    their hands stretched out toward the radiant stars.

  28. إِذا الغُصونُ هززناها لنيل جنى

    صارَت كَواكِبُها حًصبا أَراضيها

    When we shook the branches to gather fruit,

    their stars became gravel upon her earth.

  29. مِن كُلِّ صَفراء مثل الماء يانعة

    تَخالها جمر نارٍ في تَلظّيها

    Each a ripe yellow fruit, like water,

    you would think it a fiery ember in its blaze.

  30. لَذيذة الطَعمِ تَحلو عِندَ آكلِها

    بَهيَّة اللَون تحلى عند رائيها

    Delicious in taste, sweet to its eater,

    splendid in color, lovely to its beholder.

  31. يا لَيتَ شِعري عَلى بعد أَذاكرتي

    عصابة لَستُ طولَ الدهر ناسيها

    Ah, could I know, despite the distance: am I remembered

    by a band I shall never forget as long as time endures?

  32. عِندي أَحاديث وَجد بَعد بعدهم

    أَظلَّ أَجحدها وَالعَينُ تَرويها

    Since they grew distant, I have tales of longing

    I keep denying, while my eye recounts them.

  33. كَم لي بها صاحب عِندي له نَعمٌ

    كَثيرَةٌ وَأَيادٍ ما أُؤَديها

    How many a friend I have there, whose favors to me

    are many, whose kindnesses I cannot repay.

  34. فارَقتُه غير مختار فَصاحَبَني

    صَبابة منه تُخفيني وَأُخفيها

    I parted from him unwillingly, and what kept me company

    was longing for him that makes me vanish, while I conceal it.

  35. رَضيتُ بالكتبِ بعد القرب فاِنقطعت

    حَتّى رَضيتُ سَلاماً في حواشيها

    After closeness, I contented myself with letters; then they ceased,

    until I was content with a greeting in their margins.

  36. إِن يعلُني غَيرُ ذي فَضل فَلا عَجَبٌ

    يَسمو عَلى سابِقاتِ الخَيلِ هابيها

    If someone without merit rises above me, that is no wonder:

    their dust rises above the fleetest horses.

  37. وَالماء تَعلوهُ أَقذاءٌ وَها زَحلٌ

    أَخفى الكَواكِب نوراً وَهوَ عاليها

    Refuse floats above water; and behold Saturn,

    the dimmest of the stars, yet highest among them.

  38. لَو كانَ جَدّ بِجَدٍّ ما تَقدّمني

    عِصابَةٌ قَصَّرَت عَنّي مَساعيها

    Had fortune depended on effort, I would not have been outstripped

    by a band whose endeavors fell short of mine.

  39. ما في خُموليَ مِن عارٍ عَلى أَدَبي

    بَل ذاك عارٌ عَلى الدنيا وَأَهليها

    My obscurity casts no shame upon my literary gifts;

    rather, that shame falls on the world and its people.