أحباءَنا ما كان لي عنكُمُ صبرُ

أحباءَنا ما كان لي عنكُمُ صبرُ

وهل لِصبورٍ عن أحبَّتِه عذرُ

وهل لِصبورٍ عن أحبَّتِه عذرُ

Our beloveds, I could never bear separation from you.

Our loved ones, I had no patience being away from you

And is there any excuse for one who patiently bears parting from his beloveds?

And what excuse can the patient have from his loved ones?

فيا ليتَ شِعري عنكُمُ كيف كنتُمُ

فيا ليتَ شِعري عنكُمُ كيف كنتُمُ

وكيف التي من وجهها يطلعُ البدر

وكيف التي من وجهها يطلعُ البدر

So, would that I knew how you have fared,

I wish I knew how you all were

And how fares she from whose face the full moon rises,

And how was she whose face the full moon rises from

ومَن نشرها مِسْكٌ وألحاظها سحرُ

ومَن نشرها مِسْكٌ وألحاظها سحرُ

ومَبسِمُها درٌّ وريقتها خمر

ومَبسِمُها درٌّ وريقتها خمر

And she whose fragrance is musk and whose glances are enchantment,

And whose perfume is musk and whose glances are magic

And whose smiling mouth is pearls and whose saliva is wine?

And whose smile is pearls and whose complexion is wine

وقد زَعَمتْ ألّا تزالَ كعهِدنا

وقد زَعَمتْ ألّا تزالَ كعهِدنا

وإن طال بي غَيْب وطال بها العُمْر

وإن طال بي غَيْب وطال بها العُمْر

And she has claimed she will remain as we knew her,

She claimed she would stay as we knew her

Even if my absence is long and her life stretches on.

Though my absence grew long and her life grew longer

وإني لأخشى والزمانُ مُغيِّرٌ

وإني لأخشى والزمانُ مُغيِّرٌ

على النأْي يوماً أن يميل بها الغدر

على النأْي يوماً أن يميل بها الغدر

And I surely fear—for time brings change—

And yet I fear, as time is ever changing

That one day, while we are far apart, betrayal may sway her.

That one day betrayal may make her heart turn

وكيف بمُشتاقٍ تضمَن جسمَه

وكيف بمُشتاقٍ تضمَن جسمَه

على شوقِه مِصرٌ ومُهجَتَه مِصْر

على شوقِه مِصرٌ ومُهجَتَه مِصْر

And how fares a yearning man whose body is held

How can a longing soul contain in his body

Despite his longing, by one city, while another holds his heart?

His insistence to stay and his will to leave

أقام لحرب الزَنج في دار غربة

أقام لحرب الزَنج في دار غربة

حوادثُها في أهلها القتل والأسر

حوادثُها في أهلها القتل والأسر

He has stayed to fight the Zanj in a land far from home,

He stood to fight the black hordes in a foreign land

Where killing and captivity are the calamities that befall its people.

Whose affairs were killing and capture

ومن دونه هولٌ ومن تحته ردىً

ومن دونه هولٌ ومن تحته ردىً

ومن فوقه سيفٌ ومن تحته بحر

ومن فوقه سيفٌ ومن تحته بحر

And before him lies terror, and beneath him death,

Beneath him horror and around him ruin

And above him a sword, and beneath him a sea.

Above him a sword and beneath him the sea

إذا شام برقاً لاح من نحو أرضه

إذا شام برقاً لاح من نحو أرضه

تَضايقَ عما ضَمَّ من وَجدِه الصبر

تَضايقَ عما ضَمَّ من وَجدِه الصبر

When he spies lightning flashing from the direction of his homeland,

When he saw a flash of lightning in the direction of his land

His patience grows too narrow for the yearning it contains.

He was troubled by the grief he had contained with patience

وبَلَّتْ دماً مِنْ بعد دمع رداءه

وبَلَّتْ دماً مِنْ بعد دمع رداءه

لدى خلوات منه أجفانُه الغُزر

لدى خلوات منه أجفانُه الغُزر

And, after tears, his cloak is drenched with blood

And shed blood after the tears had soaked his mantle

By his tear-brimming eyelids in his hours of solitude.

When he was alone his heavy eyelids wept

وإن رام من حَدِّ البطيحة مَطلعاً

وإن رام من حَدِّ البطيحة مَطلعاً

ثَنَتْ شأوَهُ عنه المواصير والجِسر

ثَنَتْ شأوَهُ عنه المواصير والجِسر

And if he seeks a way out from the edge of al-Batiha,

And if he tried to rise above the battlefield

The toll barriers and the bridge turn his course away from it.

The chains and the bridge held back his endeavor

كفى حزناً أن المُقِلَّ مُشَرَّدٌ

كفى حزناً أن المُقِلَّ مُشَرَّدٌ

وذو الخفض في أحبابه مَن له وَفر

وذو الخفض في أحبابه مَن له وَفر

It is sorrow enough that the man of little means is driven from home,

It is sorrow enough that the sheltered is exiled

While he who has plenty lives at ease among his beloveds.

And the noble among loved ones is the one abandoned

إذا كان مالي لا يقوم بهمَّتي

إذا كان مالي لا يقوم بهمَّتي

سماحاً وإن أوفَى على عُسرتي اليُسر

سماحاً وإن أوفَى على عُسرتي اليُسر

If my wealth cannot match my aspiration

If my wealth cannot support my ambition

In generosity, even if prosperity rises above my hardship,

With generosity even if ease later follows hardship

ففيمَ اجتهادي في محاولة الغنى

ففيمَ اجتهادي في محاولة الغنى

وما للغنى عند الجواد به قَدْر

وما للغنى عند الجواد به قَدْر

Then why do I strive in the pursuit of wealth,

Why then my striving to seek riches?

When wealth has no worth in the eyes of one generous with it?

For the generous, wealth itself is of no worth

يفوز بجمع المال من كان باخلاً

يفوز بجمع المال من كان باخلاً

وما ليَ إلا الحمدُ من ذاك والشكر

وما ليَ إلا الحمدُ من ذاك والشكر

It is the miser who succeeds in amassing wealth,

He who is miserly wins by gathering money

And all I gain from that is praise and gratitude.

While for me there is only thanks and gratitude

وما أنا إلا محرزُ المجد والعلا

وما أنا إلا محرزُ المجد والعلا

وذلك كَنزي لا اللُجَيْنُ ولا التبر

وذلك كَنزي لا اللُجَيْنُ ولا التبر

And I am but one who secures glory and eminence,

I am but a guardian of glory and sublimity

And that is my treasure, not silver or raw gold.

That is my treasure, not pearls or ruins

فإن يقض لي اللَهُ الرجوعَ فإنه

فإن يقض لي اللَهُ الرجوعَ فإنه

علَيَّ له أن لا أفارقَكُمْ نذر

علَيَّ له أن لا أفارقَكُمْ نذر

So if God ordains my return, then

If God destines my return, then it is binding upon me

I owe Him a vow never to part from you.

That I never separate from you all again

ولا أبتغي عنكم شُخوصاً وفُرقةً

ولا أبتغي عنكم شُخوصاً وفُرقةً

يَدَ الدهر إلا أن يُفرِّقَنا الدهر

يَدَ الدهر إلا أن يُفرِّقَنا الدهر

Nor shall I seek departure from you or separation

I seek no distance nor division from you

For all time, unless time itself parts us.

Only time itself could divide us

فما العيش إلا قربُ من أنت آلِفٌ

فما العيش إلا قربُ من أنت آلِفٌ

وما الموتُ إلا نأيُهُ عنكَ والهجر

وما الموتُ إلا نأيُهُ عنكَ والهجر

For life is nothing but nearness to one you hold dear,

Life is nothing but closeness to those you know well

And death is nothing but his distance from you and estrangement.

And death but the separation and loss