1. سَلاَمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ وَالْحَوَادِثُ أَلْوَانُ

    وَمِنْ دُونِ آمَالِ الْمُحِبِّينَ حِرْمَانُ

    Peace be upon you; events come in many colors.

    And deprivation stands before the hopes of lovers.

  2. سَلاَمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ وَالأَسَى يَتْبَعُ الأَسَى

    عَلَيْكُمْ فَأَمَّا الصَّبْرُ عَنْكُمْ فَخَوَّانُ

    Peace be upon you, as sorrow follows sorrow

    Over you; as for patience without you, it is faithless.

  3. سَلاَمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ حَيْثُ سَارَتْ حُدُوجُكُمْ

    وَسَايَرَكُمْ رُوحُ الإِلَهِ وَرَيْحَانُ

    Peace be upon you wherever your howdahs travel,

    And may God's solace and sweet fragrance accompany you.

  4. وَرَوَّضَ رَبِّي الْقَفْرَ حَيْثُ حَلَلْتُمُ

    بِهِ إِنَّ ذَاكَ الْقَفْرَ عِنْدِيَ عُمْرَانُ

    And may my Lord make the wilderness a garden wherever you settle

    There; indeed, that wilderness is to me a thriving abode.

  5. أَأَحْبَابَنَا يَا جَنَّةَ الْخُلْدِ بَهْجَةً

    لِبَيْنِكُمُ بَيْنَ الْجَوَانِحِ نِيرَانُ

    O our beloved, O garden of eternity in splendor,

    Your parting sets fires burning between my ribs.

  6. أَأَحْبَابَنَا يَا أَرْجَحَ النَّاسِ نُهْيَةً

    عُبَيْدُكُمُ مُذْ سِرْتُمُ عَنُْه حَيْرَانُ

    O our beloved, O wisest of all people,

    Your humble servant has been bewildered since you left him.

  7. أَأَحْبَابَنَا يَا يَا أَرْبَحَ النَّاسِ صَفْقَةً

    مَسِيرُكُمُ دُونِي لِلْقَلْبِ خُسْرَانُ

    O our beloved, O, O most successful of people in bargaining,

    Your departure without me is a loss to the heart.

  8. أَأَحْبَابَنَا يَا أَصْدَقَ النَّاسِ صَدِّقُوا

    ظُنُونِي بِقُرْبٍ فَالْحَشَا مِنْهُ ظَمْآنُ

    O our beloved, O truest of people, make true

    My expectations by drawing near, for my heart thirsts for it.

  9. أَأَعْذَبَ شَيْءٍ مَا أَمَرَّ فِرَاقُكُمْ

    فَمُذْ بِنْتُمُ مَا خَامَرَ الْقَلْبَ سُلْوَانُ

    O sweetest thing, how bitter is your parting!

    For since you departed, no solace has touched the heart.

  10. أَأَحْسَنَ شَيْءٍ شَانَنِي الْبُعْدُ عَنْكُمُ

    وَكَنْتُ بِكُمْ يَا أَجْمَلَ النَّاسِ أَزْدَانُ

    O fairest thing, distance from you has marred me,

    And through you, O loveliest of people, I used to shine.

  11. أَأَعْلَمَ شَيْءٍ قَدْ جَهِلْتُ مَذَاهِبِي

    وَقَدْ كُنْتُ قَبْلَ الْبَيْنِ قَلْبِيَ شَيْحَانُ

    O most knowing thing, I no longer know my paths,

    Though before parting my heart was vigilant.

  12. أَأَرْفَعَ شَيْءٍ حَطَّ قَدْرِي بَيْنَكُمْ

    وَقَدْ كُنْتُ مِنْ قَبْلِ النَّوَى شَأْنِيَ الشَّانُ

    O most exalted thing, your parting has lowered my standing,

    And before estrangement, my standing was distinction itself.

  13. أَأَجْوَدَ شَيْءٍ مَا أَضَنَّ خَيَالَكُمْ

    عَلَى مُقْلَتِي فَالْوَجْدُ مِنْ ذَاكَ يَقْضَانُ

    O most generous thing, how grudging is your dream-image

    Toward my eye; because of that, longing stays awake.

  14. وَعِرْقُ الْمُنَى مِنْ بُعْدِكُمْ غَيْرُ نَابِضٍ

    وَهَلْ لِلْمُنَى بَعْدَ الأَحِبَّةِ شَرْيَانُ

    And the vein of hope no longer pulses because you are distant;

    And does hope have an artery after loved ones are gone?

  15. وَسَيْرُكُمُ أَذْوَى رِيَاضَ مَسَرَّتِي

    فَلاَ مَاؤُهَا صَدّاً وَلاَ الْنَّبْتُ سَعْدَانُ

    And your departure has withered the gardens of my joy;

    So their water is no Ṣaddā, nor their herbage saʿdān.

  16. لَئِنْ مَنْطِقِي قَدْ أَخْرَسَتْهُ نَوَاكُمُ

    فَحَالِي بِمَا أَبْقَى مِنَ الْبَيْنِ سَحْبَانُ

    If your remoteness has indeed silenced my speech,

    My plight, through what parting has left, speaks like Saḥbān.

  17. فَمَا مُدْنِفٌ أَضْنَاهُ بُعْدٌ وَفُرْقَةٌ

    غَرِيبٌ إِلَى لُقْيَا الأَحِبَّةِ عَطْشَانُ

    For no lovesick man, wasted by distance and separation,

    A stranger thirsting to meet his beloved,

  18. تَذَكَّرَ مَشْتَاهُمْ بِنَجْدٍ وَهَاجَهُ

    مَصِيفٌ لَهُمْ حَيْثُ الْتَقَى الضَّالُ وَالْبَانُ

    Who recalls their winter abode in Najd and is stirred

    By their summer abode, where wild lote-trees and bān trees meet,

  19. وَمَرْبَعُهُمْ بَيْنَ الرُّبَى حَيْثُ جُمِّعَتْ

    خُزَامَى وَيَعْضِيدٌ وَعِيدٌ وَظَيَّانُ

    And their spring abode among the hills, where are gathered

    Lavender, yaʿḍīd, ʿīd, and ẓayyān,

  20. وَشَاقَتْهُ أَحْدَاجٌ لِسَلْمَى بِعَاقِلٍ

    وَأَغْرَتْهُ آرَامٌ هُنَاكَ وَغِزْلاَنُ

    Whom Salmā's howdahs at ʿĀqil fill with yearning,

    And whom white antelopes and gazelles there entice—

  21. مَتىَ لاَحَ مِنْ نَجْدٍ بَرِيقٌ يُرَاقُ مِنْ

    مَحَاجِرِهِ مُزْنٌ مِنَ الدَّمْعِ هَتَّانُ

    Whenever a gleam flashes from Najd, there pours from

    His eye-sockets a rain-cloud of streaming tears;

  22. وَإِنْ فَاحَ مِنْ نَجْدٍ نَسِيمُ عَرَارِهِ

    يَطِيرُ بِهِ قَلْبٌ إِلَيْهِمُ حَنَّانُ

    And if a breeze from Najd wafts the scent of its ʿarār,

    His yearning heart flies with it toward them—

  23. بِأَكْثَرَ مِنِّي حَسْرَةً وَتَشَوُّقاً

    إِلَيْكُمْ فَصَدْرِي مِنْ زَفِيرِي مَلْآنُ

    Is greater than I in sorrow and longing

    For you; my breast is full of my sighs.

  24. سَلاَمٌ عَلَى مَا رَافَقَ الرَّكْبَ مِنْكُمُ

    لِرَافِقِهِ مِنْكُمْ لَبِيدٌ وَحَسَّانُ

    Peace upon whoever among you accompanied the caravan;

    For its companion, among you are Labīd and Ḥassān,

  25. وَقُسٌّ وَسَحْبَانٌ وَكَعْبٌ وَحَاتِمُ

    وَمَالِكُنَا وَالشَّافِعِيُّ وَنُعْمَانُ

    And Quss, Saḥbān, Kaʿb, and Ḥātim,

    And our Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Nuʿmān.

  26. سَلاَمٌ كَرِيمٌ مِثْلَ نَسْمَةِ خُلْقِكُمْ

    فخُلْقُكُمُ يَا أَلْيَنِ الْخَلْقِ رِضْوَانُ

    A noble greeting, like the breeze of your character;

    For your character, O gentlest of creatures, is Riḍwān.

  27. سَلاَمُ فَتىً بَوَّأْتُمُوهُ مَرَاتِباً

    فَنَافَسَهُ فِيهَا الثُّرَيَّا وَكِيوَانُ

    The greeting of a young man whom you established in ranks

    Where the Pleiades and Saturn vied with him.

  28. وَطَوَّقْتُمُوهُ لاَلِشَيْءٍ قَلاَئِداً

    فَفَازَ لَهَا دُرٌّ ثَمِينٌ وَعِقْيَانُ

    And you hung necklaces upon him, without cause,

    So precious pearls and pure gold triumphed for them.

  29. وَأَوْلَيْتُمُوهُ لاَ بِمَنٍّ فَوَائِداً

    فَغَازَلَهُ مِنْهُنَّ حُورٌ وَغِزْلاَنُ

    And you bestowed benefits on him without reminders of your favor,

    So from among them houris and gazelles courted him.

  30. وَسَقَيْتُمُوهُ كَأْسَ وُدٍّ رَوِيَّةً

    فَرَاحَ بِهَا بَيْنَ الْوَرَى وَهْوَ نَشْوَانُ

    And you gave him a thirst-quenching cup of love,

    So he went among mankind, intoxicated with it.

  31. وَكَانَ بِكُمْ فَاللهُ يَجْمَعُهُ بِكُمْ

    قَرِيباً يًسَلِّي الْهَمَّ وَالْهَمُّ غَضْبَانُ

    And through you he used—may God reunite him with you

    Soon—to soothe sorrow, though sorrow raged.

  32. عَلَيْنَا إِذَا شِمْنَا مُحَيَّاكَ يَا أَبَا

    عَلِيٍّ لِمَا تَقْضِي الْمَسَرَّةُ إِذْعَانُ

    We must, when we behold your face, O Abū

    ʿAlī, submit to whatever joy decrees,

  33. وَتَمْزِيقُ أَطْمَارِ الْكَآبَةِ عِنْدَمَا

    يُقَابِلُنَا مِنْكُمْ غَدِيرٌ وَبُسْتَانُ

    And tear apart the rags of gloom whenever

    We are met in you by a pool and a garden,

  34. وَشَمْسٌ وَبَدْرٌ نَيِّرَانِ وَوَابِلٌ

    وَبَحْرٌ طَمَى مِنْ فَيْضِهِ الْعَذْبِ خُلْجَانُ

    And a sun and full moon, both radiant, and a downpour,

    And a sea from whose sweet overflow gulfs brim,

  35. وَرَضْوْى وَسَلْمَى فِي الْوَقَارِ وَشُمَّخٌ

    بِنَجْدٍ وَأَطْوَادُ السَّرَاةِ وَثَهْلاَنُ

    And, in dignity, Raḍwā and Salmā, and towering peaks

    In Najd, and the mountains of al-Sarāt, and Thahlān.

  36. هُنَاكَ ابْنُ زَاكُورٍ يَتِمُّ مُرَادُهُ

    وَيَبْدُو لَهُ وَجْهُ الْمُنَى وَهْوَ حُسَّانُ

    There Ibn Zākūr's desire is fulfilled,

    And the face of hope appears to him, exceedingly beautiful.