1. أَسال مسلسل السَحب العَوالي

    فَرَوى شَعب مكة وَالعَوالي

    Has the unbroken stream of lofty clouds poured down,

    watering Mecca's ravine and al-ʿAwālī?

  2. أَم الآفاق قَد مَلَئَت عُيونا

    فَأَغرَقَ نَبعُها شَم الجِبال

    Or have the horizons been filled with springs,

    so that their outflow drowned the towering mountains?

  3. أَم العَباس في قَوم عطاش

    قَد اِستَسقوا بِذل وَاِبتِهال

    Or is al-ʿAbbās among a thirsty people

    who have sought rain in humility and supplication?

  4. عَهَدت الغَيثَ يُنعِش كُل روح

    وَيَحي النَفس بِالماء الزَلال

    I have known rain to revive every spirit

    and give the soul life with limpid water.

  5. طَغا ماءَ الجُفون وَما دنت بي

    سَفين الشَوق من جودى الوِصال

    The waters of my eyelids surged, yet I was not brought nearer

    by longing's ships to the Jūdī of reunion.

  6. وَقَد أَصبَحت في بَحر عَميق

    مِنَ الظُلَماء مَجهود المَلال

    And I have come to be in a deep sea

    of darkness, exhausted by weariness.

  7. ضَللت بِلَيل اِسقامى طَريقى

    اِلَيكُم ساداتي فَاِنعوا ضَلالي

    In the night of my ailments, I lost the road

    to you, my masters; lament my wandering.

  8. قَضيت بِكُم لَيالي مُقمِرات

    فَلَم قَد أَظلَمت هذي اللَيالي

    With you I spent moonlit nights;

    so why have these nights grown dark?

  9. وَكانَ الدَهرُ مُلتَفتا اِلَينا

    وَها هُوَ مُغمِض الاِجفان قالى

    And Time once turned toward us,

    and now it closes its eyelids in aversion.

  10. فَلَوا أَسفى عَلى اِنسان عيني

    غَدا في سِجن سَقم وَاِعتِقال

    Alas, my grief for the pupil of my eye,

    now in the prison of sickness and captivity.

  11. حَجبت بِسِجنِهِ عَن كُل خل

    وَصِرت مُخاطِبا صور الخَيال

    Its imprisonment has cut me off from every friend,

    and I have come to address imagination's images.

  12. أَاِنسان العُيون فَدتك روحي

    يَهون لِعود نورِكَ كل غالي

    O pupil of eyes, may my soul ransom you;

    everything precious is a trifle for your light's return.

  13. أَتَرضى البُعد عَن عَيني أَليف

    أَضر بِعَزمِهِ ضيق المَجال

    Do you accept being far from my eye, dear companion,

    whose resolve the narrow confines have impaired?

  14. أَذَبتَ حَشاشَتي فَزعا وَرَوعا

    شَغلت باسوا البلبال بالى

    You melted my heart's core with dread and terror;

    you filled my mind with the worst anguish.

  15. بِمَن جَعَل العُيونَ أَجل مَأوى

    لِحِفظِكَ أَيُّها الباهي الجَمال

    By Him who made the eyes the noblest refuge

    to safeguard you, O one of radiant beauty:

  16. حَياتي بَعد بعدك لا أَراها

    سِوى سَكرات نَزعات ثِقال

    after your departure, I see my life as nothing

    but the agonies of grievous death throes.

  17. وَكَيفَ أَعد لي روحا ترجى

    وَشَمس الروح مالَت لِلزَّوال

    And how can I think I have a soul to place hope in,

    when the soul's sun has inclined toward setting?

  18. غَدَوت بِفُرقَة الفُرقانِ صَبا

    أَسايل في التِلاوَةِ كل تال

    Parted from the Criterion, I have become lovesick;

    I question every reciter as he recites.

  19. وَلَولا أَن حفظ النصف مِنه

    شَفى قَلبي لَذُبت مِن اِشتِعالي

    And had memorizing half of it not

    healed my heart, I would have melted from my burning.

  20. لَعُمري لِلحَديثِ حَياة روحي

    وَراحَة مُهجَتي وَنَفيس مالي

    By my life, Hadith is the life of my soul,

    and my heart's comfort and my most precious wealth.

  21. وَكَم في الفِقه مِن دُرَر تحلت

    بِها فِكري وَمن درر غَوالي

    And how many pearls in jurisprudence have adorned

    my thought, and how many precious pearls!

  22. أَمس الكتب من شغفي عَلَيها

    وَاِبلى حَسرَة من سوء حالي

    I touch the books out of my passion for them,

    and waste away in grief at my wretched state.

  23. وَأَندُب مُهجَتي حَيا لِأَنّي

    حُرِمت بَدائِع السِحر الحَلال

    And I mourn my heart while still alive, for I

    have been denied the marvels of lawful enchantment.

  24. تمس المُصحَف الاِسمي يَميني

    وَقَد وَضَعتُ عَلى قَلبي شَمالي

    My right hand touches the sublime Qur'an,

    while I have laid my left hand upon my heart.

  25. وَأَنشِدُهُ لآيك طال شَوقي

    وَمالي غَيرُها عَز وَمالي

    And I chant to it: long have I yearned for your verses;

    and I have no glory or wealth apart from them.

  26. كَلامَكَ في الحَياةِ وَبَعد مَوتي

    وَفي يَوم التَغابُن وَالجِدال

    Your word, in life and after my death,

    and on the Day of Mutual Loss and Disputation,

  27. غِذائي راحَتي نوري أَنيس

    دَليلي بِهجتي أَملي كَمالي

    is my nourishment, my comfort, my light, my companion,

    my guide, my joy, my hope, my perfection.

  28. فُراقُكَ صدني عَن كُل قَصد

    وَقَد مَرَّ المَذاق لِكل حالي

    Parting from you has barred me from every aim,

    and the taste of all my circumstances has turned bitter.

  29. فَكَيفَ أَرومُ بَعدَ اليَومَ ربحا

    وَأَيّامي ذَهَبنَ بِرَأس مالي

    How, then, can I seek profit after today,

    when my days have carried off my capital?

  30. وَلكِنّي أَرى في الصَبرِ طبي

    وَمُكحلة الجَلا حُسن اِمتِثالي

    Yet I see my remedy in patience,

    and in my willing submission, a kohl-pot for clear sight.

  31. فَيا اِنسان عَين غابَ عَنها

    وَبدلني بِه طول المَلال

    So, O pupil of an eye from which you have vanished,

    and in whose place I was given long weariness,

  32. عَسى أَلقاكَ مُبتَهِجا مُعافى

    وَأَصبِح مُنشَدا أَملى صَفا لي

    may I meet you joyful and healed,

    and come to chant: my hope has brightened for me;

  33. لِتَهنَأ مُقلَتي بسنا حَبيب

    بَديع الحُسن مَحمود الوِصال

    so that my eye may rejoice in a beloved's radiance—

    wondrous in beauty, with a reunion worthy of praise.

  34. وَاِنظُم أَحرفي كَالدر عَقدا

    بِهِ جيد الصَحائِفِ عاد حالي

    And string my letters like pearls into a necklace,

    with which the neck of the pages becomes adorned again.

  35. فَربي قادِرٍ برّ رَحيم

    يُجيب بِفَضلِهِ السامي سُؤالي

    For my Lord is powerful, beneficent, merciful;

    He answers my plea with His exalted grace.