1. بِأَلفيْ مَرحبا حَيا لِساني

    وَأَهلا قالَ في صَدري جَناني

    With two thousand welcomes my tongue greeted you,

    and my heart within my breast said, "Welcome!"

  2. فَعودى يا أَويقاني وَهنى

    لَقَد عادَ الهَنا بَعد التَواني

    So return, O my little moments, and bring joy;

    joy has indeed returned after delay.

  3. وَيا حلو السَلام لعهد سلمى

    صفت لِلعَينِ مِرآة العَيان

    And O sweet greeting to the days of Salma!

    The mirror of vision has cleared for the eye.

  4. فَمن هنى يَهنيني بِعَيني

    فَنور العَينِ عاد مَعَ الاِماني

    Let whoever congratulates me congratulate me on my eye:

    the eye's light has returned along with my hopes.

  5. وَها اِنسانُها يا آلُ ودى

    لطلعتكم بِنور الشَوق رَآني

    And behold its pupil, O my loved ones:

    at your appearance, in longing's light, it saw me.

  6. يَحييكم بِشَهد الاِنس عَنّي

    فَهَنّوا بِالسَلامَةِ وَالاِمانِ

    It greets you on my behalf with the honey of companionship.

    So offer congratulations on well-being and safety.

  7. لَوامع نيرات كان قَلبي

    لِشَوق ضِيائِها وَلَها يُعاني

    Radiant gleams—my heart was

    suffering, lovesick with longing for their light.

  8. حياتي في تحياتي لنور

    بِماء حَياته صبحا سَقاني

    My life lies in my greetings to a light

    that gave me the water of its life to drink at dawn.

  9. نَعيمي نِعمَتي عَزى عَزيزي

    دَليلي مُرشِدي سُبل التَهاني

    My bliss, my blessing, my honor, my beloved,

    my guide, my mentor on the paths of rejoicing.

  10. ببعدك وَالَّذي كابدت فيهِ

    وَما لاقيت من ضيم دَهاني

    By your absence and what I endured in it,

    and the wrongs I encountered that afflicted me,

  11. وَغييتك الَّتي أَفنت وُجودي

    وَأَلقَت في غِيابَتِها عَياني

    and your absence, which consumed my being

    and cast my sight into its hidden depths—

  12. سُروري بِاللُقا وَنَعيم قُربي

    اِعاد بِعودِكَ الميلاد ثاني

    my joy at reunion and the bliss of my nearness

    have, with your return, given me a second birth.

  13. لَقَد اِرغُمت كل طبيب سوء

    أَضاع بهزَلِهِ طول الزَمانِ

    You have indeed humbled every vile physician

    who squandered all that time in frivolity.

  14. وَقالوا مات قُل موتوا بِغيظ

    فَجل القَصد حَيا قَد أَتاني

    And they said, "He died." Say, "Die of rage!"

    For my greatest desire has indeed come to me alive,

  15. وَجدد بِالوِصالِ حَياة روحي

    أَعوذُهُ بِآيات لِثاني

    and renewed my spirit's life through reunion.

    I invoke protection for him with verses upon my tongue.

  16. فَدَعني يا خَلى وَالخل تخلو

    وَنكحل بِالثَنا جِفن الاِماني

    So leave me, my friend, with the beloved, and withdraw;

    and let us line the eyelid of hope with praise.

  17. لِمِرآة الجَمالِ وَوَجه بَدر

    دَعاني يوسُف الثاني دَعاني

    To beauty's mirror and the face of a full moon

    the second Yusuf called me—called me.

  18. وَقَد اِعددت ما في الكُف طرا

    لِمَن بِقَميص برئي قَد حَباني

    And I have prepared everything in my palm

    for him who graced me with the shirt of my healing.

  19. حَبيبي بِالَّذي اِعطاكَ نورا

    تَقودُ بِهِ كَما تَرضى عَنائي

    My beloved, by the One who gave you a light,

    with which you guide my suffering as you please,

  20. وَذاكَ النورُ مِن مشكاة فَضل

    بِهِ لِسَبيل مَقصودي هَداني

    and that light comes from a niche of grace:

    with it He guided me to the path of my desire.

  21. لِقَلبي اِن سَلاكَ صَلى بِنار

    بِها تَكوى حَشاشاتي بِناني

    May my heart, if it forgets you, burn in a fire

    that sears my innermost parts, my fingertips.

  22. وَلَولا الصَبر جِدت بِبَذل روحي

    لِمَن حَيا بِقُربِكَ وَالتَداني

    But for patience, I would freely offer my soul

    to whoever lives through your closeness and intimacy.

  23. وَلَم أَبخَل بِها حبا لِعَيش

    وَعَيش المَرءِ مَهما طالَ فاني

    Nor have I withheld it out of love for life,

    and a person's life, however long, is fleeting.

  24. وَقَد مَرَّت عَلى المَضنى شُهور

    يُعاني مِن فُراقِكَ ما يُعاني

    And months have passed over the sufferer,

    suffering what he suffers from separation from you.

  25. وَلكِنّي وددت العَيش كيما

    أَراكَ كَما تَرى غيري تَراني

    But I longed for life so that

    I might see you, and you might see me as you see others.

  26. فَيا مَن قَد بلوت بعار خل

    وَيا مَن قَد شَقى شَوقا سَلاني

    O you who have experienced a friend's disgrace,

    and O you who have suffered from longing, ask me, both of you:

  27. أَبعذ الحب تَرى أَم يُواري

    فَقول الصِدق يَهديكُم بَياني

    Does love [revive?], do you think, or bury?

    My explanation will guide you by speaking the truth:

  28. أَموتُ وَمُقلَتي تَرآى عَزيزي

    وَيَغفِرُ زِلَّتي مَن قَد يَراني

    I shall die while my eye beholds my beloved,

    and may whoever sees me forgive my error.

  29. بَسطت بِالاِبتِهال أَكف حَمدي

    لِمَن بِاللُطفِ عَن كَف وِقائي

    I stretched out the palms of my praise in supplication

    to the One whose kindness protected me from a hand;

  30. اِذا يَئِسَ الطَبيبُ وَكل عَنّي

    بِقُدرَتِهِ بِما أَرجو حَباني

    when the physician despaired and grew weary of me,

    through His power He granted me what I hope for.

  31. وَلَستُ بِبالِغ مِقدار شُكري

    لَوان جَوارِحي سَبَقتُ لِساني

    Yet I cannot fulfill the measure of my thanks,

    even if my limbs outstripped my tongue.

  32. سَأَضرَعُ بِالشَقاءِ لكل خل

    لِمَن ما دُمتُ عائِشَة شَفاني

    I shall plead in affliction for every friend

    to Him who healed me, as long as I, Aisha, live.