نظرتُ خلالَ الشمسِ من مشرقِ الضحى

نظرتُ خلالَ الشمسِ من مشرقِ الضحى

ووافيتُ من كُتمانَ ركناً عَطَوَّدا

ووافيتُ من كُتمانَ ركناً عَطَوَّدا

I gazed through the sun's rays from where the morning light rises,

I gazed upon the sun from the east at dawn,

And reached a towering crag of Kutmān,

And arrived from a hidden corner, hunched over.

بعينين لم تستكرها يومَ غُبرةٍ

بعينين لم تستكرها يومَ غُبرةٍ

ولم تهبطا جوفَ العراقِ فترمدا

ولم تهبطا جوفَ العراقِ فترمدا

With two eyes that had not been strained on a dusty day,

With eyes that have never been bothered by dust,

Nor descended into the heart of Iraq and grown inflamed,

Nor descended into Iraq's interior where they would wither.

الى ظُعُنٍ للمالكياتِ بالضُّحى

الى ظُعُنٍ للمالكياتِ بالضُّحى

فيالك مرأى ما أشاقَ وأبعدا

فيالك مرأى ما أشاقَ وأبعدا

At the camel litters of the Mālikī women in the forenoon:

Towards the hillocks of Malikiyat at dawn,

So, what a sight you were—how stirring to longing, and how distant!

What a sight! How arduous and far away!