قف بالطلول وسلها أين سلماهما

وروّ من جرع الأجفان جرعاها

Stop at the ruins and ask them where their Salma is.

And water their sandy ground with the eyelids' draughts.

ورده الطرف في أطراف ساحتها

وأرج الوصل من أرواح أرجاها

And turn your gaze about the edges of their courtyard.

And hope for reunion from the breezes of their far reaches.

فإن يفتك من الأطلال مخبرها

فلا يفوتنك مرآها ورياها

So if the ruins' story escapes you,

Then do not let their sight and fragrance escape you.

ربوع فضل تباهي التبر تربتها

ودار أنس يحاكي الدر حصباها

Abodes of excellence, whose soil rivals gold,

And a home of fellowship, whose pebbles resemble pearls.

عدا على جيرة حلوا بساحتها

صرف الزمان فأبلاهم وأبلاها

The neighbors who settled in its courtyard were assailed

By time's vicissitudes, which wore them away and it as well.

بدور تم غمام الموت حللها

شموس فضل سحاب الترب غشاها

Full moons, clothed by the clouds of death;

Suns of excellence, veiled by clouds of earth.

فالمجد يبكي عليها جازعا أسفا

والدين يندبها والفضل ينعاها

So glory weeps for them in anguish and sorrow,

And faith laments them, and excellence mourns their passing.

يا حبذا زمن في ظلهم سلفت

ما كان أقصرها عمراً وأحلاها

Ah, how lovely the time that passed beneath their shade!

How brief its span was, and how sweet!

أوقات أنس قضيناها فما ذكرت

إلا وقطع قلب الصب ذكراها

Times of fellowship we spent—never were they recalled

Without their memory tearing the lover's heart apart.

يا جيرة هجروا واستواطنوا هجرا

واها لقلبي المعنى بعدكم واها

O neighbors who departed and made Hajar their home,

Alas for my tormented heart after your departure—alas!

رعيا لليلات وصل بالحمى سلفت

سقيا لأيامنا بالخيف سقياها

May care attend the nights of union once spent in the sanctuary;

May rain water our days at al-Khayf—may it water them!

لفقدكم شق جيب المجد وانصدعت

أركانه وبكم ما كان أقواها

At your loss, glory's collar was torn, and shattered were

Its pillars—and with you, how strong they had been!

وخرّ من شامخات العلم أرفعها

وانهد من باذخات العلم أرساها

And the loftiest of learning's soaring peaks fell,

And the firmest of learning's towering heights collapsed.

يا ناويا بالمصلى من قرى هجر

كسيت من حلل الرضوان أصفاها

O you resting at al-Musalla, one of Hajar's villages [conjectural reading],

May you be clothed in the purest robes of divine favor.

أقمت يا بحر بالبحرين فاجتمعت

ثلاثة كنّ أمثالاً وأشباها

You settled, O sea, in Bahrain, and so came together

Three seas, alike and resembling one another.

ثلاثة أنت أنداها وأغزرها

جوداً وأعذبها طعما وأصفاها

Three: you are the most bountiful and the most abundant

In generosity, the sweetest in taste and the clearest.

حويت من درر العلياء ما حويا

لكن درك أعلاها وأغلاها

You held the pearls of eminence that those two held,

But your pearls are the loftiest and most precious of them.

يا أعظما وطئت هام السهي شرفاً

سقاك من ديم الوسمي أسماها

O bones that trod Suha's crown in nobility,

May the noblest of early autumn's steady rains water you.

ويا ضريحاً على هام السماك علا

عليك من صلوات الله أزكاها

And O tomb that rose above al-Simak's crown,

May the purest of God's blessings be upon you.

فيك انطوى من شموس الفضل أضوأها

ومن معالم دين الله أسناها

Within you is enfolded the brightest of excellence's suns,

And the most radiant of the landmarks of God's faith,

ومن شوامخ أطواد الفتوة

أرساها وأرفعها قدرا وأبهاها

And, among the towering mountains of chivalry,

The firmest, highest in rank, and most splendid.

فاسحب على الفلك إلا على ذيول على

فقد حويت من العلياء علياها

So trail the hems of eminence over the highest celestial sphere [conjectural reading],

For you contain the very summit of eminence.

عليك منا صلاة الله ما صدحت

على غصون أراك الدوح ورقاها

From us, God's blessing upon you, as long as sings

Its gray dove upon the branches of the grove's arak trees.