1. أرحنا بذات الطلح عيساً طلائحا

    ورحنا نراعي للديار روائحا

    We rested our weary pale camels at Dhat al-Talh,

    And went seeking scents from the dwellings.

  2. نجد السرى ليلا وزهر نجومه

    يلوح لنا قبل الصباح مصابحا

    We press on by night, while the blossoms of its stars

    Gleam before us, greeting us even before dawn.

  3. وتزعجنا برق ببرقة تهم

    يجر دمن جفن الظلام صفائحا

    And lightning at Burqat Tiham startles us,

    Drawing blades from the sheath of darkness.

  4. وما راعنا الاطلول معاهد

    عهدنا بها سرب الأوانس سارحا

    And nothing startled us but the ruins of familiar dwellings,

    Where we once knew a flock of winsome maidens roaming.

  5. محار سمها طول البلى وتتابعت

    بأعقابها هوج الرياح روائحا

    Long decay effaced their traces, and there followed

    In their wake, fierce winds arriving at evening.

  6. كأن لم يكن عيس بها مر حالياً

    وطائر انس سانح عاد بارحا

    As though no pale camels had passed there adorned,

    And the auspicious bird of companionship has turned ill-omened.

  7. عقلت بها طرفي وطرفي مطلق

    أأحبس جارٍ عن مداه وجانحا

    I tethered my steed there, while my gaze ran free.

    Must I hold a runner back from its course, and a yearning gaze?

  8. على الرغم مني ان اخاطب ملعباً

    يجاوبني صوت الصدافيه صائحا

    Against my will, I address a place of play,

    The voice of its echo answers me with a cry.

  9. واصحب فيه ناعياً ابن داية

    وافقد منه بالأراكة صادحا

    And there I befriend the death-calling raven, Ibn Daya,

    And miss the songbird at the arak tree there.

  10. وتألفه فتح وعصم كأنما

    جوارحها تنتاش منا الجوارحا

    And broad-winged birds and white-marked ibexes haunt it, as though

    Its birds of prey were snatching our limbs away.

  11. وتهجع فيه اعين العين ليلها

    وكم خشيت جاراً لديه وجارحا

    And there the eyes of wide-eyed wild cattle sleep their night away,

    And how often I feared a neighbor there, and a predator.

  12. ويجتالاه صوب من المزن ساريا

    واسقيه دمعاً من جفوني سائحا

    And a night-traveling downpour from the rainclouds washes over it,

    And I water it with tears streaming from my eyelids.

  13. إذا ما طفت غدرانها وتبادرت

    رأيت بها انسان عيني سابحا

    When their pools brim over and rush forth,

    I see my eye's pupil swimming in them.

  14. وما الدهر إلا ذو انقلاب وريبة

    له محن تغتال ما كان مانحا

    And time is nothing but change and uncertainty;

    Its trials steal away whatever it once bestowed.

  15. اما ومُلقيها شقا بعد نعمة

    ووجهاً نضى ثوب البشاشة كالحا

    Indeed, by the one who casts her into misery after bliss,

    And makes a face that shed the robe of cheerfulness grim,

  16. ليبدر نجم الدين في افق علمه

    سناً وسناء يبهر الشمس لائحا

    Najm al-Din shall shine full-moon bright on his learning's horizon,

    In radiance and glory, dazzling the sun as he shines.

  17. ويصحبه المجد الممنع جانباً

    ويمسي لديه صاحباً ومصابحا

    And glory, its flank impregnable, shall accompany him,

    And stay beside him as companion at evening and dawn.

  18. وتصبو له اعواد منبره جوى

    وتحني عليه اضلعاً وجوانحا

    And the timbers of his pulpit yearn for him with love's ache,

    And bend their ribs and inner ribs over him.

  19. إذا فاه فيها اسمع الصم وعظه

    واجزع جالٍ للغواية جانحا

    When he speaks there, his preaching makes the deaf hear,

    And terrifies a wanderer inclined toward error.

  20. وألكن أرباب الفصاحة لفظه

    وقرح افهاماً لهم وقرائحا

    And his speech leaves the masters of eloquence tongue-tied,

    And wounds their intellects and creative powers.

  21. فوالله ما ادرى أأهدى لنا الصبا

    شذا روضةٍ ام نشر دارين فائحا

    So, by God, I cannot tell whether the east wind brought us

    A garden's scent, or the wafting perfume of Darin.

  22. لك الخير لا أحصى معانيك كلها

    ولكنني للبعض امسيت شارحا

    May good be yours; I cannot recount all your virtues,

    But I have come to describe a few.

  23. فإن أنكر الحساد منها محامداً

    وأكبرت الأضداد فيها المدائحا

    So if the envious deny some of those merits,

    And opponents deem the praise of them excessive,

  24. فقد خص بالأعداء قبلك يوسف

    وآذى ثمود قبل ذلك صالحا

    For Yusuf was allotted enemies before you,

    And Thamud harmed Salih before that.

  25. وانا بدهر جاهل فضلاءه

    يرى حسناً من جاهليه القبائحا

    And I live in an age ignorant of its finest people,

    Which deems its ignorant people's ugly deeds fair.

  26. تسمى نبيها أم دفرا الحجا

    مشوما ومن حاز الجهالة فالحا

    Umm Dafr, the world, calls the keen-minded

    Ill-omened, and whoever possesses ignorance successful.

  27. بتميزها في النحو تنصب ناقصا

    وأقساطها في الوزن تخفض راجحا

    With her discernment in grammar, she elevates the deficient,

    And her fairness in weighing brings down the weightier.

  28. لها راحة تولى العنا بغنائها

    فمن كان منها خاسراً كان رابحا

    She has a palm that bestows toil through her riches,

    So whoever loses through her is a winner.

  29. فدم وابق تعلو أن ينالك حاسد

    ولا تتحاشى صفحة البدر نابحا

    So endure and live on, above an envier's reach,

    And the full moon's face does not flinch at a barking dog.

  30. تنكس هامات العوالي مصادرا

    وتلمس راحات المعالي مصافحا

    You lower the heads of long spears, seizing them,

    And touch the palms of high distinction in a handshake.

  31. وترهب بالكتب الكتايب في الوغى

    وتسلب بالحزم الكمي المكافحا

    And with writings you terrify battalions in the fray,

    And with resolve you despoil the armored warrior who confronts you.

  32. ولا زلت تثني النائبات وتثني

    صروف الليالي عن ذراك نوازحا

    And may you ever turn back calamities and drive

    The nights' vicissitudes far away from your heights.

  33. فما تخذل الأيام من كنت ناصراً

    ولا تضلل الأوهام من ظلت ناصحا

    For the days do not forsake anyone you have supported,

    Nor do delusions mislead anyone you continue to counsel.