وَمَا عَودٌ تضَّمنَ بَطنُ عِرضٍ

وَمَا عَودٌ تضَّمنَ بَطنُ عِرضٍ

يَمانِى الشَّوقِ مُضطمِرٌ غَلِيلا

يَمانِى الشَّوقِ مُضطمِرٌ غَلِيلا

No old camel whom the heart of ʿArḍ enfolded—

And no old camel held in the hollow of ʿIrḍ,

Yemeni in his yearning, his inner thirst aflame—

longing for Yemen, harboring a burning thirst,

يَحِنُّ إِذَا الرَّكائِبُ باكرتهُ

يَحِنُّ إِذَا الرَّكائِبُ باكرتهُ

ضُحَيًّا أَو هَبَبنَ لهُ أَصِيلا

ضُحَيًّا أَو هَبَبنَ لهُ أَصِيلا

moaning when the caravan-camels come early upon him,

moaning when the riding camels come to him

in the forenoon, or stir before him toward evening;

in the early morning, or hasten toward him at evening,

بِوادٍ لاَ يُفارقُ عُدوَتَيهِ

بِوادٍ لاَ يُفارقُ عُدوَتَيهِ

أَسنَّ بهِ وكانَ بهِ فَصِيلا

أَسنَّ بهِ وكانَ بهِ فَصِيلا

in a valley whose two banks he never left,

in a valley whose banks he never left—

where he grew old, and where he had been a weanling;

he grew old there, having been a weanling there—

فَبُدِّلَ مَشرَباً مِن ذَاكَ مِلحاً

فَبُدِّلَ مَشرَباً مِن ذَاكَ مِلحاً

وَظِمأً بَعدَ قصرَتِهِ طويلا

وَظِمأً بَعدَ قصرَتِهِ طويلا

then had his watering places changed from those waters to brine,

then given a brackish watering place instead,

and, after his cool refreshment, to a long thirst;

and long thirst after its former brevity,

وَبُدِّلَ حَرَّةً وَجَمَادض أَرضٍ

وَبُدِّلَ حَرَّةً وَجَمَادض أَرضٍ

يُمارِسُ في حَرَارَتِهَا الكُبولا

يُمارِسُ في حَرَارَتِهَا الكُبولا

and his two lava fields and Jamāḍ exchanged for a land

and given a lava plain and [barren] land,

where, amid its heat, he grapples with fetters—

struggling in its heat against the fetters,

بِأَنكرَ لَوعَةً مِنّى وَوَجداً

بِأَنكرَ لَوعَةً مِنّى وَوَجداً

عَلَى إِضمارِىَ الهَجرَ الطَّوِيلا

عَلَى إِضمارِىَ الهَجرَ الطَّوِيلا

is more grievously anguished or impassioned than I,

feels fiercer anguish and yearning than I,

though I harbor the long estrangement within.

despite my inward resolve on long estrangement.