1. رعى اللهُ عيشاً بالمعرةِ لي مضى

    حكاهُ ابتسامُ البرقِ إذْ هوَ أومضا

    May God preserve the life of mine that passed in Maʿarra,

    Mirrored by the lightning's smile when it flashed.

  2. وعصرُ شبابٍ في سباتٍ قطعْتُهُ

    وفي أرضِ حَنْدُوثينِ في ذلكَ الفضا

    And a season of youth I spent in slumber,

    In the land of Ḥandūthīn, in that open expanse.

  3. أعاذلُ لو شاهدتُ بابَ جنانها

    لما كنتَ يوماً ناهياً بل محرِّضا

    O reproacher, had I seen the gate of her gardens,

    You would never have forbidden me, but urged me on.

  4. ولو عينُ معراثاً رأيتَ صفاءَها

    لأصبحتَ مِنْ غيظِ الملامةِ ريِّضا

    And had you seen the clarity of the spring of Maʿrāthā,

    You would have grown docile, free of angry reproach.

  5. فصفْ لي عيوناً بالمنابعِ فُيَّضا

    أريكَ عيوناً بالمدامعِ فُيَّضا

    Describe for me springs overflowing at their sources;

    I will show you eyes overflowing with tears.

  6. ولا تبتدرْ بالبيدرين فأضلعي

    أخافُ منَ الأشواقِ أن تتقضقضا

    Do not rush to speak of al-Baydarayn, for my ribs—

    I fear that longing will make them crack apart.

  7. ولا تجريا لي ذكرَ جريا ونحوها

    ربي جادَها غيثٌ فروَّى وروَّضا

    And do not, you two, mention Jaryā and places like it to me.

    My Lord, may rain shower on her, water her, and make her lush.

  8. ففستقُها عند ابتسامِ ثغورهِ

    يُضاحِكُ برقاً قد أضاءَ بذي الأضا

    So her pistachios, when their mouths smile,

    Laugh with lightning that has shone at Dhū al-Aḍā.

  9. وقلعتُها عندي وإنْ بانَ أهلُها

    كأطولَ مِنْ سهدي عليها وأعرضا

    And her citadel, to me, though her people have departed,

    Seems longer and broader than my sleepless vigil for her.

  10. وعينُ زُرَيْقٍ بي إلى مائِها ظما

    ألم ترَ لونَ الماءِ أزرقَ أبيضا

    And ʿAyn Zurayq—I thirst for its water;

    Have you not seen the water's hue, blue and white?

  11. وكم لقليلاتِ العسيلِ حلاوةٍ

    وإنْ ملحتْ في عينِ مَنْ مرَّ مُعْرِضا

    How much sweetness there is in Qulaylāt al-ʿUsayl,

    Though it seems salty to one who passes with averted eyes.

  12. وشوقي إلى أنوارِ مشهدِ يوشعٍ

    تشوُّقُ مَنْ ضاقَتْ بهِ سعةُ الفضا

    And my longing for the lights of Joshua's shrine

    Is the yearning of one for whom the vast expanse has grown narrow.

  13. ولو درتُ وادي ديرِ سمعانَ ساعةً

    لكنتُ أبلُّ الشوقَ مِنْ عمرِ الرضى

    Had I roamed the valley of Dayr Simʿān for an hour,

    I would have slaked my longing at ʿUmr al-Riḍā.

  14. ويا ماشياً في ملكِ فارسَ راجلاً

    سعدتَ فكنْ عنْ ملكِ فارسَ معرضا

    O you walking on foot through Mulk Fāris,

    Blessed are you; turn away from the king of Persia.

  15. لقد طالَ بالهرماسِ عهدي وماؤُهُ

    إذا ما جرى كالسيفِ أحمرَ منتضى

    Long has it been since I knew al-Hirmās; its water,

    Whenever it flows, is like a red sword unsheathed,

  16. كمعصمِ خَوْدٍ خضَّبَتْهُ وأومأتْ

    بهِ في قباءٍ سندسيٍّ تقوَّضا

    Like the wrist of a lovely maiden who hennaed it and gestured

    With it, in a fine-silk tunic fallen into folds.

  17. فما أهيبَ الهرماسَ إنْ عجَّ مزبداً

    بها وإلى قطعِ الطريقِ تعرَّضا

    How fearsome al-Hirmās is when it roars, foaming,

    There, setting about cutting off the road!

  18. حكى الخمرَ حاشاهُ فهذا محلَّلٌ

    طهورٌ مباحٌ للعبادةِ مرتضى

    It resembles wine—far be it from that!—yet this is lawful,

    Purifying, permitted, and approved for worship.

  19. إذا صقلَتْ ريحُ الصَّبا متنَهُ أتت

    تفرِّكُ ثوباً مُذْهباً ومفضَّضا

    When the east wind polishes its surface, it comes

    Ruffling a garment gilded and silvered.

  20. على جانبيهِ الدوحُ لا بلْ عرائسٌ

    ترومُ لنثرِ الدرِّ أن تتنفضا

    On its two banks stand great trees—no, rather brides,

    Seeking to shake themselves so as to scatter pearls.

  21. وروضٍ غدا عن سحبِهِ طيّبَ الثنا

    بنفسجُهُ يحكي الخُدَيْدَ المفضضا

    And a garden whose praise of its clouds grew sweet,

    Its violets resemble a silvered little cheek.

  22. وأسمرَ زاهٍ قدْ تقلَّدا أسمرا

    وأبيضَ ناهٍ قدْ تقلَّدَ أبيضا

    And a proud dark one, girded with a dark spear,

    And a commanding fair one, girded with a gleaming sword,

  23. أصباغِ ألوانٍ وأحداقِ نرجسٍ

    وقاحٍ أبَتْ أجفانُها أن تغمَّضا

    Dyes of many colors, and eyes of narcissus,

    Brazen, their eyelids refusing to close.

  24. وقامات أغصانٍ رشاقٍ تعانقَتْ

    فمنثورُ منظومِ الأزاهرِ قَدْ أضا

    And slender figures of branches that embraced,

    So the scattered blossoms, strung in order, shone.

  25. وشقَّ الشقيقُ الثوبَ عنهُ كثاكل

    عليها ثيابٌ للدما ليس تنتضى

    And the anemone tore its robe away, like a bereaved mother,

    She wears blood-red robes that are never shed.

  26. فما المنحنى ما السفحُ ما البانُ ما النقا

    وما رامةٌ عندَ المعرةِ ما الغضى

    So what are the bend, the slope, the bān trees, the sand ridge?

    And what is Rāma beside Maʿarra—what are the ghaḍā shrubs?

  27. فواللهِ لا فضَّلْتُ في الأرضِ بقعةً

    عليها سوى ما فضَّلَ اللهُ وارتضى

    By God, I shall prefer no place on earth

    Above her, save what God has favored and approved.

  28. لها خَبَرٌ في طيبِها فَهْيَ مبتدا

    فمرفوعُها ما كانَ عندي لَيُخْفَضا

    Her sweetness is her predicate, and she is the subject;

    So her high standing could never, in my eyes, be lowered.

  29. وما بُنيَتْ بينَ الفراتِ وجلِّقٍ

    سدى إنما هذا لسرٍّ قد اقتضى

    She was not built between the Euphrates and Jilliq

    In vain; this was only for a secret purpose that required it.

  30. منازلُ كانتْ مربعي زمنَ الصِّبا

    فأبعدَني المقدورُ عنها وأنهضا

    Abodes that were my springtime home in youth,

    Then destiny took me far from them and made me depart.

  31. مراتعُ آرامٍ مرابعُ جيرةٍ

    مَلاعبُ غزلانٍ معاهدُ تُرْتضى

    Pastures of white gazelles, springtime homes of neighbors,

    Playgrounds of gazelles, haunts to be cherished.

  32. فللهِ هاتيكَ الربى وسفوحُها

    وللهِ عمْرٌ في سواها قدِ انقضى

    To God belong those hills and their slopes,

    And to God a lifetime that has passed elsewhere.

  33. وما عنْ رضى كانتْ سواها بديلةً

    لها غيرَ أنَّ الدهرَ ما زالَ مدحِضا

    No other place became, with my consent, a substitute

    For her; yet time has always made one stumble.

  34. قضاها لغيري وابتلاني بحبِّها

    فحمداً لهُ فيما ابتلاني وما قضى

    He allotted her to another and tried me with love of her;

    So praise be to Him for His trial of me and what He decreed.

  35. وَمَنْ نَظَرَ الدنيا بما هي أهلُهُ

    أرتْهُ الرضى كالسخطِ والسخطَ كالرضى

    And whoever regards the world as it deserves,

    It shows him contentment like discontent, and discontent like contentment.

  36. سلامٌ على ذاتِ القصورِ وأهلِها

    ومستقبلٍ مِنْ حسنِ حالٍ بها مضى

    Peace upon the city of palaces and her people,

    And upon a future of the happy life once lived there.