أَجِدكَ ما تَزالُ بِكَ الرَواحِل

أَجِدكَ ما تَزالُ بِكَ الرَواحِل

تَنَقَّلُ في الهَواجِرِ وَالهَواجِل

تَنَقَّلُ في الهَواجِرِ وَالهَواجِل

Is it truly so? The riding-beasts still journey on with you,

Is it true that the riding camels still carry you,

roaming through blazing noons and open wastes.

Wandering through midday heat and trackless wastes?

إِذا أَمسَيتَ في بَلَدٍ غَريباً

إِذا أَمسَيتَ في بَلَدٍ غَريباً

تَرومُ إِقامَةً أَصبَحتَ راحِل

تَرومُ إِقامَةً أَصبَحتَ راحِل

Whenever evening finds you a stranger in some land,

Whenever you spend the evening a stranger in a town,

seeking to stay, by morning you have become a traveler.

Seeking to stay, by morning you are departing.

كَأَنَّكَ في الزَمانِ اِسمٌ صَحيحٌ

كَأَنَّكَ في الزَمانِ اِسمٌ صَحيحٌ

جَرى فَتَحَكَّمَت فيهِ العَوامِل

جَرى فَتَحَكَّمَت فيهِ العَوامِل

As though, within Time, you were a sound noun,

As though you were, in Time, a sound noun,

set in declension, its case controlled by governing agents:

That moved along, then grammatical governors held sway over it.

مَزيدٌ في بَنيهِ كَواوِ عَمروٍ

مَزيدٌ في بَنيهِ كَواوِ عَمروٍ

وَمُلغى الحُكمِ فيهِ كَراءِ واصِل

وَمُلغى الحُكمِ فيهِ كَراءِ واصِل

an addition among Time’s sons, like the wāw in ʿAmr,

An extra among its sons, like the wāw of ʿAmr,

and void of force within it, like Wāṣil’s rāʾ.

And denied authority there, like the rāʾ of Wāṣil.

وَحَقُّكَ أَن يُلازِمَكَ اِرتِفاعٌ

وَحَقُّكَ أَن يُلازِمَكَ اِرتِفاعٌ

لِأَنَّكَ لِلنَّدى وَالجودِ فاعِل

لِأَنَّكَ لِلنَّدى وَالجودِ فاعِل

It is your right that elevation should cling to you,

And your due is that elevation always attend you,

for you are the agent of bounty and generosity.

For you are the agent of generosity and bounty.