يلومونني في موطئ خفه خطا

ولو علموا عاد الذي لام يحشد

They wrongly blame me over the spot his leather boot has trodden.

And if they knew, the one who blamed would turn to gathering.

فيا أهل أرض لا تجود سحابها

خذوا بوصاتي تستقلوا تحمدوا

So, O people of a land whose clouds give no rain,

Heed my counsel: you will rise and give thanks.

خذوا من ترابٍ فيه موضع وطنه

واضمن أن المحل عنك يبعد

Take some soil from the site of his home,

And I guarantee that drought will stay far from you.

فكل تراب واقع فيه رجله

فذاك صعيد طيب ليس يجحد

For whatever soil his foot rests upon,

That is pure ground, beyond denial.

كذلك فعل السامري وقد بدا

لعينيه من جبريل إثر ممجد

Al-Samiri did likewise, when there appeared

Before his eyes a hallowed trace of Gabriel.

فصير جوف العجل من ذلك الثرى

فقام له منه خوارٌ ممدد

So he placed some of that soil in the calf’s hollow,

And from it arose for him a long-drawn lowing.

لقد بوركت أرضٌ بها أنت قاطنٌ

ويورك من فيها وحل بها السعد

Indeed, the land where you dwell has been blessed,

And [blessed] are those within it; good fortune has settled there.

فأحجارها در وسعدانها وردٌ

وأموالها شهد وتريتها ند

Thus its stones are pearls, and its thorn-plants are roses;

And its wealth is honeycomb, and its [soil] is fragrant incense.