يا أهيل الحمى وعرب الفريق

علّ من نظرة لصب مشوق

O dear folk of the protected grounds, and Arabs of the encampment,

might there be a glance for a yearning lover—

مغرم لم يزل اسير هواكم

راح يبكي الاسى بدمع طليق

one enamored, still captive to your love?

He began weeping his sorrow with freely flowing tears.

رقق البين حاله منه حتى

سامه بالهوان سوم الرقيق

Separation so weakened his condition that

it subjected him to the humiliation of a slave.

ود في العمر لو يراكم طريقا

فتقضى وعينه في الطريق

He wished, in his lifetime, to see you upon a road;

then he passed away, his eye still upon the road.

يسفح الدمع في الخدود عقيقا

حبذا السفح مؤذنا بالعقيق

He pours tears over his cheeks like carnelian;

how lovely the hillside, heralding al-Aqiq,

حيث كان الشباب بالوصل غضا

باسما عن رضاب غصن وريق

where youth was fresh in union,

smiling to reveal the sweet saliva of a leafy bough.

لم يرعني من حادثات الليالي

طارق ما سوى الخيال الطروق

Never, amid the calamities of the nights, was I startled

by any visitor but the phantom that came by night.

يا نزولا بالمنحنى من ضلوعي

هل الى الصبر عنكم من طريق

O you encamped at the bend of my ribs,

is there any way to be patient without you?

ناركم في الحشا تشب لهيبا

وخفوق البروق بعض خفوقي

Your fire within my vitals blazes into flame,

and lightning's flicker is but a part of my throbbing.

كيف اسلو وحبكم في فؤادي

ساكن في مفاصلي وعروقي

How can I forget, when your love in my heart

dwells in my joints and veins?

فيما بيننا جرى من عهود

وبما في الهوى لكم من حقوق

For the pledges that have passed between us,

and for the rights you hold in love,

لا تحولوا عن الوداد فإني

واثق منكم بعهد وثيق

do not turn from affection, for I

trust you to keep a firm covenant.

أي كهف في حيكم من اتاه

فاز منه بظل روض انيق

What a refuge in your encampment! Whoever comes to him

gains from him the shade of a lovely garden.

اكرم الانبياء والرسل حقا

من زكان فرعه باصل عريق

Truly the noblest of prophets and messengers,

whose branch flourished from an ancient, noble root;

صاحب الحوض والشفاعة والبر

دة والتاج والقضيب الرشيق

possessor of the Pool, of intercession, and of the

mantle, the crown, and the slender staff.

خير من بالحديد يسعى ومن قد

طاف بالمشعر الحرام العتيق

The best of those who strive with iron, and of those who have

circled the ancient al-Mash'ar al-Haram.

طالما قد شفى من الضر عينا

وبها جاد يوم عسر وضيق

How often he healed an eye of affliction,

and gave generously of it on a day of hardship and distress.

واتته غزالة الحي تسعى

فكساها الضياء عند الشروق

And the gazelle of the encampment came hastening to him,

so he clothed her in radiance at sunrise.

طاب لي نشر مدحه فلهذا

فزت منه بطيب مسك سحيق

The fragrance of his praise delighted me; thus

I gained from him the perfume of finely powdered musk.

يا اجل الورى واوسع فضلا

بك ارجو النجاة عند المضيق

O greatest of creation, and most abundant in bounty,

through you I hope for deliverance at the narrow pass.

ومن الحوض في القيامة ابغي

شربة بردها يزيل حريقي

And from the Pool on Resurrection Day I seek

a draught whose coolness quenches my burning.

واجوز الصراط كي لمناها

تبلغ النفس بالمجاز الحقيقي

And may I cross the Sirat, so that its desires

may be attained by the soul through the true crossing.

ومع المتقين اسكن داراً

زخرفت في جوار خير فريق

And dwell with the God-fearing in an abode

adorned beside the finest company.

في ظلال على الارائك اسقى

سلسبيلا ختامها من رحيق

In shade, upon couches, I am given to drink

Salsabil, whose seal is of pure wine.

يا الهي بقربه منك فاصرف

حر وجهي عن حر نار الحريق

O my God, by his nearness to You, turn

my face away from the heat of the blazing fire.

وتقبل فيّ الشفاعة منه

حيث لم ينج من حميم صديق

And accept his intercession on my behalf,

when no close friend can save another.

وعليه ازكى صلاتك ضاعف

دائما في صبوحها والغبوق

And multiply Your purest blessing upon him,

always, at its morning and evening draughts,

ما صبا خيمت بنجد وفكت

عن عراها مزرات الشقيق

as long as an east wind encamps in Najd and unfastens

from their loops the buttoned buds of anemones.