1. تعلمت الألحان من نوحي الورقا

    وقد أخذت عني الصبابة والعشقا

    The gray dove learned melodies from my lament,

    and took yearning and passion from me.

  2. ورفقتي في الحب وجد هواكم

    فأصبحت عبدا في الغرام لكم وفقا

    And my companion in love is the anguish of loving you,

    so I became a slave in passion, obedient to you.

  3. ولم يبق لي غير السقام هواكم

    فتحب ما افنى وللروح ما ابقى

    And your love has left me nothing but sickness;

    so you love what it has consumed, while the soul has what it has spared.

  4. حياتي بكم اني اموت صبابة

    وفيكم نعيمي في الغرام بان اشقى

    My life is through you; indeed, I die of longing,

    and in you lies my bliss in love—in suffering.

  5. ومن لم يجد بالروح طوعا لامركم

    ورام حياة لا يعيش ولا يبقى

    And whoever does not freely offer his soul at your command,

    and seeks life, neither lives nor endures.

  6. أأحبابنا ليت الذي بيننا سعى

    والقى حديث الزور يلقى الذي القى

    O our beloveds, would that the one who came between us

    and spread false tales would meet with what he spread.

  7. علقت بكم طفلا ولولا هواكم

    لما كنت أدري ما الغرام وما العشقا

    I became attached to you as a child; were it not for love of you,

    I would not have known what ardent love and passion are.

  8. بذكرني التشبيب بالبان والنقا

    اذا غردت بالايك في الورق الورقا

    Love poetry reminds me of the ban trees and sand dunes

    when the gray dove sings among the leaves in the thicket.

  9. واسأل عرف الريح عن طيب نشركم

    وعنكم اذا ما ضاع استنشق الطرقا

    And I ask the wind's scent about your sweet fragrance,

    and when it wafts, I breathe in the paths, seeking you.

  10. وان خفق البرق اليماني عشية

    فيزداد قلبي من تلهفه خفقا

    And if Yemeni lightning flickers at dusk,

    my heart throbs all the more from its yearning.

  11. ومالي لا تنهل سحب مدامعي

    اذا شمت من تلقاء ارضكم برقا

    And why should the clouds of my tears not pour down

    when I spot lightning from the direction of your land?

  12. وان دام هذا الدمع يجري صبابة

    فاني اخشى منه ان يكثر الغرقى

    And if these tears keep flowing out of yearning,

    I fear they will swell the number of the drowned.

  13. واني لابكي من لهيب بأضلعي

    لعلّ به تطفى جوانحي الحرقى

    Indeed, I weep from a blaze within my ribs,

    hoping these tears may quench my burning breast.

  14. وماذا عسى تغني التمائم والرقى

    اذا كان لي دمع من العين لا يرفا

    And what good can amulets and incantations do

    when tears from my eye will not cease?

  15. فعطفا عريب الحي عطفا لمغرم

    ورفقا بمن اودى الغرام به رفقا

    So show compassion, dear Arabs of the encampment, compassion for one lovesick,

    and gentleness, gentleness to him whom passion has undone.

  16. فلي عندكم عهدٌ قديم وموثقٌ

    لأن رسول الله عروتي الوثقى

    For with you I have an ancient covenant and a binding pledge,

    because God's Messenger is my firmest handhold.

  17. نبي له الله اصطفاء لنفسه

    حبيبا ولولاه لما اوجد الخلقا

    A Prophet whom God chose for Himself

    as His beloved; but for him, He would not have brought creation into being.

  18. نبيّ اتى من اشرف الناس عنصرا

    سلوا البيت عنه فهو يخبركم صدقا

    A Prophet who came from humankind's noblest stock;

    ask the House about him, for it will tell you truthfully.

  19. نبي اتى بالحق للخلق رحمة

    فيافوز من والاه واتبع الحقا

    A Prophet who brought the truth as a mercy to creation—

    what triumph for whoever is loyal to him and follows the truth!

  20. نبيّ به الرحمن اقسم واسمه

    من الحمد والفرقان قد جاء مشتقا

    A Prophet by whom the All-Merciful swore, and whose name

    is derived from praise and the Criterion.

  21. نبي غدا في حلبة الفضل سابقا

    فمن ذا يجاريه وقد احرز السبقا

    A Prophet who became foremost in virtue's racecourse—

    who can match his pace, when he has secured the lead?

  22. نبي له كانت تظل غمامة

    اذا سار غربا في الظهيرة او شرقا

    A Prophet whom a cloud would shade

    whenever he journeyed west or east at midday.

  23. نبيٌ له قد ردت الشمس آية

    وبدر الدجى في النصف طوعا له انشاق

    A Prophet for whom the sun was brought back as a sign,

    and the full moon of night willingly split in half for him.

  24. نبي اتت تسعى الغزالة نحوه

    وعادت ومنه نورها يملأ الافقا

    A Prophet toward whom the gazelle came hastening,

    and returned, her light from him filling the horizon.

  25. نبيٌ اعاد العين بعد ذهابها

    وفاضت معينا من اصابعه دفقا

    A Prophet who restored an eye after its loss,

    and from whose fingers springwater gushed in torrents.

  26. نبي به اسري الى العرش فارتقى

    مكانا عليا غيره الدهر لا يرقى

    A Prophet borne by night to the Throne, who ascended

    to an exalted station no one else can ever reach.

  27. نبي على السبع الطباق لقد علا

    مكانا وقد صلى وام بهم حقا

    A Prophet who indeed rose above the seven layered heavens

    in station, having prayed and truly led them in prayer.

  28. نبي دنا من قاب قوسين وانتهى

    الى الغاية القصوى وحقا رأى الحقا

    A Prophet who drew to within two bow-lengths and reached

    the furthest limit, and truly beheld the Truth.

  29. فيالغ وحدث عن علو مقامه

    فكل علو جاء في مدحه طبقا

    So go to extremes, and speak of his exalted station,

    for every exaltation offered in his praise fits him.

  30. ودع كل مدح في الورى غير مدحه

    فذاك الذي اخطا ولم يشهد الفرقا

    Leave all praise of people aside, except praise of him,

    for whoever does otherwise has erred and failed to see the distinction.

  31. له الروضة الفيحاء للحسن جنة

    فمن حل فيها لا يجوع ولا يشقى

    His spacious garden is beauty's paradise,

    and whoever dwells there neither hungers nor suffers.

  32. فياطيبة طوبى لما قد حويت من

    محل علا اعلى السماك له مرقى

    O Tayba, blessed is what you hold within:

    a station of glory whose ascent is higher than al-Simak.

  33. ترى عيشيَ المغبر يرجع اخضرا

    وبالمقلة السودا ارى عينها الزرقا

    I wonder, will my dust-covered life turn green again,

    and with my dark eye see her blue spring?

  34. وانشق تربا طيب عرف عبيره

    يضوع كنشر المسك ينعشني نشقا

    And shall I breathe in earth whose perfume smells so sweet,

    wafting like musk's fragrance, reviving me as I inhale?

  35. واشدو تجاه القبر يا اشرف الورى

    ببابك عبد اجاء يرجو بك العتقا

    And sing before the tomb: O noblest of humankind,

    at your door a slave has come, hoping through you for freedom.

  36. وسائل ذاك الدمع ذلا لعزكم

    ترامى وبالاعتاب صبا غدا ملقى

    And ask those tears: humbled before your glory,

    he has flung himself down and lies lovesick upon the thresholds.

  37. وحاشاك من يرجوك يرجع خائبا

    ونائلك الاوفى ومنزلك الاتقى

    Far be it from you that anyone who hopes in you should return disappointed,

    when your bounty is the fullest and your abode the most reverent.

  38. عسى ابن مليك منك يشفى بنظرة

    ومن حوضك المورود يوم الظما يسقى

    May Ibn Mulayk be healed by a glance from you,

    and be given drink from your much-frequented Pool on the day of thirst.

  39. ويبلغ في الدارين منك مرامه

    ومطلوبه سهل لدى مجدك الارقى

    And may he attain through you his desire in both abodes,

    for what he seeks is easy before your loftiest glory.

  40. ففي تلك دار الخلد يرجو تكرما

    ويرجو بهذا حسن خاتمة يلقى

    For in that one—the abode of eternity—he hopes for gracious favor,

    and in this one he hopes to meet a good end.

  41. عليك صلاة الله ثم سلامه

    صلاة على طول المدى ابدا تبقى

    Upon you be God's blessing, and then His peace—

    a blessing that endures forever, throughout all time—

  42. وآلك والاصحاب ما هيجت صبا

    بلابل مشتاق وما سجعت ورقا

    and upon your family and companions, as long as a lovesick one is stirred

    by a yearning lover's anguish, and as long as a gray dove coos.