1. تعالَ نزفُّ للثغرِ السلامَا

    ألستَ تَرَى على الثغرِ ابتسامَا

    Come, let us bear greetings to the port.

    Do you not see a smile upon the port?

  2. ألم تشعر كأن يَدَي عزيزٍ

    مَسَحنَ لك المواجعَ والسقاما

    Have you not felt as though a dear one's two hands

    Had wiped away your pains and sickness?

  3. كأن خُطى العبابِ خطى حبيبٍ

    كأنَّ الموجَ أفئدةٌ تَرامى

    As though the billows' footsteps were a beloved's footsteps,

    As though the waves were hearts surging forth.

  4. سلاماً يا عروسَ الماء إني

    أحبُّكِ لا أملُّ بكِ المقاما

    Greetings, O bride of the waters; I

    Love you; I never tire of dwelling in you.

  5. أسيرُ إِلى لقائكِ نِضوَ شوقٍ

    وأرجعُ عن ربوعكِ مستهاما

    I walk to meet you, worn thin with longing,

    And return from your haunts, love-struck.

  6. أراكِ فتنتشي روحي وقلبي

    كأني قد سُقِيتُ بك المدَاما

    I see you, and my soul and heart grow intoxicated,

    As though through you I had been given wine to drink.

  7. وإن طُوِيَ البساطُ فنصبَ عيني

    عليكِ خيالُ أحبائي القدامى

    And though the carpet has been rolled up, before my eyes

    Upon you stands the image of my loved ones of old.

  8. وإن طاحَ الزمانُ بكأس حبي

    فلا الساقي نسيتُ ولا الندامى

    And though time has dashed down the cup of my love,

    I have forgotten neither the cupbearer nor the drinking companions.

  9. فؤادي قم بنا نذكر شجانا

    لصخرٍ في جوارِ المكسِ قاما

    My heart, rise with me; let us recount our sorrow

    To a rock that stands near al-Maks.

  10. تعالَ ولا تقل هذا جمادٌ

    وكيفَ ترومُ بالصخرِ اعتصاما

    Come, and do not say, 'This is lifeless matter;

    And how can you seek refuge in stone?'

  11. فكم في الحيِّ من قلبٍ أصمّ

    تَنَكَّرَ أو تَجَاهَلَ أو تعامى

    For many a deaf heart among the living

    Has turned away, feigned ignorance, or pretended blindness.

  12. وكم صخرٍ أحسَّ بما عنانا

    وما عَرَفَ الحديثَ ولا الكلاما

    And many a rock has felt what afflicted us,

    Though it knew neither conversation nor speech.

  13. وكم في الناسِ من رجلٍ قويٍّ

    شديدِ البأسِ يقتحمُ اقتحاما

    And many a strong man among the people,

    Fierce in valor, charging boldly onward,

  14. تَعرَّضَ للحوادث لا يبالي

    تَلقَّاها نصالاً أم سهاما

    Has faced calamities, not caring

    Whether he met them as blades or arrows.

  15. فإِن عَرضت له الذكرُ الخوالي

    رأيتَ الكونَ في عينيه غاما

    But if bygone memories come to him,

    You see the universe grow clouded in his eyes.

  16. عرته الرجفةُ الكبرى وراحت

    جيوشُ الصبرِ تنهزمُ انهزاما

    A mighty trembling seizes him, and then

    The armies of patience begin to flee in utter defeat.

  17. بربكِ أيها الأنوارُ ماذا

    صنعتِ بساهرٍ ألِفَ الظلاما

    By your Lord, O lights, what

    Have you done to a night-watcher accustomed to darkness?

  18. بربك أيها الأمواجُ ظلَّت

    على الشطئانِ ترتطمُ ارتطاما

    By your Lord, O waves that kept

    Crashing forcefully against the shores,

  19. أتيتُكِ أبتغي منك التأسِّي

    وأَنشدُ في نواحيك السلاما

    I came to you, seeking consolation from you,

    And seeking peace throughout your reaches.

  20. أراكِ فتحتِ لي شجناً جديداً

    وكنتُ أرومُ للماضي التئاما

    I see you have opened a fresh sorrow for me,

    While I was seeking healing for the past.

  21. وَهَيتُ وخانني جَلَدِي وإلا

    فهذي الدمعةُ الحرَّى علاما

    I have weakened, and my endurance has betrayed me; otherwise,

    Why, then, this burning tear?

  22. أيا بلدَ التأسي كيف أنسَى

    زماني فيكِ كهلاً أو غلاما

    O land of consolation, how can I forget

    My time in you, as a middle-aged man or a boy,

  23. ويومَ أتيتُ مكتئباً عليلاً

    أحسُّ البَينَ يدنو والحِماما

    And the day I came, despondent and ill,

    Feeling separation and death draw near,

  24. أجرجرُ فيكِ أقداماً ثقالاً

    وأجمعُ مِن عزيمتيَ الحطاما

    Dragging heavy feet through you,

    And gathering the fragments of my resolve,

  25. وعلاتي وأدوائي كبارٌ

    شربنَ دمي وأبلَينَ العظاما

    While my ailments and diseases were grave?

    They drank my blood and wore away my bones.

  26. أراكِ فلا أبالي بالمنايا

    وأَحمدُ عند شاطئكِ الختاما

    I see you, and care nothing for death,

    And at your shore I give thanks for the end.

  27. وكم طافَ الرفاقُ وغادروني

    كَعُوَّادٍ ومروا بي كراما

    And how often companions came round and left me,

    Like visitors to the sick, and passed me by graciously.

  28. تمرُّ بيَ الحياةُ ولستُ أدري

    أيومٌ مرَّ أم قضَّيتُ عاما

    Life passes me by, and I do not know

    Whether a day has passed or I have spent a year.

  29. عرفتك والشتاءُ يمدُّ ظلا

    وينشر في جوانبكِ الغماما

    I knew you as winter stretched out its shadow,

    And spread clouds throughout your reaches;

  30. عرفتكِ والمصيفُ عليكِ زاهٍ

    وقرنُ الشمسِ يضطرمُ اضطراما

    I knew you as summer shone brightly upon you,

    And the sun's rim blazed fiercely;

  31. عرفتكِ والعواصفُ فيك غضبى

    نشرنَ على مُحَيَّاكِ القتاما

    I knew you as storms raged within you,

    Spreading dark dust across your face;

  32. عرفتك والفلائكُ فيك بيضٌ

    مجنحةٌ يحاكينَ الحَماما

    I knew you with white sailboats upon your waters,

    Winged, resembling doves;

  33. عرفتكِ هادئاً والفجر غافٍ

    كأَنَّ البحر وَسَّدَه فناما

    I knew you calm, with dawn slumbering,

    As though the sea had pillowed it, and so it slept;

  34. عرفتك كالصديقِ بكلِّ حالٍ

    وكنتِ شرابَ روحي والطعاما

    I knew you like a friend in every state,

    And you were my soul's drink and food.

  35. وملحُكِ في دمي وشذاكِ باقٍ

    وهذا الصوتُ أسمعُه دواما

    And your salt is in my blood, and your fragrance lingers,

    And this sound I hear always.

  36. تعالي صخرةَ الماضي أجيبي

    وقوفُكِ وانتظارُكِ ذا إلاما

    Come, rock of the past; answer:

    This standing and waiting of yours—how long?

  37. لقيتِ من العبابِ كما لقينا

    من الأيَّام قرعاً واصطداما

    You have endured from the billows, as we have endured

    From the days, battering and collision.

  38. كأنكِ للورى هدفٌ وهذي

    جموعٌ تبتغي أمراً جساما

    As though you were a target for mankind, and these

    Are throngs pursuing a momentous aim.

  39. إذا ما أخفقوا رجعوا فُرَادَى

    وإن هَمُّوا وجدتهُمُ زحاما

    Whenever they fail, they return one by one,

    And if they resolve to act, you find them a throng.

  40. فؤادي إن تغيرتِ الليالي

    فمثلكَ مَن رَعَى فيها الذماما

    My heart, if the nights should change,

    Then one such as you keeps faith throughout them.

  41. بلغنَا كعبةَ الآمالِ فاخشع

    ودعنا في مناسِكهَا قياما

    We have reached the Kaaba of hopes; so be reverent,

    And let us stand in observance of its rites.

  42. خُذِ السلوانَ من حجرٍ صموتٍ

    فما أحراكَ بالحجرِ استلاما

    Take solace from a silent stone,

    For how fitting that you should touch the stone in reverence!

  43. بربكَ أينَ أحلامٌ غَوالٍ

    وعمرٌ قد قطعناهُ نياما

    By your Lord, where are the precious dreams,

    And the lifetime we spent asleep,

  44. وعهدٌ كانَ فيك ربيع وردٍ

    كهذا اليومِ حُسناً وانسجاما

    And the time in you that was a spring of roses,

    Like this day in beauty and harmony?