1. أَلَم تَسأَلِ الدارَ القَديمَةَ هَل لَها

    بِأُمِّ حُسَينٍ بَعدَ عَهدِكَ مِن عَهدِ

    Have you not asked the old dwelling whether it has

    any knowledge of Umm Husayn since your last visit?

  2. سَلي الركبَ هَل عُجنا لِمَغناكِ مَرَّةً

    صُدورَ المَطايا وَهيَ موقَرَةٌ تَخدي

    Ask the riders whether we ever turned toward your dwelling

    the chests of our mounts, heavily laden as they strode swiftly.

  3. وَهَل فاضَتِ العَينُ الشَروقُ بِمائِها

    مِن اجلِكِ حَتّى اِخضَلَّ مِن دَمعِها بَردي

    And did the tear-brimming eye overflow with its water

    for your sake, until my cloak was drenched in its tears?

  4. وَإِنّي لَأَستَجري لَكِ الطَيرَ جاهِداً

    لَتَجري بِيُمنٍ مِن لِقائِكِ أَو سَعدِ

    And I strive to set the birds flying for you,

    that their flight may augur a blessed meeting with you, or good fortune.

  5. وَإِنّي لَأَستَبكي إِذا الركبُ غَرَّدوا

    بِذِكراكِ أَن يَحيا بِكِ الركبُ إِذ يَحدي

    And I bring myself to tears when the riders sing

    of you, at how the riders come alive through you as they chant to the camels.

  6. فَهَل تَجزِيَنّي أُمُّ عَمروٍ بِودِّها

    فَإِنَّ الَّذي أُخفي بِها فَوقَ ما أُبدي

    Will Umm Amr then repay me with her affection?

    For what I conceal concerning her exceeds what I reveal.

  7. وَكُلُّ مُحِبٍّ لَم يَزِد فَوقَ جُهدِهِ

    وَقَد زِدتُها في الحُبِّ مِنّي عَلى الجُهدِ

    And no lover has gone beyond his utmost effort,

    yet I have given her love beyond my utmost effort.

  8. إِذا ما دَنَت زِدتُ اِشتِياقاً وَإِن نَأَت

    جَزِعتُ لِنَأيِ الدارِ مِنها وَلِلبُعدِ

    When she draws near, my longing grows; and if she goes far away,

    I despair at her distant dwelling and at the separation.

  9. أَبى القَلبُ إِلّا حُبَّ بَثنَةَ لَم يُرِد

    سِواها وَحُبَّ القَلبِ بَثنَةَ لا يُجدي

    My heart would accept only love for Bathna; it desired

    no one else, yet the heart's love for Bathna avails nothing.

  10. تَعَلَّقَ روحي روحَها قَبلَ خَلقِنا

    وَمِن بَعدِ ما كُنّا نِطافاً وَفي المَهدِ

    My soul clung to hers before our creation,

    and after we were drops of seed, and in the cradle.

  11. فَزادَ كَما زدنا فَأَصبَحَ نامِياً

    وَلَيسَ إِذا متنا بِمُنتَقَضِ العَهدِ

    So it grew as we grew, and continued to flourish,

    and when we die, its covenant will not be broken.

  12. وَلَكِنَّهُ باقٍ عَلى كُلِّ حالَةٍ

    وَزائِرُنا في ظُلمَةِ القَبرِ وَاللحدِ

    But it endures through every state,

    and will visit us in the darkness of the grave and the burial niche.

  13. وَما وَجَدَت وَجدي بِها أُمُّ واحِدٍ

    وَلا وَجَدَ النَهدِيُّ وَجدي عَلى هِندِ

    No mother of an only child has felt my anguish for her,

    nor has al-Nahdi felt for Hind the anguish I feel.

  14. وَلا وَجَدَ العُذرِيُّ عُروَةُ إِذ قَضى

    كَوَجدي وَلا مَن كانَ قَبلي وَلا بَعدي

    Nor did Urwa of Udhra, when he died, feel

    anguish like mine, nor anyone before me or after me.

  15. عَلى أَنَّ مَن قَد ماتَ صادَفَ راحَةً

    وَما لِفُؤادي مِن رَواحٍ وَلا رُشدِ

    Yet whoever has died has found rest,

    while my heart has neither respite nor good sense.

  16. يَكادُ فَضيضُ الماءِ يَخدِشُ جلدها

    إِذا اِغتَسَلَت بِالماءِ مِن رِقَّةِ الجِلدِ

    The spray of water almost scratches her skin

    when she bathes in water, so delicate is her skin.

  17. وَإِنّي لَمُشتاقٌ إِلى ريحِ جَيبِها

    كَما اِشتاقَ إِدريسٌ إِلى جَنَّةِ الخُلدِ

    And I yearn for the scent of her neckline,

    as Idris yearned for the Garden of Eternity.

  18. لَقَد لامَني فيها أَخٌ ذو قَرابَةٍ

    حَبيبٌ إِلَيهِ في مَلامَتِهِ رُشدي

    Indeed, a brother, a kinsman, reproached me over her,

    my good sense being dear to him as he reproached me.

  19. وَقالَ أَفِق حَتّى مَتى أَنتَ هائِمٌ

    بِبَثنَةَ فيها قَد تُعيدُ وَقَد تُبدي

    And he said: Come to your senses! How long will you remain infatuated

    with Bathna, now repeating your words about her, now declaring them anew?

  20. فَقُلتُ لَهُ فيها قَضى اللَهُ ما تَرى

    عَليَّ وَهَل فيما قَضى اللَهُ مِن رَدِّ

    So I said to him: Concerning her, God decreed what you see

    upon me; can anything reverse what God has decreed?

  21. فَإِن كانَ رُشداً حُبُّها أَو غِوايَةً

    فَقَد جِئتُهُ ما كانَ مِنّي عَلى عَمدِ

    So whether loving her is right guidance or error,

    I have come to it, but not deliberately.

  22. لَقَد لَجَّ ميثاقٌ مِنَ اللَهِ بَينَنا

    وَلَيسَ لِمَن لَم يوفِ لِلَّهِ مِن عَهدِ

    A covenant from God has indeed held fast between us,

    and no covenant belongs to one who fails to keep faith with God.

  23. فَلا وَأَبيها الخَير ما خُنتُ عَهدَها

    وَلا لِيَ عِلمٌ بِالَّذي فَعَلَت بَعدي

    No, by her noble father, I have not betrayed her pledge,

    nor do I know what she has done since I left.

  24. وَما زادَها الواشونَ إِلّا كَرامَةً

    عَلَيَّ وَما زالَت مَوَدَّتُها عِندي

    And the slanderers have only made her dearer

    to me, and my affection for her has never faded.

  25. أَفي الناسِ أَمثالي أَحَبَّ فَحالُهُم

    كَحالي أَم اَحبَبتُ مِن بَينِهِم وَحدي

    Are there among people others like me who have loved, whose state

    is like mine, or have I alone among them loved?

  26. وَهَل هَكَذا يَلقى المُحِبّونَ مِثلَ ما

    لَقيتُ بِها أَم لَم يَجِد أَحَدٌ وَجدي

    And do lovers likewise experience anything like what

    I have experienced through her, or has no one felt my anguish?

  27. يَغورُ إِذا غارَت فُؤادي وَإِن تَكُن

    بِنَجدٍ يَهِم مِنّي الفُؤادُ إِلى نَجدِ

    My heart goes to the lowlands when she goes there; and if she is

    in Najd, the heart within me roams lovesick toward Najd.

  28. أَتَيتُ بَني سَعدٍ صَحيحاً مُسَلَّماً

    وَكانَ سَقامَ القَلبِ حُبُّ بَني سَعدِ

    I came to Banu Sa'd healthy and unharmed,

    and love for Banu Sa'd was my heart's sickness.