لَعَمرُكَ لَولا رَحمَةُ اللَهِ إِنَّني

لَعَمرُكَ لَولا رَحمَةُ اللَهِ إِنَّني

لَأَمطو بِجَدٍ ما يُريدُ ليَرفَعا

لَأَمطو بِجَدٍ ما يُريدُ ليَرفَعا

By your life, were it not for God's mercy, I

By your life! If it were not for God's mercy

would press on with a fortune that has no wish to raise me up.

I would swiftly run to achieve what he wants raised

فَلَو كُنتُ حوتاً رَكَّضَ الماءُ فَوقَهُ

فَلَو كُنتُ حوتاً رَكَّضَ الماءُ فَوقَهُ

وَلو كُنتُ يَربوعاً سَرى ثُمَّ قَصَّعا

وَلو كُنتُ يَربوعاً سَرى ثُمَّ قَصَّعا

For were I a fish, it would churn the water above me;

So if I were a whale, the water would flow over it

and were I a jerboa, it would travel by night, then enter the burrow.

And if I were a rabbit, it would run then hunker down

إِذا ما نَتَجنا أَربَعاً عامَ كُفأَةٍ

إِذا ما نَتَجنا أَربَعاً عامَ كُفأَةٍ

بَغاها خَناسيرٌ فَأَهلَكَ أَربَعا

بَغاها خَناسيرٌ فَأَهلَكَ أَربَعا

Whenever we help four she-camels calve in their breeding year,

When we bring forth four perfect years

Khunasir seeks them out and destroys all four.

The serpent wants them and destroys the four

إِذا قُلتُ إِنّي في بِلادٍ مَضِلَّةٍ

إِذا قُلتُ إِنّي في بِلادٍ مَضِلَّةٍ

أَبى أَنَّ مُمسانا وَمُصَبحنا مَعا

أَبى أَنَّ مُمسانا وَمُصَبحنا مَعا

Whenever I say, 'I am in a land where one loses one's way,'

If I say, “I am in misleading lands”

it insists that we spend both evening and morning together.

It refuses that we spend our evenings and mornings together