1. بوركتْ بنيةّ وقد بارَك الله

    لنَا في عُمرْ الذي قد بنَاهَا

    Blessed be this building, and may God bless

    For us the life of the one who built it.

  2. بنيةٌ أُسِّسَت على مطلعِ الما

    ءِ تجلت وعزَّ مَنْ سَوَّاهَا

    A building was founded at the source of

    Water; it shone forth, and exalted was the one who fashioned it.

  3. يا لهَا بنيةً عَلى شاطِىء الوا

    دِي عامَ السَّرُورِ في رُؤْياهَا

    What a building upon the bank of the

    Valley! Joy swam in the vision of it.

  4. هي روضٌ من الرياحين فاح ال

    مسكُ منها كما يفرحُ شَذَاهَا

    It is a garden of fragrant flowers; there wafts the

    Musk from it, as its fragrance brings delight.

  5. قُدِّسَتْ من كلِّ القَذى فتعالتْ

    رفعةّ أن نرَى لها أَشْبَاهَا

    Purified of every impurity, it rose

    Too high for us to find anything like it.

  6. روضةٌ من سُفْليها جناتٌ

    من نخيلٍ أفكارُنا تَرْعامَا

    A garden, beneath whose lower reaches lie gardens

    Of palms that our thoughts tend [reading uncertain].

  7. وبها التينُ والفواكهُ والأشجارُ

    أثمارُهن دانٍ جَنَاهَا

    And in it are figs, fruits, and trees,

    Their fruits close at hand for gathering.

  8. وهي تجري مِنْ تحتها أنهارٌ

    من نميرٍ سبحان من أَجْرَاهَا

    And beneath it flow streams

    Of sweet water—glory to the One who made them flow.

  9. قطعةٌ من رياض جنات عدنٍ

    تزلتْ من سمائِه فطَحَاها

    A portion of the meadows of Eden's gardens,

    Descended [reading uncertain] from its heaven and spread out.

  10. إنْ عرتْني شدائدٌ وهمومٌ

    واكتئابٌ تزولُ حينَ أَرَاهَا

    If hardships and worries assail me,

    And dejection, they vanish when I see it.

  11. وإذا ما بَدَتْ نُقبِّلُ أرْضا

    فكأَنْها نقبلُ الأهْواهَا

    And whenever it appears, we kiss the ground,

    As though we were kissing [unclear word in the text].

  12. من رآهَا تنسيه كلّ حبيب

    قدْ قضى اللهُ ما قضَى فقضَاهَا

    Whoever sees it is made to forget every beloved;

    God decreed what He decreed, and so completed it.

  13. لو رأتها حورُ الجنانِ لقالتْ

    فوّضونا فلا نريد سِوَاهَا

    If the maidens of Paradise saw it, they would say:

    'Entrust the choice to us; we want nothing but it.'

  14. يعجزُ الواصفونَ أن يصفُوها

    بصفاتٍ لم يبلغُوا مُنْتهاهَا

    Those who describe it are unable to portray it

    In descriptions; they have not reached its full measure.

  15. تتلألا كأنها درةٌ بيضاءُ

    أو كالبدورِ في مرآها

    It sparkles as though it were a white pearl,

    Or like full moons in its appearance.

  16. عظمت دفةً وفاقتْ وراقتْ

    واستقامتْ بنيا وتمَّ علاَها

    Grand in its broad sides, it excelled and delighted;

    And stood straight in its structure, its loftiness complete.

  17. فهيَ في فكرتي وإن غبتُ عنها

    وهي دون الأشياءِ لا أنساهَا

    So it remains in my thoughts, though I am away from it;

    And unlike other things, I never forget it.

  18. فهنيئاً لمن بنَاها وأعلاَ

    ها وطوبَى لمن له سُكنَاها

    So joy to the one who built it and raised

    It high; and blessedness to the one whose dwelling it is.

  19. ولو أتى خيرتُ أستغفر الرحمن

    بين الجناتِ أو مَثواها

    And if I came to be given a choice—I seek the Most Merciful's forgiveness—

    Between Paradise's gardens and dwelling in it,

  20. قد لعمري لاخترت هذا نصيبي

    من خلودٍ لو لم أخفْ عُقْباهَا

    By my life, I would surely choose this as my portion

    Of eternity, if I did not fear its consequences.

  21. كلُّ من رآها بعينِ عياناً

    قال واللهِ ما نرى شَرْواها

    Everyone who has seen it plainly with their own eyes

    Has said, 'By God, we see nothing like it.'

  22. ما رآها امرؤٌ من الخلقِ إلا

    قال حقّاً سبحان من أنشَاها

    No person among creation has seen it without

    Saying, 'Truly, glory to the One who brought it into being!'

  23. كيفَ نلقى لها شبيهاً ونورُ

    الله مِن تحتِ عرشه يَغْشَاها

    How can we find its like, when the light of

    God, from beneath His Throne, envelops it?

  24. إن يكنْ في العُيونِ شىءٌ من الدا

    ء فإن الدواءَ منها ثَراها

    If there is in the eyes any trace of

    Illness, then its soil supplies the cure.

  25. وإذا ما القلوبُ تصدأُ حزناً

    فهي تجلُو عن القلوبِ صداهَا

    And whenever hearts rust with sorrow,

    It clears those hearts of their rust.

  26. إن أردتمْ ترونَ كلّ عجيبِ

    فانظرُوا أيها الورَى في ذُرَاها

    If you wish to see every wondrous thing,

    Then gaze, O humankind, upon its heights.

  27. فهي بالوشى زينت وتجلّت

    وتجلت كالشمسِ عِنْدَ ضُحَاها

    For it is adorned with patterned ornament and shines forth,

    And shines like the sun in its morning brightness.

  28. أحمرٌ قانٍ وأسودُ غربيب

    ونورٌ يلوحُ في أعْلاهَا

    Deep crimson red and raven black,

    And light gleaming in its upper reaches;

  29. واخضرارٌ وزرقةٌ وابيضاض

    واصفرارٌ فلا يُقَذَّى سَنَاهَا

    And greenness, blueness, and whiteness,

    And yellowness—its radiance is unsullied.

  30. قد تناهتْ في الحُسْن والوصف

    والأوصافِ قُلْ لي بأي شىء تَبَاهى

    It has reached the utmost in beauty and description,

    And in its qualities—tell me, what can rival its splendor? [Reading uncertain]

  31. فكأن الذي بناهَا وأعْلاَها

    بناء بخلقهِ أعْدَاهَا

    As though the one who built it and raised it high

    Were a builder who passed his character on to it.

  32. هو رَبُّ العلى أبو العرب الزا

    كي لقدْ جلَّ قدرُه أن يُضَاهى

    He is the lord of high honors, Abu al-Arab the

    Pure; his stature is indeed too exalted to be matched.

  33. فإذا اشتَد كلُّ همِّ وكربِ

    بالبرايا يعطى النفوسَ مُنَاها

    So when every care and anguish grows severe

    Upon creation, he grants souls their wishes.

  34. غيره وهو ذُو فعال جميلِ

    وإذا الأرضُ أجْدَبتْ أحياهَا

    He changes it, and his deeds are noble;

    And when the earth grows barren, he brings it back to life.

  35. وإذا ساءَ منزلٌ أو نبا بي

    وعزتي همومُه حلاّها

    And when a dwelling displeases me or proves inhospitable,

    By my honor, he sweetens its cares.

  36. فهو شمسُ الدنيا ونورُ هداها

    وضياءُ العليا وبدرُ دُجَاها

    He is the sun of the world and the light of its guidance,

    And the radiance of the heights, the full moon of their darkness.

  37. عِش قريرَ العيونِ ما غرَّدت

    وَرْفاء ليلا وغردتْ في بُكَاها

    Live with eyes at peace, as long as there sings

    A gray dove [reading uncertain] by night, warbling in its weeping.

  38. كان تاريخُها بغُرّةِ شوا

    لٍ رعاها ربُّ العلى وسَقَاها

    Its date was on the first of

    Shawwal; may the lord of high honors tend it and water it.

  39. وثمانٍ مضتْ وسبعونَ عاماً

    بعد ألف حسابها قد تنَاهى

    And eight and seventy years had passed

    After a thousand; its reckoning is complete.