1. لو كانَ عندك مَا عندي من الكمدِ

    مَا نمتَ يا ليل عن ليلي وعن سهدي

    If you had the anguish that I have,

    you would not sleep, O night, heedless of my night and sleeplessness.

  2. ولَوْ وجدتِ كوجدي يومَ ذي سَلمٍ

    لما رحَلْتَ ولكن أنتِ لم تجد

    And had you felt a yearning like mine on the day at Dhu Salam,

    you would not have departed; but you felt none.

  3. أشكو هواك وأشكو أن يفارقني

    ومَنْ يحبُّ فراقَ الروح للجسد

    I lament my love for you, and lament that it might leave me;

    and who would welcome the soul's parting from the body?

  4. أنت الطبيبُ وأنت الداء واعجبٌ

    مَنْ عَلّم الظبي يسطو سطوة الأسدِ

    You are the physician, and you the disease—how strange!

    Who taught the gazelle to attack with a lion's ferocity?

  5. ما إنْ مَرَرتُ بواديكم وأثْلِكُمُ

    إِلاَّ وجدتُ له برداً على كبدي

    Never have I passed through your valley and your tamarisks

    without finding its coolness upon my liver.

  6. فلاَ تحدّثَ ركبٌ عن بلادكم

    إِلاَّ وَضعتُ على قلبِي الجريح يدي

    No caravan has ever spoken of your lands

    without my laying my hand upon my wounded heart.

  7. ردّوا عليّ فؤادي في هوادِجِكم

    حَولتُ عودته عنكم فلم يَعدِ

    Return my heart to me—it is in your howdahs.

    I tried to bring it back from you, but it did not return.

  8. اوَوَدَّعوني توديع الْشقيق فما

    كان الْفراقُ ولاَ التوديعُ في خِلَدي

    Or bid me farewell as a brother would, for

    neither parting nor farewell had been in my thoughts.

  9. لو أنّ ما بي بالحادين مَا زَجَروا

    حُمْرَ النِّياق وبالاجمال لم تَخِد

    Had the camel drivers felt what I feel, they would not have urged on

    the red she-camels; had the camels felt it, they would not have hastened.

  10. لو أنّ ما بفؤادي يومَ فرقِتكم

    بالماء لم يَجْرِ أو بالنار لم تَقَد

    Had what was in my heart on the day of your parting

    been in water, it would not have flowed; or in fire, it would not have burned.

  11. قال العذولُ تجلّد ضَلةً وغوى

    من أين أجمعُ بين الحزنِ والجَلَد

    The reproacher said, 'Be steadfast!'—misguided and astray.

    How can I combine sorrow and fortitude?

  12. يا رائدَ الريح هَلْ عن عالجٍ خبراً

    فاقصِصْ عليَّ وَحدّث ثانيا وزد

    O scout of the wind, is there any news of Alij?

    Tell it to me, tell it again, and tell me more.

  13. هلْ أوَرَقَتْ أثلةُ الوادي بشعب طُوى

    وهَل طَمَا موجُ ذاك المشرب البردِ

    Has the valley's tamarisk put forth leaves in the ravine of Tuwa?

    And have the waves of that cool drinking place risen high?

  14. مَالي أَحنّ إلى أرضِ الجُناةِ ومَا

    قومي بتلك ولا أهلي ولاَ ولدي

    Why do I yearn for the land of the wrongdoers, when

    neither my people, my family, nor my offspring are there?

  15. لولاَ الفقيه ومَاضٍ من لطائفه

    لكدتُ أتلَفُ بين القُربِ والبُعُدِ

    Were it not for the jurist and his past kindnesses,

    I would almost perish between nearness and distance.

  16. أسلاَني ابنُ حسينِ مُذ نزلت به

    عن الظعون وسجع الطائِرِ الغَردِ

    Since I lodged with him, Ibn Husayn has drawn my thoughts away

    from the departing caravans and the tuneful bird's song.

  17. رحب الجَنانِ بَجِيَليٌّ خلاَئقُه

    أذكى مِن المسكِ أو أحلى من الشَّهُدِ

    Large-hearted, a Bajili; his qualities

    are more fragrant than musk, or sweeter than honey.

  18. هو الشَّفِيقُ إذا قلت الشقيقُ قسَا

    هو الجوادُ إذا مَا الْغيثُ لم يجُدِ

    He is the tender-hearted one when I say, 'My brother has grown harsh.'

    He is the generous one when the rain gives nothing.

  19. مبارك الوجه يَدري من فطانتِه

    فطانةَ اليومِ مَا يأتيه بعدَ غدِ

    Blessed of face, he knows through his keen perception,

    with today's discernment, what will come to him the day after tomorrow.

  20. في كلّ يوم يُنادي يا عفاةُ فِدوا

    إلى السَّماح ويدعو يا عطاش ردوا

    Each day he calls, 'O seekers of bounty, come

    to generosity!' And he cries, 'O thirsty ones, come to drink!'

  21. غيثٌ لَمُرتبعٍ غوثٌ لمنتَجَعٍ

    أنسٌ لكلّ غريب الدارِ مُنْفرد

    Rain for the seeker of spring pasture, succor for the seeker of bounty,

    a comfort to every lonely stranger far from home.

  22. مَنْ مالَ عنه فقد ضَلَّتْ ركائبه

    من أهتدي بابي عبد الإله هُدى

    Whoever turns away from him, his mounts have gone astray;

    whoever finds his way by Abu Abd al-Ilah is rightly guided.

  23. لا يسئلُ الركب عنه إِنَّ غُرتَه

    هي الصباحِ وَمَا صُبْحٍ بمنجحدِ

    The caravan does not ask about him: his radiant brow

    is the dawn, and no dawn can be denied.

  24. اللهُ ألْبَسه مَا لَيسَ يُخِلقُه

    فليسَ يبرحُ في أثوابه الجُدُد

    God has clothed him in what cannot be worn out,

    so he remains forever in his fresh garments.

  25. والله أكرمهُ والله عظَّمَهُ

    فما يحاذر مَسَّ النقصِ مِنْ أحد

    And God has honored him, and God has exalted him;

    so he fears no touch of diminishment from anyone.

  26. سِرْ حيثُ شيئتَ وخيّم مُكنتفٌ

    في ذمّةِ اللهِ في هَديٍ وفي رَشَد

    Travel where you will, and pitch your tent, sheltered

    under God's protection, in guidance and right conduct.

  27. إذا حَلَلَتَ بأرض أعشبتْ وَرَبت

    والعِقْد يحْسُن فوقَ الجِيدِ ذي الجَيَدِ

    When you alight in a land, it grows grassy and flourishes;

    and a necklace is beautiful upon a long, graceful neck.

  28. ذكَّرت بالله في دهر به غَفَلَتْ

    كلُّ القلوب لما تُصغي إلى الفَندِ

    You have reminded us of God in an age in which

    all hearts grew heedless as they lent their ears to folly.

  29. وَكم أَساء مُسيىءٌ فاغتفرتَ لَهُ

    ولم تَبِتْ بفؤادٍ عنهُ مُنْعَقِد

    And how often a wrongdoer has done wrong, and you have forgiven him,

    without spending the night with your heart hardened against him.

  30. مَا زِلْتَ تعفُو وتصفو إِنْ همُ عثروا

    عَفْوَ الكرامِ وتُدنى كل مبْتَعد

    You have always pardoned and remained pure-hearted when they stumbled,

    with the pardon of the noble, drawing near everyone far away.

  31. إنْ يُغْضِبُوك فذوِ حلمٍ وتغطيَةٍ

    أو يقصدوكِ ففي أمْنٍ وفي رغد

    If they anger you, you show forbearance and veil their faults;

    or if they seek you, they find safety and abundance.

  32. لولا رِضاك لأمْستْ أمَّةٌ بَدداً

    لازلتَ تجمعُ شمْلَ الأُمة البددِ

    But for your goodwill, a community would have become scattered;

    may you always reunite the community's scattered ranks.

  33. رِفقاً بهم وانْعطافاً لاَ عدمت فقد

    يعفو الكريم وحَدُّ المشرفي ندي

    Be gentle with them and compassionate—may we never lose you! For

    a noble man forgives while the Mashrafi sword's edge is still wet.

  34. إذا رأيناك قلنا ذا ابنُ أمِنةٍ

    في بطن يثرب حيًّا غيرَ مُفْتَقدَ

    When we see you, we say, 'This is the son of Amina,

    alive in the heart of Yathrib, not absent.'

  35. ما زال حبُّكِ دِيناً في أوائلنا

    وفي البنينَ فحبُّ الشيخِ كالولدِ

    Love for you has ever been a creed among our forebears,

    and among the sons; the elder's love is like the child's.

  36. فلا عدمنا زمانا أنتَ غرّتُه

    ولا عَدْمنَاك فيه مدةَ الأبد

    So may we never lose an age whose radiant brow you are,

    nor ever lose you in it, for all eternity.