لَقَد نَسَبوا الخِيامَ إِلى عَلاءِ

لَقَد نَسَبوا الخِيامَ إِلى عَلاءِ

أَبَيتُ قَبولَهُ كُلَّ الإِباءِ

أَبَيتُ قَبولَهُ كُلَّ الإِباءِ

They have indeed attributed loftiness to the tents;

They attributed Khayyam to Ala

They ascribed the tents to Glory,

I utterly refused to accept it.

I refused to accept it, refusing all

But I rejected that claim with utter refusal.

وَما سَلَّمتُ فَوقَكَ لِلثُرَيّا

وَما سَلَّمتُ فَوقَكَ لِلثُرَيّا

وَلا سَلَّمتُ فَوقَكَ لِلسَماءِ

وَلا سَلَّمتُ فَوقَكَ لِلسَماءِ

I have not conceded the Pleiades a place above you,

And I did not bow above you to fortune

For I did not concede that the Pleiades rise above you,

Nor have I conceded the sky a place above you.

Nor did I bow above you to the sky

Nor did I surrender your station to the sky.

وَقَد أَوحَشتَ أَرضَ الشامِ حَتّى

وَقَد أَوحَشتَ أَرضَ الشامِ حَتّى

سَلَبتَ رُبوعَها ثَوبَ البَهاءِ

سَلَبتَ رُبوعَها ثَوبَ البَهاءِ

You have left the land of al-Shām so desolate

You made the Levant land desolate until

You have left the land of Sham in desolation,

That you stripped its dwellings of their robe of splendor.

You stripped its landscapes of the clothes of splendor

Stripping its dwellings of the robe of splendor.

تَنَفَّسُ وَالعَواصِمُ مِنكَ عَشرٌ

تَنَفَّسُ وَالعَواصِمُ مِنكَ عَشرٌ

فَتَعرِفُ طيبَ ذَلِكَ في الهَواءِ

فَتَعرِفُ طيبَ ذَلِكَ في الهَواءِ

You breathe, though al-ʿAwāṣim lies ten [nights’ journey] from you,

You breathe and the capitals smell of you, ten

It sighs, though the Border-Cities lie ten days from you,

And it recognizes that fragrance in the air.

So you recognize that scent in the air

And knows the fragrance of your presence in the air.