سَرى الهَم تَثنيني إِلَيكَ طَلائِعُه

سَرى الهَم تَثنيني إِلَيكَ طَلائِعُه

بِمِصر وَبِالحوف اعتَرَتني رَوائِعُه

بِمِصر وَبِالحوف اعتَرَتني رَوائِعُه

Care traveled by night, its vanguards turning me back toward you;

The anxiety crept toward me, its harbingers in Egypt and Al-Huf haunted me,

in Egypt and al-Hawf its terrors assailed me.

My pillow became as bony as my arm, its flesh receded from the bone as if unveiling its secrets,

وَباتَ وسادي ساعِد قَل لحمُهُ

وَباتَ وسادي ساعِد قَل لحمُهُ

عَن العَظمِ حَتّى كادَ تَبدو اشاجِعه

عَن العَظمِ حَتّى كادَ تَبدو اشاجِعه

And my pillow by night was a forearm whose flesh had dwindled

And before that radiant, flashing one, for whom the running tears of my eyes yearned,

away from the bone, until its hand tendons almost showed.

Walks the meadows of Bakr and Madhij vibrant and green,

وَكَم دونَ ذاكَ العارِض البارِق الَّذي

وَكَم دونَ ذاكَ العارِض البارِق الَّذي

لَهُ اِشتَقَّت مِن وَجه اسيل مدامِعُه

لَهُ اِشتَقَّت مِن وَجه اسيل مدامِعُه

And how much lies between me and that flashing raincloud,

Help me withstand the flashing lightning whose glow illuminates the darkness of night,

whose tear-streams were drawn from a smooth face.

When the eyes of a lover are lined with its light, even the dawn is robbed of its bedmates,

تَمشي بِهِ اِفناءُ بكر وَمَذجِح

تَمشي بِهِ اِفناءُ بكر وَمَذجِح

وَاِفناءُ عمرو وهو خِصبٌ مرابِعُه

وَاِفناءُ عمرو وهو خِصبٌ مرابِعُه

There roam the clans of Bakr and Madhhij,

It sat for him late into the night attentive, look from where its ascendants emerged,

and the clans of ʿAmr, while its spring pastures are lush.

Congratulations to the mother who nurtured him, though I severed the rope that tied me,

اِعِنّي عَلى بَرق اريك وَميضُهُ

اِعِنّي عَلى بَرق اريك وَميضُهُ

تُضيء دجنات الظَلامِ لَوامِعُه

تُضيء دجنات الظَلامِ لَوامِعُه

Help me bear lightning whose flicker I show you;

I did not stop until I said I will renounce my loyalty to the master whose blows trained me,

its flashes illuminate the dense gloom of darkness.

And ally with a people from whom you are, taking your master as mine and following him.

اِذا اِكتَحَلت عينا محب بِضوئِهِ

اِذا اِكتَحَلت عينا محب بِضوئِهِ

تَجافَت بِهِ حَتّى الصَباح مَضاجِعُه

تَجافَت بِهِ حَتّى الصَباح مَضاجِعُه

When a lover's eyes take its light for kohl,

his beds shun him until morning.

قَعَدَت لهُ ذاتَ العَشاءِ اشيمَه

قَعَدَت لهُ ذاتَ العَشاءِ اشيمَه

وَاِنظُر من اينَ استَقَلَّت مَطالِعُه

وَاِنظُر من اينَ استَقَلَّت مَطالِعُه

I sat up for it one evening, watching its flashes,

and watched to see from where its flashes rose.

هَنيئاً لام البُختري الرَوى بِهِ

هَنيئاً لام البُختري الرَوى بِهِ

وَاِن انهَج الحَبلُ الَّذي انا قاطِعُه

وَاِن انهَج الحَبلُ الَّذي انا قاطِعُه

May Umm al-Bukhturi enjoy drinking her fill from it,

even though the rope I am severing has frayed.

وَما زِلت حَتّى قُلت إِنّي لِخالِع

وَما زِلت حَتّى قُلت إِنّي لِخالِع

وَلائي من مَولى نمتَني قَوارِعُه

وَلائي من مَولى نمتَني قَوارِعُه

And I went on until I said: I shall surely withdraw

my allegiance from a patron whose blows brought me up,

وَمانِح قوم انتَ منهُم مَوَدَّتي

وَمانِح قوم انتَ منهُم مَوَدَّتي

وَمُتَّخِذ مولاكَ مولى فتابِعُه

وَمُتَّخِذ مولاكَ مولى فتابِعُه

and give my affection to a people you belong to,

and take your patron as my patron, then follow him.