أبى القلبُ أن ينسى المعاهد من بُرسا

وحبي لها بين الجوانح قد أرسى

My heart refused to forget the covenants of Bursa

The heart refuses to forget the familiar haunts of Bursa,

And my love for it within my chest has settled

For my love for it has anchored deep within my ribs.

أكلّفه سلوانها وهو مغرمٌ

فهيهات أن يسلو وهيهات أن ينسى

I task it to console me while infatuated

I task my heart with solace while it is deeply enamored,

Alas, it cannot console nor can it forget

But how impossible is solace, and how impossible to forget!

تباعدت عنها ويح قلبي بعدها

وخلّفتها والقلب خلفي بها أمسي

I distanced myself from it - oh my aching heart after it

I have traveled far from it—woe to my heart in the aftermath—

And I left it while my heart lingered there till evening

I left the city, yet my heart remained behind me within it.

بلادٌ لها فضلٌ على كلّ بلدة

سوى من يشد الزائرون لها الحلسا

A land of preference over all other lands

A land holding virtue above every other town,

Except those to which pilgrims are drawn for their fine weapons

Save for those holy sites to which pilgrims tighten their saddles.

فما جازها فضلٌ ولا حل دونها

سواها نجومٌ وهي أحسبها شمسا

So no land surpassed it in merit or settlement other than it

No merit surpasses it, nor does virtue settle short of it;

The others are stars while I reckon it a sun

Other cities are but stars, while I deem it the sun.

عليّ محالٌ بلدةً غيرها أرى

بها الدين والدنيا طهوراً ولا نجسا

It is impossible for me to see any land but it

It is impossible for me to behold any town other than it

Wherein is pure religion and worldly affairs, nothing impure

Wherein religion and the world are pure, untouched by filth.

وجامعها المشهور لم يك مثله

به العلم مغروسٌ به كم ترى درسا

And its famous mosque - there is none like it

And its famous mosque—there has never been one like it—

Wherein knowledge is implanted and how much have you seen studied

Where knowledge is planted; how many lessons you witness there.

وسلطانها أعني الأمير رئيسها

به افتخرت برسا فأعظم به رأسا

And its sultan - I mean its eminent ruler

And its Sultan—I mean the Prince, its leader—

With him Bursa took pride and became mightier thereby

Through whom Bursa boasted; how magnificent a head he is!

ومنزله الأعلى حكى لي روضةً

به الفخر قد أمسى به الفضل قد أرسى

And his highest dwelling described a garden for me

His lofty residence resembled a garden of paradise to me,

Wherein pride has lodged and merit has settled

Wherein pride has settled, and wherein virtue has dropped anchor.

بها آل عثمان الجهابذة الألى

أشادوا منار الدين وابتذلوا النفسا

Therein are the magnificent Ottoman family

In it dwell the House of Osman, those brilliant early masters,

Who erected the minaret of religion and sacrificed themselves

Who raised the lighthouse of religion and sacrificed their very souls.

ليبكهم للدين من كان باكيا

فما شام هذا الدين في عصرهم نحسا

Let those who would weep for religion weep for them

Let him weep for them—whoever weeps for the sake of religion—

Never in their time did this religion encounter any ill fortune

For the faith witnessed no misfortune during their era.

فكم عالم فيهم وكم من مجاهدٍ

وكم من ولي قد تخيّرها رمسا

So many scholars among them and fighters

How many a scholar was among them, and how many a warrior,

And devoted saints who chose it as a refuge

And how many a saint chose it for his resting place.

ألا ليت شعري هل أحل رياضها

وبنار باش هل أطيب به نفسا

Oh, would that I know - can I enter its meadows

Oh, would that I knew: shall I ever settle in its gardens again?

And with its Pasha's fire gladden my soul

And in Pınarbaşı, shall my soul find its pleasure?

فيصبو بها في العيد من ليس صابيا

ويفرح محزون الفؤاد ولا يأسى

So it pours therein during Eid for those not yet weaned

There, even one not prone to passion feels youth's pull during Eid,

And delights the saddened heart which cannot forget

And the grief-stricken heart rejoices and does not despair.

وكيف جكركة بعدنا وقصورها

تراها الثريا إذ توسطت القوسا

And how its bridges and palaces after us

And how is Çekirge after we left, and its palaces?

You see them centred within the arc

You see them like the Pleiades when centered in the Archer's bow.

ومن تحتها نهر جرى متدفّقاً

يشابه ثعباناً وقد خشي الحسا

And beneath it a flowing river

And beneath it runs a river, flowing swiftly,

Resembling a snake, fearing the stud

Resembling a serpent that has feared the touch of stone.

فهبني أسلو أرضها بتكلف

فلست بسالٍ للأهالي ولا أنسى

So allow me to console myself with its land though difficult

So grant that I might force myself to forget its terrain,

For I cannot let go of its people nor forget

Yet I am not one to forget its people, nor shall I ever forget.

ومن أجلهم حبّي لها وتشوّقي

وإن غلاء الدار بالجار قد أمسى

And for their sake, my love of it and longing

It is for their sake that I love it and yearn for it,

Though the home's expensiveness made parting necessary

For truly, the value of the house has come to depend on the neighbor.

أناس بهم أهلي سلوت وبلدتي

وفي كل آن قد رأى ناظري أنسا

A people who are my family, consoling me and my homeland

People with whom I forgot my own family and town,

And in every moment my eyes have seen intimacy

And in every moment, my eye perceived only companionship.

وفارقت أهلي مذ تجمع شملنا

وأمنت لا غما أخاف ولا نكسا

I left my family since our gathering

I was parted from my kin, yet since we gathered there,

Trusting no worry that I fear nor ill fate

I felt secure, fearing neither grief nor reversal of fortune.

مكارم أخلاقٍ وحسن شمائل

ولين طباع واللطافة لا تنسى

Virtues, good manners and traits

Noble morals and beautiful characteristics,

Gentle natures and kindness that cannot be forgotten

Gentle natures and a kindness that cannot be forgotten.

سقى الله غيثاً رحمةً وكرامةً

أراض بها حلّ الأحبةُ من برسا

May God rain mercy, grace and bounty

May God water with rain, mercy, and honor,

With which the beloved ones from Bursa are watered

The lands wherein the beloved ones have settled in Bursa.