أَساكنةً وادي الآراكِ أراك
تزينينَ لي وادي الأراك أراكِ
Dwelling in Wadi Al-Arak, I see you
Beautifying Wadi Al-Arak for me
تزينينَ لي أجزاعهُ وبراقه
وما كانَ مِن أثلٍ به وأراكِ
Beautifying for me its tree trunks and its brilliance
And there was nothing like it and you in it
تذكّرني أيّام أَلفتنا بهِ
حمائمُ مِن فوقِ الغصون بواكِ
Reminding me of the days when we met in it
Doves above the branches cooing
وَلولا هواكِ العذب ما لذّ ذكرهُ
لِقلبي ولكن ذا لأجل هواكِ
And were it not for your sweet love, its memory wouldn't have pleased
My heart, but that is because of your love
فَليتكِ مِثلي في الغرامِ سقيمة
فَيضحي دوائي وصلنا ودواكِ
If only you were like me, lovesick
So that our union would be my cure and your cure
رَعى اللّه عصراً كان للشمل جامعا
رَعاهُ رعاهُ دائماً ورعاكِ
May God protect a time that gathered us for reunion
May He always protect it and protect you
أَتَدرينَ يا لعسا المراشفِ عندنا
جَنى النحل أَحلى أم لذيذ جناكِ
Do you know, O Doe of the pillows, which is sweeter for us
The bees' harvest or the delicious taste of your kiss?
هنيئاً لمسواكِ الأراكةِ إذ جرى
بثغرك واِستولى رضاب لماكِ
Congratulations to your enchanting kiss when it flowed
To your lips and seized the consent of your cheeks
فَما بائع للنفسِ يوماً بخاسرٍ
عليك إِذا ما باعها وشراكِ
Never does one who sells himself sell at a loss
Except you when he sells himself and buys you
أُحاولُ مِن دَهري لقاك وخير ما
تمنّيت مِن دَهري منال لقاكِ
I try in my life to meet you and the best
Thing I wished for in my life is to attain you
خلقت لقلبي في الهوى فتنةً وما
لهُ فتنة في العالمين سواكِ
You have created in my heart with love such unrest, and there is
No unrest in the worlds except you
بِمَن قَد كساكِ الحسن في خلقه اِرفقى
بصبٍّ براهُ واحداً وبراكِ
By the One who clothed you in creation with beauty, be gentle
With one whom you have filled with passion and desire for you
مَتى أَنا يا ذات النوى بعد ذا النوى
أراكِ ويا بشراكِ يوم أراكِ
When, O she of determination, after this determination
Will I see you, and O giver of glad tidings, the day I see you?
أَلا كيفَ حالي إِذ تمادت بك النوى
وَكيفَ وِصالي بعدَ طول نواكِ
Oh, how is my state when determination has persisted with you
And how is my union after the length of your distance?
أقولُ غداةَ البينِ للحسرةِ اِرفقي
بِمن قد علَت للبينِ فوق قراكِ
The morning after separation, I say to sorrow, be gentle
With one whom separation has climbed above his grave
وَلا توجفي إلّا عَلى مهلة بها
إِذا وجبَ المسرى وجدّ سراكِ
Do not spurn him except slowly in which
When intimacy becomes difficult, your easiness is found
هيَ الشمسُ إلّا أنّها شمس هودجٍ
تريك الضُحى حيث اِدلهمّ دجاكِ
She is the sun except she is the sun of a howdah
Showing you the morning wherever its darkness covers
وَلَم أَنسها يوم الرحيلِ وقد رنت
بلحظٍ لها وقتَ التفرّق باكِ
And I did not forget her the day of departure when she rang out
With a glance at the time of our parting with weeping
وَسلّت حسامَ اللحظِ منها كأنّه
حسامُ فلاحٍ سلّ يوم عراكِ
And she drew the sword of her glance as if it were
A farmer's sword drawn on the day of strife
فتىً في معاليه عليهِ تَحاسَدت
أسرّة أنماطٍ وجرد مذاكِ
A young man whom the elite vied over
And the brave of traits and nobles envied
وَلَو قيسَ أهلُ الأرضِ قدراً جميعهم
بهِ ما وفوا مِن نعلهِ بشراكِ
And if all the people of earth were measured in worth with him
They would not equal a strap of his shoes
فَما سارَ عنهُ الوفد إلّا وعندهم
نجائب عيسٍ بزّلٍ ورماكِ
So the delegation did not leave him except bearing for them
Prizes of generosity with slackness and throwing
فَما جاوزوا هم إلّا تصعّدت
بهم هممٌ جاوزنَ كلّ شكاكِ
They did not go beyond while their spirits
Rose beyond all doubt
توقّد في روضِ العلا راقياً بلا
مراقٍ إِلى شمراخهِ ومواكِ
He blazed in the meadow of loftiness, towering without
Any pillar to its pinnacle and summit
إِذا غصّ دست بالملوكِ رأيتهُ
ألدّهمُ في منطقٍ ومحاكِ
When he mingles with kings you see him
The fiercest of them in logic and judgment
فَهيهاتَ أَن يدنو إِليهِ مماثل
وَيَحكيهِ في الفعلِ الجميل محاكِ
So it is inconceivable that a peer comes near him
And matches him in noble action and judgment
فَما كلُّ نارٍ نار موسى وإِن سمت
وَلا كلُّ نجمٍ لاحَ نجم سماك
Not every fire is Moses' fire even if it soared high
Nor every star that shone is the star Sirius
إِليكَ أَبا سلطان جاءت كأنّها
لطيمة مسكٍ فتّتت بمذاكِ
To you Abu Sultan, it came as if it were
A gentle musk bursting with its perfume
عروب قوافي نظمها قَد تَصَرّحت
فهنَّ فصاحُ اللفظِ غير ركاكِ
Arabic rhymes whose composition has been eloquent
For they are articulate speech without any clumsiness
أَتت من فتىً أَضحت تباريحُ فكره
إِليك منَ الدهرِ الغشوم سواكِ
It came from a young man whose thoughts
Became eloquent to you against the unjust times
أسير اِفتقارٍ جاءَ يدعوك معلناً
لتنعشهُ من أسرهِ بفكاكِ
A prisoner of poverty who came invoking you openly
To revive him from his shackles with release
وَقد طال ما أنقذته من مهالكٍ
وَلولاك لَم يبرح أسير هلاكِ
Long have you saved him from destruction
And were it not for you he would not leave the snare of ruin
لَه فيك مِن سحرِ الكلام غرائباً
لجرحِ قلوبِ العاشقين بواكِ
He has for you from the sorcery of words wonders
That wound the hearts of lovers with yearning
