خليليَّ مِنْ قَيْسِ بنِ عَيْلاَنَ خَلِّيَا

رِكابي تُعَرِّجْ نَحْوَ مُنْعَرَجَاتِها

My beloved from Qays ibn Aylan is my confidante

My mount, head towards its winding paths

بِعَيْشِكُمَا ذاتِ اليمينِ فإنَّني

أَرَاحٌ لِشَمِّ الرَّوْحِ مِنْ عَقَدَاتِها

By your life, O one of happy auspice, I am

At ease with the scent of spirit from its knots undone

أَمَا إنَّها الأَعْلامُ مِنْ هَضَبَاتِها

فكيف تَكُفُّ العَيْنُ عَنْ عَبَرَاتِها

Behold, it is the landmarks from its highlands

How can the eye refrain from its flowing tears?

ذَرَانِي وإذْرَاءُ الدُّمُوْعِ لَعَلَّهُ

يُسَكّنُ ما قد هاجَ مِنْ ذُكُرَاتِها

Leave me be, and the shedding of tears, perhaps

It will soothe what has been stirred of its memories

فَقَدْ عَبِقَتْ رِيْحُ النُّعَامَى كأنَّما

سَلامُ سُلَيْمَى رَاحَ في نَفَحَاتِها

For the scent of the wild cows has wafted as though

The greeting of Sulayma has blown in its breaths

وتَيْمَاءُ للقَلْبِ المُتَيَّمِ مَنْزِلٌ

فَعُوْجَا بتسليمٍ على سَلَمَاتِها

And Taima is for the heart that yearns a place to lodge

So head with surrender to its stairways

وإنْ تُسْعِدَا مَنْ أَسْلَمَ الصَّبْرُ قَلْبَهُ

يُعَرِّسْ بدوحِ البَانِ مِنْ عَرَصَاتِها

And if you bring joy to one whose heart is patient

He will wed the pasture of dunes from its expanses

فَبَانَتُها الغَيْنَاءُ مَأْلَفُ بَانَةٍ

جَنَيْتُ الغَرَامَ البَرْحَ مِنْ ثَمَرَاتِها

Its open country of loss is a familiar open country

I have plucked passion’s fruit from its produce

ورَوْضَتُها الغَنَّاءُ مَسْرَحُ رَوْضَةٍ

تَبَخْتَرُ في المَوْشِيِّ مِنْ حَبَرَاتِها

Its garden of song is a theatre garden

Strolling through it intoxicated by its script

هنالك خُوْطٌ في مَنَابِتِ عَزَّةٍ

تَخَالُ القَنَا الخَطِّيَّ بَعْضَ نَبَاتِها

There are lines in the roots of glory

Resembling the straight reed some of its growth

مَشَاعِرُ تَهْيَامٍ وكعبةُ فِتْنَةٍ

فؤاديَ مِنْ حُجَّاجِها ودُعَاتِها

Feelings of love’s madness and shrine of charm

My heart by its pilgrims and supplicants

فكم صافَحَتْنِي في مِنَاهَا يَدُ المُنَى

وكم هَبَّ عَرْفُ اللَّهْوِ مِنْ عَرَفَاتِها

So often has the hand of wishes met me there

And how much the spirit of joy has blown from its heights

عَهِدْتُ بها أَصْنامَ حُسْنٍ عَهِدْنَنِي

هَوىً عَبْدَ عُزَّاهَا وعَبْدَ مَنَاتِها

I knew it as idols of beauty, I knew them

Passionate for its pride and its patron

أُهِلُّ بأشواقِي إليها وأَتَّقِي

شَرَائِعَها في الحُبِّ حَقَّ تُقَاتِها

I make my longing for it lawful and am wary

Of its laws in love, truly fearing its severity

غَرَامٌ كإقدامِ ابنِ مَعْنٍ ومَغْرَمٌ

كإنْعَامِهِ والأرضُ في أَزَمَاتِها

A love like Ibn Ma’n’s valiance and a passion

Like his munificence, and the land in its crises

فَتَى البَأْسِ والجُوْدِ اللَّذيْنِ تَبَارَيَا

إلى غايةٍ حَازَا له قَصَبَاتِها

The knight of determination and generosity who vied

To the utmost attaining its reeds

تَدِيْنُ يَدَاهُ دِيْنَ كَعْبٍ وحاتِمٍ

فَحَتْمٌ عليها الدَّهْرُ وَصْلُ صِلاَتِها

His hands owe a debt like Ka’b and Hatim

So the ages are destined to join in his prayers

يُجَاهِدُ في ذَاتِ النَّدَى بَيْتُ مالِها

ولا جَيْشَ إلاَّ مِنْ أَكُفِّ عُفَاتِها

He wages war for the essence of dew with his wealth

And no army but that of his palms’ blades

إذا البِدَرُ انثالتْ عليهمْ تَخَالُها

بأَيْدِي مَوَالِيْهَا رؤوسَ عُدَاتِها

When the full moon hangs over them its crescents

At the hands of its loyalists the heads of its foes

وكَمْ قدْ رَأَتْ رَأْيَ الخوارِجِ فِرْقَةٌ

فَكُنْتَ عَلِيَّاً في حُرُوبِ شُرَاتِها

And how many a band has seen the view of dissenters

Yet you were Ali in the wars of its leagues

بِعَزْمِ أَبِيٍّ لا يُرَدُّ مَضَاؤُه

وهل تُمْلَكُ الأفْلاكُ عَنْ حَرَكَاتِها

With the resolve of one whose brilliance cannot be repelled

Can the spheres refrain from their rotations?

هو الجاعِلُ الهَيْجَا حَشاً وسِنَانَهُ

هَوىً فَهْوَ لا يَعْدُو قُلُوبَ كُمَاتِها

He who makes the excited one calm and his canine tooth

Passion, so it does not exceed the hearts of the silent

وكم خَطَبَتْنِي مِصْرُ في نَيْلِ نِيْلِها

ورامَتْ بنا بَغْدادُ وِرْدَ فُراتِها

And how Egypt on its Nile’s Nile wooed me

And Baghdad longed for me, bouquet of its Euphrates

ولم أَرْضَ أَرْضاً غيرَ مبدإ نَشْأتي

ولو لُحْتُ شَمْساً في سماءِ وُلاتِهَا

And I was not pleased by any land but the place of my origin

And if I met the sun in the sky of its rising

ولِي أَمَلٌ إنْ يُسْعِدِ السَّعْدُ نِلْتُهُ

ويُفْهَمُ سِرُّ النَّفْسِ في رَمَزَاتِها

And I have hope that if fortune favours I will attain it

And the soul’s secret is understood in its symbols

وأَسْنَى المُنى ما نِيْلَ في مَيْعَةِ الصِّبَا

وهل تَحْسُنُ الأشياءُ بعد فَواتِها

The sweetest wish is what I attained in the spring of youth

And can things improve after their passing?