تَذَكَرتَ سُعدى أم أتاكَ خَيالُها

أم الريحُ قد هَبّت أليك شمالُها

Do you remember Su’da or did her image come to you?

Or did the wind blow her scent to you from the north?

وما كنتَ لولا بينُ سعدي وصدها

تغركَ أوهامُ المنى وَضَلالُها

You would not have been deceived by fanciful hopes and their misguidance,

Were it not for the separation between Su’da and your love for her.

لَقَدْ حَلّ هذا البينُ عَقْدَ تَصَبري

عشيّةَ شُدَّتْ للرحيل حالُها

Indeed this separation has undone the knot of my patience,

On an eve when she prepared for departure.

إذا اقتيدَت الأحمالُ للسّير قادَني

إلى مَوْطن من آل سعدي جِمالُها

When the camel litters were loaded for travel, it led me

To a place inhabited by Su’da’s tribe, their beauty.

سأجعَلُ خَدَّي مَوطئاً لِمَطيِّها

على الأين إن أدنى خُطاها كِلالُها

I will make my cheek a stepping stone for her mount,

If her slipping feet bring it near out of weariness.

وَمَنْ لي بتِشبيع الحمول ودونَها

عيونُ حُماةٍ ما يُباحُ حَلالُها

But who can help me win her favors which are unlawful for me?

Eyes of protectors whose lawful rights I cannot infringe.

وما أنا مِمّنْ يرهبُ الموتَ إن سطا

عليه بِما يُدني المنيّةَ آلُها

I am not one who fears death if it comes

With what brings man closer to his inevitable fate.

ولم أنْسَها لمّا تَوَلّت وَمُقْلَتي

تُريها غروبَ الدمع كيفَ انهمالها

I did not forget her when she turned away, while my tears

Showed her the sunset of weeping and its descent.

لأتبعتُها في السّيْر نَفْساً أسيرةً

إلى الله إنْ عزَّ اللقاء مآلُها

I would have followed her in travel like a captive soul,

To God, if the reunion were difficult to attain.

فآهاً لما غادَرت يا أم مالك

منم الحسرة اللاتي تشبَ اشتعالها

Oh, grief for she who departed, O mother of Malik!

My anguish has flared up in those left behind.

وإنّي بتسآل الرَّسوم لمولَعٌ

بعيد النّوى لو كانَ يُجدي سؤالها

I ask the ruins insistently out of yearning

For the far one, if asking could avail.

أما وليالينا التي قد تصَرَّمتْ

بها أذْ شَفَا الّداءَ الدَّفينَ وصالهُا

As for our nights which have passed away,

In them the lasting disease was healed by union with her!

لَقَد أقبَلَ الصّلد الوزيرُ محمّدٌ

فأقبَلَت الدُّنيا وَسَرَّ وصالُها

The minister Muhammad al-Sallad has arrived,

So good times have come, and union with her.