ما في الطُّلُولِ مِن الأَحِبَّةِ مُخْبِرُ

فَمَن الَّذِي عن حالِها نَسْتَخْبِرُ

No tidings come from the beloved ones to inform,

So who can we ask about their state?

لا تَسأَلنَّ سِوى الفراقِ فإِنَّهُ

يُنْبِيكَ عنهم أَنْجدُوا أَم أَغْوَرُوا

Ask only about parting, for it

Will tell you if they languish or flourish.

جارَ الزَّمانُ علَيْهِمُ فَتَفَرَّقُوا

في كُلِّ ناحِيّةٍ وبادَ الأَكْثرُ

Time has been harsh to them, so they scattered,

Each to a region, most astray.

جَرَتِ الخُطُوبُ على محلِّ دِيارِهِم

وعلَيْهِمُ فَتَغَيَّرَتْ وتَغَيّرُوا

Calamities befell their dwelling places

And so they changed, transformed in decay.

فدَعِ الزَّمانَ يصوغُ في عرصاتِهِم

نُوراً تكادُ له القُلُوبُ تُنَوِّرُ

Leave time to shape in their plains

A light that makes hearts glow and pray.

فلِمثْلِ قُرْطُبةٍ يقلُّ بُكاءُ مَن

يَبْكِي بعَيْنٍ دَمْعُها متَفَجِّرُ

For one like Cordoba, few would weep

Whose tears flow copious, pure.

دَارٌ أَقالَ اللَّهُ عَثْرةَ أَهْلِهَا

فَتَبَرْبَرُوا وتَغَرَّبُوا وتَمَصّرُوا

A home God made stumble its people

So they dispersed and isolated withdrew.

في كُلِّ ناحِيَةٍ فَرِيقٌ منهمُ

مُتَفَطِّرٌ لفراقِها مُتَحَيِّرُ

In each direction, a group of them

Rending in exile, confused in loss.

عَهْدي بها والشملُ فيها جامِعٌ

مِن أَهْلِها والعَيْشُ فيها أَخْضَرُ

My pact with it - united inside

Among its people, living fresh and new.

ورِياحُ زَهْرَتِها تلوحُ علَيْهمُ

برَوائِحٍ يَفتَرُّ منها العَنْبرُ

Winds of its blossoms wave over them

Scents that make amber diffuse.

والدارُ قد ضَربَ الكَمالُ رِواقَهُ

فيها وباعُ النقص فيها يَقْصُرُ

The perfection of beauty graced its halls

While flaws were sold short and few.

والقَوْمُ قد أَمنُوا تغيُّرَ حُسْنِها

فَتَعَمَّمُوا بجَمالِها وتأَزَّرُوا

They felt safe from its beauty shifting,

So robed in its glory, proud they grew.

يا طِيبَهُمْ بقُصُورِها وخُدُورِها

وبُدُورها بقُصُورِها تَتَخَدَّرُ

Oh goodness - its castles and chambers,

Its round houses, castles in awe.

والقَصْرُ قَصْرُ بَني أُمَيّةَ وافِرٌ

من كُلِّ أَمْر والخِلافةُ أَوْفَرُ

The palace of Umayyads, perfect in all -

Rule even more bountiful and more.

والزاهِرِيَّةُ بالمَراكِبِ تُزْهِرُ

والعامِرِيّةُ بالكَواكِبِ تُعْمَرُ

With ships the Zāhiriyyah gleams,

The ʿĀmiriyyah with stars aglow.

والجامِعُ الأَعْلَى يغصُّ بكُلِّ مَن

يتلو ويَسْمَعُ ما يَشاءُ ويَنْظُرُ

The Great Mosque overcrowds with all

Who recite and hear what they wish and know.

ومسالِكُ الأَسْواقِ تشهد أَنَّها

لا يَستَقِلُّ بسالِكِيها المَحْشَرُ

Witness the market paths, not sufficed

By all who tread them, teeming as they flow.

يا جَنَّةً عَصفَتْ بها وبأَهْلِها

رِيحُ النَّوى فتَدَمَّرتْ وتَدَمَّرُوا

Oh garden, the winds of fate blew,

Razing it and its people in woe.

آسَى علَيْكِ مِن المَماتِ وَحقَّ لِي

إِذ لم نَزَلْ بكِ في حَياتِكِ نَفخَرُ

I grieve for you, though we rightly vaunt

That in life, we were honored to know.

كانَتْ عراصُك للمُيَمِّمِ مَكَّةً

يأوِي إِلَيْها الخائِفُونَ فيُنْصَرُوا

Your land was Mecca for the devout,

A refuge where the afraid would grow.

يا مَنْزِلاً نَزَلَت به وبأَهْلِهِ

طَيْرُ النَّوى فَتَغَيَّرُوا وتَنَكَّرُوا

Oh dwelling, the birds of fate came

And altered its people beyond recall.

جادَ الفُراتُ بساحَتَيْك ودِجْلةٌ

والنّيلُ جادَ بها وجادَ الكَوْثَرُ

Euphrates and Tigris gave you their fill,

The Nile its plenty, even Kauthar's flow.

وسُقِيتَ مِن ماءِ الحَياةِ غمامةً

تحيا بها منكَ الرِّياضُ وتُزْهِرُ

You were watered from the fount of life,

A cloud that brings your meadows joy.

أَسَفِي على دارٍ عَهدْتُ ربوعَها

وظباؤُها بفنائِها تَتَبَخْترُ

I mourn a home whose glades I knew,

Its gazelles frolicking free in its bows.

أَيّامَ كانَتْ عَيْنُ كُلِّ كَرامةٍ

مِن كُل ناحِيَةٍ إِليَهْا تَنظُرُ

Days when you were the eye that viewed

All grandeur, gazing to and fro.

أَيْامَ كانَ الأَمْرُ فيها واحِداً

لأَمِيرها وأَمِيرِ مَن يتَأَمَّرُ

Days when its ruler ruled as one,

Obeisance from all rulers in its throes.

أَيَّامَ كانَتْ كَفُّ كُلِّ سلامةٍ

تسمو إِلَيْها بالسّلامِ وتَبْدُرُ

Days when each hand of peace was raised,

Greetings streaming constant in its flows.

حَزَني على سَرَواتِها ورُواتِها

وثِقاتِها وحُماتِها يَتَكَرَّرُ

My grief for its pines and pastures rings,

Its trusted ones, protective barrier.

نَفْسِي على آلائِها وصفائِها

وبَهائِها وسَنائِها تَتَحَسَّرُ

My soul for its graces and purity wails,

Its splendor, radiance, moans and sighs.

كَبِدِي على عُلَمائِها حُلَمائِها

أُدَبائِها ظُرَفائِها تَتَفَطَّرُ

My heart for its scholars, wise ones weeps,

Its authors, cultured ones, shreds and tears.