هُوَ البَينُ حَتّى ما تَأَنّى الحَزائِقُ

وَيا قَلبِ حَتّى أَنتَ مِمَّن أُفارِقُ

He is evident until the meadows appeared

It is separation; the camel-litters tarry not,

And O heart, you too are among those I bid farewell

And O my heart! Are you, too, among those I must forsake?

وَقَفنا وَمِمّا زادَ بَثّاً وُقوفُنا

فَريقَي هَوىً مِنّا مَشوقٌ وَشائِقُ

We stood still, and our standing increased the separation

We halted, and our halting but deepened the grief,

A group of passion among us, yearning and longing

Two factions of love: those who yearn, and those who inspire the yearning.

وَقَد صارَتِ الأَجفانُ قَرحى مِنَ البُكا

وَصارَ بَهاراً في الخُدودِ الشَقائِقُ

The eyelids became wounds from crying

Eyelids have grown ulcerated and sore from weeping,

And poppies bloomed on the cheeks

And the crimson anemones of the cheeks have turned to pale saffron.

عَلى ذا مَضى الناسُ اِجتِماعٌ وَفُرقَةٌ

وَمَيتٌ وَمَولودٌ وَقالٍ وَوامِقُ

People came and went, born and died

Thus have people passed: in union and in severance,

Speaking and silent

The dead and the newborn, the loathing and the loving.

تَغَيَّرَ حالي وَاللَيالي بِحالِها

وَشِبتُ وَما شابَ الزَمانُ الغُرانِقُ

My state changed though the nights remained the same

My state has altered, yet the nights remain unchanged,

I grew old but time's young maidens never aged

I have grown grey, while Time, that fair youth, ages not.

سَلِ البيدَ أَينَ الجِنُّ مِنّا بِجَوزِها

وَعَن ذي المَهاري أَينَ مِنها النَقانِقُ

Ask the oxus where the gardens' streams are from its nuts

Ask the wastelands: where are the Jinn compared to us in their midst?

And the doves about the melodious singers

And ask of these Mahri steeds: can the swift ostriches match their pace?

وَلَيلٍ دَجوجِيٍّ كَأَنّا جَلَت لَنا

مُحَيّاكَ فيهِ فَاِهتَدَينا السَمالِقُ

On a gloomy pitch-black night, as if

In a night of pitch darkness, it seemed as though the barrens

Your shining face lit our path and guided the latecomers

Revealed your face to us, and by that light we found our way.

فَما زالَ لَولا نورُ وَجهِكَ جُنحُهُ

وَلا جابَها الرُكبانُ لَولا الأَيانِقُ

Its wings shine lest the travelers lose their way

Its gloom would never have lifted but for the radiance of your face,

And the young camels only due to the leaders

Nor would the riders have crossed it without these she-camels.

وَهَزٌّ أَطارَ النَومَ حَتّى كَأَنَّني

مِنَ السُكرِ في الغَرزَينِ ثَوبٌ شُبارِقُ

Swaying startled me from sleep as if

A swaying gait that banished sleep, until it seemed I was,

My clothes were flashing lightning in intoxication

From intoxication in the stirrups, a tattered, fluttering robe.

شَدَوا بِاِبنِ إِسحاقَ الحُسَينِ فَصافَحَت

ذَفارِيَها كيرانُها وَالنَمارِقُ

They grabbed the son of Isaac al-Husayn so his horses neighed

They sang the name of Ibn Ishaq al-Husayn, and the camels'

His spears, lances and banners mingled

Necks embraced their saddles and cushions in their haste.

بِمَن تَقشَعِرُّ الأَرضُ خَوفاً إِذا مَشى

عَلَيها وَتَرتَجُّ الجِبالُ الشَواهِقُ

One who makes the earth shudder in awe when he walks upon it

He for whom the earth shudders in terror when he treads

And makes the lofty mountains shake

Upon its back, and the towering mountains tremble.

فَتىً كَالسَحابِ الجونِ يُخشى وَيُرتَجى

يُرَجّى الحَيا مِنها وَتُخشى الصَواعِقُ

A young man like a raincloud, inspiring both awe and hope

A youth like a dark storm-cloud, feared yet hoped for—

His rain is hoped for, his lightning feared

From it, life-giving rain is sought, while its lightning strikes dread.

وَلَكِنَّها تَمضي وَهَذا مُخَيِّمٌ

وَتَكذِبُ أَحياناً وَذا الدَهرِ صادِقُ

But time passes; this is lasting

Yet the cloud passes on, while he remains steadfast;

And sometimes it lies while fate is truthful

It may deceive with false promise, but he is ever true.

تَخَلّى مِنَ الدُنيا لِيُنسى فَما خَلَت

مَغارِبُها مِن ذِكرِهِ وَالمَشارِقُ

He shunned the world but its horizons remember him still

He withdrew from the world to be forgotten, yet never empty

Both east and west

Were its Easts or its Wests of his renown.

غَذا الهِندُوانِيّاتِ بِالهامِ وَالطُلى

فَهُنَّ مَداريها وَهُنَّ المَخانِقُ

The Indian beauties are nourished on rapture and kohl

He fed his Indian blades with skulls and necks,

They are his orbit and they are the executioners

Until the swords became combs for the heads and necklaces for the throats.

تَشَقَّقُ مِنهُنَّ الجُيوبُ إِذا غَزا

وَتُخضَبُ مِنهُنَّ اللُحى وَالمَفارِقُ

The pockets tear from them when he attacks

Collars are torn open in grief because of them when he raids,

And the cheeks and temples are dyed red from them

And beards and hair-partings are dyed crimson by them.

يُجَنَّبُها مَن حَتفُهُ عَنهُ غافِلٌ

وَيَصلى بِها مَن نَفسُهُ مِنهُ طالِقُ

Those oblivious of their fate avoid them

He is spared the blade whose death is not yet destined,

While those who transcend themselves seek them in prayer

But he burns in its fire whose soul has divorced his body.

يُحاجى بِهِ ما ناطِقٌ وَهوَ ساكِتٌ

يُرى ساكِتاً وَالسَيفُ عَن فيهِ ناطِقُ

Silent, he is argued with; argumentative while quiet

A riddle is asked of him: 'Who speaks while remaining silent?'

He seems silent but his sword eloquently speaks

He is seen silent, yet his sword speaks for his mouth.

نَكِرتُكَ حَتّى طالَ مِنكَ تَعَجُّبي

وَلا عَجَبٌ مِن حُسنِ ما اللَهُ خالِقُ

I did not recognize you until I marveled long at you

I found you so extraordinary that my wonder grew vast,

Yet it is no wonder, for God is the Creator

Though there is no wonder in the beauty that God creates.

كَأَنَّكَ في الإِعطاءِ لِلمالِ مُبغِضٌ

وَفي كُلِّ حَربٍ لِلمَنِيَّةِ عاشِقُ

As if stingy towards money but in every battle

It is as if, in giving wealth, you hold it in hatred,

Passionately in love with death

And in every battle, you are a lover of death.

أَلا قَلَّما تَبقى عَلى ما بَدا لَها

وَحَلَّ بِها مِنكَ القَنا وَالسَوابِقُ

Barely does it last as it began with them

Truly, the tribe rarely remains where it first appeared,

You made your steed compete and outrun them

When your spears and chargers have descended upon them.

سَيُحيِ بِكَ السُمّارُ ما لاحَ كَوكَبٌ

وَيَحدو بِكَ السُفّارُ ما ذَرَّ شارِقُ

The watchman will proclaim you like no star rose

Night-tellers will revive your tale as long as a star shines,

And the messenger sing your praises like no radiant dawn shone

And travelers will sing of you as long as the sun rises.

خَفِ اللَهَ وَاِستُر ذا الجَمالَ بِبُرقُعٍ

فَإِن لُحتَ ذابَت في الخُدورِ العَواتِقُ

Fear God and veil that beauty in a wrap

Fear God, and hide this beauty beneath a veil,

Else the longing in hearts will vanish if your face is exposed

For if you appear, the maidens in their chambers will melt away.

فَما تَرزُقُ الأَقدارُ مَن أَنتَ حارِمٌ

وَلا تَحرِمُ الأَقدارُ مَن أَنتَ رازِقُ

Fate does not deprive those whose gifts you refuse

The Fates provide nothing to him whom you deny,

Nor favour those from whom you withhold your bounty

Nor do the Fates deny him whom you endow.

وَلا تَفتُقُ الأَيّامُ ما أَنتَ راتِقُ

وَلا تَرتُقُ الأَيّامُ ما أَنتَ فاتِقُ

Time does not undo what you patch up

The days cannot tear asunder what you have mended,

Nor rise above what you transcend

Nor can the days mend what you have torn apart.

لَكَ الخَيرُ غَيري رامَ مِن غَيرِكَ الغِنى

وَغَيري بِغَيرِ اللاذِقِيَّةِ لاحِقُ

The good - none but you - sought riches without you

Blessings be yours! Let others seek wealth from other than you,

And none but you can capture the inaccessible

And let others journey to places other than Latakia.

هِيَ الغَرَضُ الأَقصى وَرُؤيَتُكَ المُنى

وَمَنزِلُكَ الدُنيا وَأَنتَ الخَلائِقُ

You are the ultimate goal and seeing you is bliss

It is the ultimate goal, and seeing you is the supreme wish,

You are the world's dwelling and you are creation

For your abode is the whole world, and you are all mankind.