بعيشك هات اخبار المغاني

ولا تحفل بانغام الاغاني

By your life, bring me tidings of the old haunts;

pay no heed to the melodies of songs.

واسمعنا حديث طلول نجد

ويوم طويلع والنهرجان

Let us hear the tale of Najd's ruined dwellings,

and of the day of Tuwayliʿ and al-Nahrajān.

كأن مراتع الغزلان تزهو

بنجد بعض اطراف الجنان

It is as though the gazelles' grazing grounds exult

in Najd—some fringes of Paradise—

يفوح بها يلنجوج ومسك

بنفح الورد او بالاقحوان

where aloeswood and musk breathe fragrance,

with breaths of roses or chamomile;

ونبت بنفسج او ياسمين

تلوى فوق غابة ارجوان

where violet or jasmine grows,

twining above a crimson grove;

واسلاك بها افلاذ در

تنظم مع عقود من جمان

and strings there bear fragments of pearl,

arrayed with necklaces of pearly beads.

تذكر بالعيون هناك بيضا

نضاها السمر للحرب العوان

The eyes there call white blades to mind,

unsheathed by dusky lances for fierce war.

فلو شاهدتها لذهلت وجدا

وما الخبر المترجم كالعيان

Had you seen them, you would have reeled with passion;

a relayed account is not the same as seeing.

وليل بالابيرق قد تقضى

يعللنا به البرق اليماني

And a night at al-Ubayriq passed away,

while Yemeni lightning solaced us through it;

يهب بنا عبير الروض فيه

ويجلو الهم ضوء الزبرقان

the garden's fragrance blew upon us there,

and moonlight's glow cleared grief away.

يجاذبنا السهاد الى معان

فيالله من تلك المعاني

Sleeplessness tugged us toward Ma'an—

O God, what meanings lay in that!

نناجي البارق النجدي نبكي

وقد يبكي الموله ما يعاني

We confided in the lightning of Najd and wept;

one distraught by love may weep at what he suffers.

ترانا قد نذوب وبانطلاق

تترجم ما نكن الدمعتان

You would see us nearly melting, while, flowing free,

our two tears interpreted all that we concealed.

ولا عجب فكم نقلوا وقالوا

فلان مات وجدا في فلان

No wonder: how often people have related and said,

“So-and-so died of longing for so-and-so.”

اعهد الحب في اطلال نجد

اهل عود لمنصرم الزمان

Does love still keep its covenant among Najd's ruins?

Can bygone time ever return?

وكل اخ مفارقه اخوه

لعمر ابيك الا الفرقدان

Every brother must part from his brother—

by your father's life—except the two Farqad stars.

رضينا بالقديم لنا انيسا

نطيب به وعير الله فان

We are content with the Eternal One as our companion;

in Him we find contentment, while all besides God is perishing.