ما أَراني إِلّا سَأَترُك بَغدا

د وَأَهوى لَكورَةِ الأَهوازِ

I see no choice but to abandon Baghdad,

And turn my heart toward the district of Ahvaz,

حَيثُ لا تُنكرُ المَعازِفُ وَاللَهْ

وُ وَشربَ الفَتى مِنَ التَقمازِ

Where music is never denied nor rebuked,

Nor revelry, nor the youth drinking deep from the cup,

وَجوار كَأَنَّهُنَّ نُجومُ اللَي

ل زَهرٌ مِثلَ الظِباءِ الجَوازي

And maidens who shine like the stars of the night,

Radiant blossoms, like gazelles roaming free,

واضِحاتُ الخُدودِ أَم وَبيض

فاتِناتٌ ميل مِنَ الأَعجازِ

With brilliant cheeks and dazzling white skin,

Seductresses swaying with the weight of their hips.

ذاكَ خَيرٌ مِنَ التَرَدُّدِ في بَغدا

د تَتَنَزّى بِيَ البِغالُ النَوازي

That is far better than drifting in Baghdad,

Where the skittish mules jolt and bounce me around,

كُلَّ يَومٍ في كَمَةٍ وَقَميصٍ

وَرِداءٍ مِنَالغُبارِ طِرازي

Every day clad in a cap and a shirt,

And a cloak embroidered with nothing but dust,

لَم يَحكه النساجُ يَوماً لِبَيعٍ

لا وَلا يشتَري مِنَ البزازِ

A fabric no weaver ever spun for the market,

Nor one ever purchased from a merchant of cloth.

أَخَذَت أَهلَها الشَياطينُ بِالرَكضِ

لِطولِ الشَقاءِ وَالأَعوازِ

Demons have seized its people, driving them on,

Through endless misery and desperate need.

كُلَّ شَيخٍ تَخالُهُ حينَ يَبدو

فَوقَ بُرذونِهِ كَشَخصٍ حِجازي

Every old sheikh you see appears,

Atop his pack-horse like a rustic form.

وَجَميلُ الفَسيلِ أَعني بِهِ مَحفو

ظٌ عَدُوِّ النَدى وَسِلمُ المَخازي

And Jamil the Runt—by whom I mean Mahfuz—

Is an enemy of bounty and a friend to disgrace.

يَأَخُذُ الأَسوَدَ الَّذي يُفَرِّقُ الحَوّا

ءَ منِهُ كَدٌّ سَتِجُ المَنخازِ

He grabs at the black dye to scatter the grey,

A labor of toil, like the strike of a goad.

لَيثٌ غابَ بِدُبرِهِ حينَ يَلقى

وَجَبانٌ في الحَربِ يَومَ البَزازِ

A lion he is when presenting his rear,

But a coward in war when the battle is stripped bare.

بَعُدَت دارُهُ فَلا رَدَّهُ ال

له وَلا زالَ نائي الدارُ سازي

May his home remain far, and God not return him,

May he stay ever distant, estranged and alone.

ذاكَ شَخصٌ بِهِ عَلَيَّ هَوانٌ

كَهَوانِ الحَصى عَلى الخَبّازِ

That is a figure I hold in contempt,

As cheap as a pebble to a baker of bread.