أَيا مَن كُنتُ بِالبَصرَ

ةِ أُصفي لَهُمُ الوُدّا

O you whom I once held dear in Basra

O you to whom, while I was in Basra,

To whom I showed only affection

I dedicated my purest affection,

وَمَن كانوا مَوالِيَّ

وَمَن كُنتُ لَهُم عَبدا

And those who were my intimates

And those who were once my masters,

And those to whom I was a servant

And to whom I was but a servant,

وَمَن قَد كُنتُ أَرعاهُ

وَإِن مَلَّ وَإِن صَدّا

And those whose flocks I tended

And the one I used to tend with care,

Be they intimate or aloof

Even as he grew bored and turned away,

شَرِبنا ماءَ بَغدادَ

فَأَنساناكُم جِدّا

We drank the waters of Baghdad

We have drunk the water of Baghdad,

And forgot you completely

And it made us forget you completely,

تَبَدَّلنا بِها حوراً

لِأَلحانِ الغِنا إِدّا

We swapped you for maidens

We replaced you there with celestial maidens,

To the tunes of singing and merriment

Mighty in the melodies of song,

وَأَبهى مِنكُمُ شَكلاً

وَأَحلى مِنكُمُ قَدّا

More beautiful of form than you

More splendid than you in their beauty,

And sweeter of figure

And sweeter than you in their form,

فَلا تَرعوا لَنا عَهداً

فَما نَرعى لَكُم عَهدا

So do not expect loyalty from us

So do not keep any covenant for us,

As we expect no loyalty from you

For we keep no covenant for you,

وَلَمّا لَم يَكُن بُدٌّ

وَجَدنا مِنكُمُ بُدّا

And when there was no other choice

And when there was no avoiding the end,

We found replacements for you

We found our independence from you,

وَلا تَشكوا لَنا فَقدا

فَما نَشكو لَكُم فَقدا

Do not complain to us of loss

And do not complain to us of absence,

For we have no complaints of loss

For we complain of no absence to you,

كِلانا واجِدٌ في النا

سِ مِمَّن مَلَّهُ نِدّا

Both of us have found among people

For both of us find among the people,

One to replace the lost intimacy

A peer for the one who grew weary,

قَطَعنا حَبلَكُم عَمدا

كَما أَعرَضتُمُ صَدّا

We have cut your ties intentionally

We severed your rope with intent,

Just as you turned away indifferently

Just as you turned away in rejection,

قَطَعنا بَردَكُم بِالحَر

رِ حَتّى قَطَعَ البَردا

We have cut short your affection with separation

We cut through your coldness with heat,

Until separation cut off affection

Until the cold was severed through,

كَما يَنهَزِمُ القُربُ

إِذا ما عايَنَ البُعدا

As a tribe retreats

Just as nearness is vanquished,

When it sees the distance

When it looks upon the distance.