أَيُّها البَرقُ بِت بِأَعلى البِراقِ
وَاِغدُ فيها بِوابِلٍ غَيداقِ
O lightning, strike the highest peaks
And unleash there torrential downpours
وَتَعَلَّم بِأَنَّهُ ما لِأَنوا
ئِكَ إِن لَم تُرَوِّها مِن خَلاقِ
Learn that, if you do not water them,
The clouds will have no value
دِمَنٌ طالَما اِلتَقَت أَدمُعُ المُز
نِ عَلَيها وَأَدمُعُ العُشّاقِ
A land long soaked by tears of yearning
And tears of lovers intermingled
شَرِقاتُ الأَطلالِ بِالماءِ مِن تِل
كَ العَزالي مُلِثَّةً وَالمَآقي
The ruined dwellings glisten with water
From those remote hermitages and springs
حَفِظَ اللَهُ حَيثُ يَمَّمَ إِسما
عيلُ وَليَسقِهِ مِنَ الغَيثِ ساقِ
May God preserve where Ismael strode
And let him drink deep from the rains
قَد سَقَتني الأَيّامُ مِن يَدِها سُمّاً
لِفَقدي لَهُ بِكَأسٍ دِهاقِ
The days have made me drink poison
For the loss of him, from a goblet of anguish
وَلَعَلّي أُدالُ مِنها بِلا عَه
دٍ وَلا ذِمَّةٍ وَلا ميثاقِ
Perhaps I will escape them without a pact
Or oath or covenant to constrain me
فَأُجازي يَومَ الرَحيلِ وَلا تُد
رِكُني رِقَّةٌ لِيَومِ الفِراقِ
And on the day I depart, I will repay them
Let no tenderness for the day of parting deter me
يا أَبا القاسِمِ المُقَسَّمَ ما بَي
نَ شِغافي مِثالُهُ وَالصِفاقِ
O Abu al-Qasim, apportioner of fates
What is between my passion and its object is like a partition
لَو تَطَلَّعتَ في وِدادي إِذاً فا
جاكَ بَينَ الحَشا وَبَينَ التَراقي
If you could see how I love, you would find yourself
Perplexed, between ardour and composure
وَشَكَت بَينَنا الأُخُوَّةُ إِنَّ ال
وُدَّ عِرقٌ زاكٍ مِنَ الأَعراقِ
Brotherly love has excused us, for affection
Is a pure vein of the body's subtle fluids
ذاكَ خِلٌّ جَهَدتُ جَهدي فَلَم أُح
صِ اِنتِفاعي بِفَهمِهِ وَاِرتِفاقي
That is a tattoo which, strive as I might,
I gained no benefit from comprehending or gaining intimacy with
لَو تَرى ذَبَّهُ هُنالِكَ دوني
لَم تَلُمني في حُبِّ أَهلِ العِراقِ
If you could see him there, apart from me
You would not blame me for loving the people of Iraq
ما تَمَلَّيتُ مِثلَ ذاكَ الحِجا المُع
رِقِ في الحِلمِ وَالسَجايا العِتاقِ
I have never wearied of that refined and noble pilgrim,
Possessed of forbearance and refined dispositions
مَعَ ما قَد طَوَيتُ مِن سائِرِ النا
سِ وَما قَد نَشَرتُ في الآفاقِ
Along with all I have sampled of other people
And travelled across all horizons
وَعِذابٌ لَو اِنَّها أُطعِمَت زا
دَت عَلى الشَهدِ بَسطَةً في المَذاقِ
A torment which, if it were fed, would increase
To breadth of taste over honey's sweetness
ناعِماتُ الأَطرافِ لَو أَنَّها تُل
بَسُ أَغنَت عَنِ المُلاءِ الرِقاقِ
Graceful-limbed ones, if they were clothed
Would outshine the finest silken garments
جُدُدٌ كُلَّما غَدا يَومُ فَخرٍ
بَعضُهُم في خَلاقَةِ الأَخلاقِ
A new generation, and each day brings a pride
Some excel in the beauty of character
يَهجُرُ الهُجرَ وَالمَقابِحَ عِلماً
أَنَّ شَتمَ الأَعراضِ عارٌ باقِ
He eschews estrangement and shameful deeds, knowing
That to insult honours is lasting disgrace
فَإِذا القَومُ أَلجَئوهُ إِلى ذَ
لِكَ أَلفَوا لِسانَهُ في وَثاقِ
So if people drive him to that
They find his tongue imprisoned and fettered
خالِصُ الوُدِّ وَالهَوى في زَمانٍ
كَدُرَ الوُدُّ فيهِ غَيرَ النِفاقِ
Loyalty and love unsullied in an age
When most affection is but hypocrisy
وَوَجَدتَ الإِخوانَ رِزقاً أَغَرَّ الوَج
هِ مِن بَينِ هَذِهِ الأَرزاقِ
You found true brothers a livelihood more enticing
Than all these means of living
قَد دَنَت حَلقَتا خِناقي فَراخى
بِأَياديهِ عَقدَ ذاكَ الخِناقِ
The noose has tightened around my neck, so with their hands
They loosened the knot of that strangling noose
هُم شَليلٌ وَنَشرَةٌ حينَ لُفَّت
في غَداةِ الهَياجِ ساقٌ بِساقِ
They are intimate and familiar when wrapped
Together in the heat of excitement, leg entwined with leg
لَو رَأَوا كَوكَبَ المَنايا لَظَلّوا
نَحوَها مُهطِعينَ بِالأَعناقِ
If they saw the star of annihilation they would remain
Rushing towards it, craning their necks
وَتِلادٌ وَلَم أَرِثهُ وَكَنزٌ
لَيسَ مِن عَسجَدٍ وَلا أَوراقِ
An offspring I did not inherit, and a treasure
Not of coarse wool, but of leaves
