أَرضَ العُذَيبِ أَما تَنفَكُّ بارِقَةٌ

تَسمو بِطَرفي إِلى الرَيّانِ أَو حَضَنِ

O land of al-Udhayb, does a lightning bolt never cease

To take me to the meadows or an embrace?

أَصبو إِلى أَرضِ نَجدٍ وَهيَ نازِحَةٌ

وَالقَلبُ مُشتَمِلٌ مِنّي عَلى الحَزنِ

I long for the land of Najd though it moves away

While my heart holds tight to sorrow within me

وَأَسأَلُ الرَّكبَ عَنها وَالدُّموعُ دَمٌ

بِناظِرٍ لَم يَخِطْ جَفناً عَلى وَسَنِ

I ask the caravans about it with tears that are blood

From an eye that has not drawn a lid over delight

وَإِن سَرى البَرقُ مِن تِلقائِها غَرِضَت

عِيسِي بِذي سَلَمٍ مِن مَبرَكٍ خَشِنِ

And if lightning flashes on its own, I aim

My gaze at one with a rough mantle from an auspicious rain

وَالرِّيحُ إِن نَسَمَتْ عُلويَّةً نَضَحَتْ

بِالدَّمعِ حَنَّةَ عُلويٍّ إِلى الوَطَنِ

And if the wind blows loftily, it drips down

My tears, yearning for the homeland, to the high ground

فَهَل سَبيلٌ إِلى نَجدٍ وَساكِنِهِ

يَهُزُّ مَن أَلِفَ المِصرَيْنِ لِلظَعَنِ

Is there a way to Najd and its inhabitants

That would rouse one accustomed to both Egypts against time?

لَيسَ العِراقُ لَهُ بَعدَ الحِمى وَطَناً

يَميسُ عافيهِ بَينَ الحَوضِ وَالعَطَنِ

Iraq is not a home for it after the sanctuary lands

That are healthy between the basin and twisted rivers.

وَتَستَريحُ المَطايا مِن تَوَقُّصِها

إِذا فَلَتْ لِمَمَ الحَوذانِ بِالثَفَنِ

The she-camels find rest from their constant roaming

When they reach the twisted sands with the saddlebags.

فَلَيتَ شِعري وَكَم غَرَّ المُنى أُمَماً

مِن فَرعِ عَدنانَ والأَذواءَ مِن يَمَنِ

I wonder, how much did fate delude nations

From the line of Adnan and misfortunes from Yemen?

هَل أَهبِطَنَّ بِلاداً أَهلُها عَرَبٌ

لَم يَشرَبوا غَيرَ صَوبِ العارِضِ الهَتِنِ

Did it bring me down to lands whose people are Arabs

Who drank nothing but from the brimming rain-pouring cloud,

عَلى مُطَهَّمَةٍ جُردٍ جَحافِلُها

بيضٌ تَلوحُ عَلَيها رَغوَةُ اللَبَنِ

Upon a trained, short-haired army, its regiments

White, with the foam of milk gleaming over them,

إِذا رَموا مَن يُعاديهِم بِها رَجَعَتْ

بِالنَّهبِ داميَةَ اللَّباتِ وَالثُنَنِ

When they shoot those who oppose them, the arrows return

Bloodied through the sides and ribs?

فَلا دُروعَ لَهُم إِلّا جُلودَهُمُ

وَلا عَلَيهِم سِوى الأَحسابِ مِن جُنَنِ

They have no shields but their hides

And nothing over them but recklessness in their madness.

إِن يَجمَعِ اللَهَ شَملي يا هُذَيمُ بِهِم

فَلَستُ ما عِشتُ بِالزَّاري عَلى الزَمَنِ

If God unites me, O Hudhaym, with them

Then I will not live the rest of my life in grief over time.