يا نَجدُ ما لِأَحِبَّتي شَطُّوا

لَم يَحْمِ أَرضَكِ مِثلُهُم قَطُّ

O Najd, why have my loved ones departed?

None like them ever dwelled in your land

ظَعَنوا فَما لَكَ لا تُفارِقُهُم

يا قَلبُ إِن رَحَلوا وَإِن حَطُّوا

They camped, so why don't you accompany them?

O heart, whether they pack up or settle

وَكأَنَّ عِيسَهُمُ عَلى حَدَقٍ

تُدمِي الجُفونَ دُموعُها تَخطو

It's as if their eyes on their lids

Shed tears as they walk

أَلِفَتْ جِوارَ الرَّكبِ غانيَةٌ

يأبى جِوارَ عُقودِها القُرطُ

A singing girl grew used to the caravan’s company

But her ear-rings refuse the company of necklaces

وَالعَينُ مِمّا الهِندُ تَطبَعُهُ

وَالقَدُّ مِمّا يُنبِتُ الخَطُّ

Her eyes are what India prints

Her stature is what a calamus gives growth to

رَبَعيَّةُ الآباءِ إِن نُسِبَتْ

فَلَها أَراقِمُ وائِلٍ رَهْطُ

My forefathers’ offspring, if attributed

To them, are numbers of glorious Wail

يا سَلْمُ شَفَّ الجِسمَ وَعدُكِ لِي

بِرضىً يَشِفُّ وَراءَهُ سُخطُ

O well-being, heal the body and your promise to me

Of pleasure that heals resentment beyond it

وَمَلاثِ مِرطِكِ إِنَّهُ قَسَمٌ

بَرٌّ يُخَصُّ بِمِثلِهِ المِرطُ

And your scraps of fur, they are a share

Of righteousness peculiarly shared by the fur

إِنّي لأُحيي اللَيلَ مُكتَئِباً

حَتىّ يُرى وَفُروعُهُ شُمطُ

I pass the night depressed

Until its branches appear dishevelled

في مَنزِلٍ أَودَعْتِ عَرصَتَهُ

مِسكاً يَمُجُّ فَتِيتَهُ المِشطُ

In an abode where you stored its courtyard

With musk perfuming its youth with the comb