قد أجبنا هواك لمّا دعانا
وعَصينا العذولَ حين نَهانا
We obeyed your love when it called us,
And disobeyed the blamers when they forbade us.
ووَردنا مِن بحر حبك وَرداً
صافياً دونه الكماةُ تَفانَى
We brought from the sea of your love a blossom,
Pure, above which the buds have withered.
وبذلْنا النّفوسَ ثَمَّ ولم
نَنْكلْ ضراباً من دُونِه وطِعانا
We sacrificed our souls, then never shirked,
Striking without cease, and thrusting with spears.
واستَطَبْنا طَعمَ المنون عَلى
ذاك كأنَّ المنونَ فيه مُنانا
We favored the taste of death in your cause,
As if death in it brings life.
كم حَطَمنا على رُباك جهاراً
تَارةً صارماً وطوراً سِنانا
How often for your sake, did we smash boldly,
Sometimes with sword, another time with spear!
وَوَصَلْنا إلى حماكِ وصُلْنا
صَوْلةٌ تتركُ الشجاعَ جبانا
We attained your sanctuary, and attained it,
An ascent leaving the valiant craven.
ورأينا صَعْبَ الأُمورِ ذلولاً
ربّ صَعبٍ على المحبّين هانا
We saw harsh matters becoming smooth,
How many a rugged place seems gentle to lovers!
يا زماني بحاجرٍ والمصلىّ
وبوادي النَّقا سُقيتَ زمانا
O my era of ruins and praying place,
In the valley of Al-Naqa you were watered for an age.
كم عَمَرْنا تلكَ الرُّبَى بِالأَماني
إذ أخذْنا مِن اللّيالي أَمَانا
How long we populated those hills with hopes,
When we took surety from the nights for a time.
ونهضْنا بلا توانٍ وما
فاز بإدراكِ سُؤلِه مَنْ توانى
We rose up at once and never flagged,
No procrastinator ever attained his wish.
وجَرَرْنا من السّرورِ ذيولاً
وسَحَبْنا من الهَنَا أردانا
We dragged behind us tails of joy,
And trailed from bliss overlong trains.
في رياضٍ قَد حاكتِ السّحب فيها
مِن مَناديلِ زَهْرها أَلْوانا
In meadows that mimicked the clouds,
Weaving from its blossoms manifold hues.
ما رَضيْنَا مِن بَعْدهنّ ربوعاً
لا ولا بعد أهلِها سكانا
We approved of no meadow afterwards,
Neither its dwellers nor dwellings again.
يا حلولاً بالسَّفحِ من شعب
نَعمان سقى صَيبُ الحيا نعمانا
O sweet hours in the valley of Al-Shaab
Whose showers of bounty gave life meaning!
لم نَزَلْ ذاكري العُودَ
فَهل تخطر بالبَالِ مِنكُم ذِكرانا
We never ceased remembering the friendly campfire;
Does its memory, think you, ever recall us?
