هَيجَت وَجدي يا نَسيمَ الصَبا

إِن كُنتَ مِن نَجدٍ فَيا مَرحَبا

My love stirred, O breeze of the dawn,

If you are from Nejd, then welcome!

جَدِّد فَدَتكَ النَفسُ عَهدَ الصِبا

بِذَكرِكَ الحَيَّ وَتِلكَ الرُبا

Renew the covenant my soul made in youth

With your living memory and that pasture.

إِنَّ المُقيمينَ بِسَفحِ اللِوى

مَن لا أَرى لي عَنهُم مُذهَبا

Those who stay on the slopes of al-Liwa

Whom I do not see a way to reach,

أَبقوا الأسى لي بَعدَهُم مَطعَماً

وَالدَمع حَتّى نَلتَقي مَشرَبا

Left me with lasting sorrow after they went

And tears until we meet again to drink.

واحَرَباً مِن طولِ يَومِ النَوى

وَذو الهَوى يَعذرُ أَن جرَّبا

And war for the length of the day of parting,

And the lover pardons that we tasted them.

حَلّوا قُباً داراً فَمِن أَجلِ ذا

أَضحَت نِهاياتُ الأَماني قُبا

They packed their bags and left, so for that

My hopes have ended in bags.

وَاِستَصحَبوا قلبي غَداةَ النَوى

فَعَزَّ مَصحوباً وَمُستَصحَبا

And they took my heart the morning they left

So the taken left in grief and the taker.

فَآهُ مِن يَومٍ عَلى حاجِرٍ

رُحتُ لِحَتفي فيهِ مُستَعذِبا

Oh, the day at the ruins! I came

To celebrate but left downcast.

كانَت بِهِ وَقفَتُنا لِلنَوى

نَسكُبُ دَمعاً عَزَّ أَن يَسكُبا

We used to stop there for farewells

Spilling tears too hard now to spill.

لا هَجَعَت وَرقاءَ بَعدَ الحِمى

وَلا سَرَت فَيحاءُ ريح الصِبا

Neither did the sands stir after the fever

Nor the breeze blow through the empty hills,

وَبَلَّغَ الاَهُ المُنى نازِحاً

بِالخيفِ مِن قَلبي الأسى قَرَّبا

The groans carried my wishes away

Reducing in my heart the nearness of sorrow.

ما زِلتُ أَبكي الشِعبَ مِن بَعدِهِم

حَتّى غَدا مِن أَدمُعي مَعشَبا

I wept for the campsite after they left

Until it grew grassy with my tears.

أَهوى رُبا الجزعِ وَلَولاهُم

بِالجَزعِ لَم أَعشَق تِلكَ الرُبا

I love the passion of grief—without them,

I’d have never fallen for that pasture.

كانَ الهَوى حَيثُ النَقا منزِلُ

يَجمَعُنا وَالعَصرُ عَصرُ الصِبا

Love dwelled where the camel-hair tents were pitched,

Bringing us together in the youth of morning.

وَالدَهرُ قَد قَصَّرَ باع النَوى

وَمَدَّ بِالوَصلِ لَنا أَطنبا

Time has shortened the days of parting

And spun out for us long days of union.

لِلَهِ بَينٌ جارَ في وَقعِهِ

عَقلي وَلُبّي قَد غَدا مُعجَبا

Wondrous things happened when they came—

My mind and heart were left amazed.

كَيفَ اِحتِيالي في هَوى شادِنٍ

ما رُمتُ مِنهُ الوَصلَ إِلّا أَبا

How did I scheme for love of that beauty?—

I hoped for union but gained nothing.

ظَبيٌ مِنَ التُركِ وَلَكِنَّهُ

أَضحى لِحَتفي فيهِ مُستَعرِبا

A gazelle, though a Turk, to my misfortune

Became the foreigner of my celebration.

جَبينُهُ الفَتانُ بادي السَنا

وَطَرفُهُ الوَسنانُ ماضي الشَبا

His alluring brow shows his youth

While his eyelids show the prime of youth.

وَيلاهُ مِن صدغٍ بَدا كَالدُجا

عَقرَبُهُ في الصدغِ قَد عَقرَبا

But woe for the mole on his temple

Where a scorpion stung inside his mole!

يا مُعرِضاً عَرَّضَ بي لِلرَدى

ما كُنتُ لِلإِعراضِ مُستَوجِبا

O you who turned from me, exposed me to harm—

I did not deserve your abandonment.

حَمَّلتَ قَلبي فيكَ ما لوغدا

بِالجَبَلِ الشامِخِ أَمسى هَبا

You burdened my heart with so much that if

Placed on a lofty mountain, it would crumble.