رَوضٌ إِذا زُرتَهُ كَئيبا

نَفَّسَ عَن قَلبِكَ الكُروبا

A garden, when you visit it melancholic

A garden that, should you visit it in sorrow,

It breathes from your heart the sorrows away

Relieves the heavy burdens from your heart.

يُعيدُ قَلبَ الخَلِيِّ مُغراً

وَيُنسِيَ العاشِقُ الحَبيبا

It returns the hermit's heart exuberant

It turns the carefree heart into one brimming with love,

And the lover forgets the beloved

And makes the lover forget their very beloved.

إِذا بَكاهُ الغَمامُ شَقَّت

مِنَ الأَسى زَهرُهُ الجُيوبا

When the clouds cry over it, it breaks

When the clouds weep over it,

From grief its flowers in pockets

Its flowers tear their collars in grief.

تَلقى لَدَيهِ الصَفا ضُروباً

وَلَستَ تَلقى لَهُ ضَريبا

It encounters serenity in varieties

You find within it pure delights of every kind,

And you will not encounter any harm in it

Yet you will never find a match for it.

وَشاهَ قَطرُ النَدى فَأَضحى

رِدائُهُ مَعلَماً قَشيبا

The dew drops rained over it and so

The dew drops have embroidered it,

Its robes became old and withered

Making its garment patterned and exquisitely new.

فَمِن غُصونٍ تَميسُ تيهاً

وَمِن زُهورٍ تَضَوَّعُ طيبا

Of branches it gently sways

Here are branches swaying with proud elegance,

And of flowers it exudes fragrance

And flowers diffusing their fragrant perfume,

وَمِن طُيورٍ إِذا تَغَنَّت

عادَ المُعَنّى بِها طَروبا

Of birds, when they sing

And birds that, when they sing,

Meaning returns with them cheerful

Restore the weary soul to rapture.

وَنَرجِسٍ كَالرَقيبِ يَرنو

وَلَيسَ ما يَقتَضي رَقيبا

A narcissus like a guardian it bends

And the narcissus gazes like a jealous watcher,

And it has nothing that requires a guardian

Though nothing here warrants a spy.

وَأُقحُوانٍ يُريكَ دُرّاً

وَجُلَّنارٍ حَكى اللَهيبا

Pansies that show you pearls

And daisies that reveal pearls to your sight,

And tulips that tell of flames

And pomegranate blossoms resembling flames.

وَجَدوَلٍ لا يَزالُ يَجري

كَأَنَّهُ يَقتَفي مُريبا

A stream that continuously flows

And a stream that runs unceasingly,

As if it chases playfully

As though chasing someone suspicious.

تَسمَعُ طَوراً لَهُ خَريراً

وَتارَةً في الزَرى دَبيبا

You hear sometimes its babble

At times you hear it murmuring loud,

And sometimes in the farm its creeping

And at others, a soft creeping over the hills.

إِذا تَرامى عَلى جَديبٍ

أَمسى بِهِ مَربَعاً خَصيبا

When it flows over a barren valley

If it casts itself upon barren soil,

It makes it a fertile square

It turns it into a fertile meadow.

أَو يَتَجنّى عَلى خَصيبٍ

أَعادَهُ قاحِلاً جَديبا

Or when it winds over a fertile land

Or should it turn against a lush garden,

It returns it barren and desolate

It renders it arid and barren again.

صَحَّ فَلَو جائَهُ عَليلٌ

لَم يَأتِ مِن بَعدِهِ طَبيبا

It is true, so if a sick person visits it

It is so wholesome that were an invalid to visit,

He would not need a doctor thereafter

They would seek no doctor thereafter.

وَكُلُّ مَعنى بِهِ جَميلٌ

يُعَلِّمُ الشاعِرَ النَسيبا

And every meaning in it is beautiful

Every aspect within it is beautiful,

It teaches the poet a refined composition

Teaching the poet the art of amorous verse.

أَرضٌ إِذا زارَها غَريبٌ

أَصبَحَ عَن أَرضِهِ غَريبا

A land, if a stranger visits it

A land that, if a stranger visits,

He becomes a stranger to his own land

He becomes a stranger to his own homeland.