قِفْ وِقفَةَ المتألِّمِ المتأمِّلِ

بمعرةِ النعمانِ وانظرْ بي ولي

Stop and reflect like one who is suffering and contemplating

At Ma'rib and look at me O friend

تلكَ المعاهدُ والمعالمُ والربى

وملاعبُ الغزلانِ والمتغزلِ

Those dwellings, landmarks, and meadows

And gazelles' playgrounds and lovers'

وطنٌ يخيِّلُ لي تخيُّله الصِبا

في ذكرهِ ذكرُ الزمانِ الأول

A homeland that seems to my imagination

In remembering it, remembering the first era

زمنٌ قطعناهُ وكنّا صبْيةً

لا يسألونَ عنِ السوادِ المقبلِ

An era we cut off while we were boys

Who did not ask about the approaching gloom

للّهِ أيامُ الصِّبا وجنونُهُ

وفنونُهُ وغصونُهُ لم تذبلِ

To God belong the days of youth and its madness

And its arts and its branches have not withered

يا ليتَ أمرَ صبايَ عاودني لكي

أشكو إلى الماضي من المستقبلِ

I wish the matter of my youth would return to me so

I may complain to the past about the future

يا سعدُ زُرْ أرضَ المعرةِ نائباً

عنِّي وسرْ فيها مسيرَ مبجَّلِ

O Saad visit the land of Ma'rib in place of

Me and walk in it a walk of reverence

وإذا نظرتَ إلى الخزامى يانعاً

قفْ وابْكِ منْ ذكرى الحبيبِ ومنزلِ

And if you look at the ruins languidly

Stop and weep from the memory of the beloved and the abode

وادي المعرةِ في النفوسِ معظَّمٌ

لا سيَّما زمنُ الربيعِ المقبلِ

Wadi Al-Ma'rib is honored in souls

Especially in the time of the approaching spring

هرماسُها لما تخضَّبَ سيفُهُ

بعثوا إليهِ منَ النسيم بصيقلِ

When its sword was dyed red

They sent it the polishing stone by the breeze

مذْ أطربَ الأغصانَ صوتُ خريرهِ

مالتْ إليهِ ونقَّطَتْهُ بالحلي

Since the sound of its flowing made the branches swing

It inclined to it and dotted it with jewelry

في روضةٍ عبثَ النسيمُ بخدِّها

فتضمَّخَتْ بالطيبِ كفُّ الشمأل

In a garden the breeze flirted with its cheek

So it was smeared by perfume like the palm of a perfumer

باتتْ يضاجعُها الندى فتعلَّقَتْ

بذيولِهِ تفديهِ مِنْ مُترحِّلِ

The dew slept embracing it so it clung

To its train to ransom it from one who moves on

نشرَتْ عساكرَ دوْحِها مِنْ حولِها

خيماً تَلوَّنُ كالعرائسِ تنجلي

It spread its armies of beauty around it

Like tents that gleam like brides adorning themselves

شابتْ بها الأغصانُ شيباً ناصلاً

وسوى الغصونِ مشيبُها لم ينصلِ

The branches were rejuvenated with youthful gray hair

And beside the grayed branches their gray did not diminish

يبكي الغمامُ لها ويبتسمُ الثرى

ضدَّيْنِ فعلُ أخي الصبابةِ والخلي

The clouds weep for it and the land smiles

Two opposites like the deed of my brother the youth and the mature

وادي فضالتِها وبابُ شبابها

كفلا لساكنِها بسعدٍ مكْمَلِ

Its valley of bounties and its gate of youth

Protect its resident with perfected bliss

قلبي لعينِ زريقَ صادٍ شينَ مَنْ

أَلِفَ العتابَ ولامَ لومَ مضلِّلِ

My heart for the blue-eyed one has inclinations

Who became accustomed to blaming and to the blame of the misguided

يا عاذلي كنْ عاذري في حبِّها

يفنى القميصُ وفيهِ عرفُ المندلِ

O reproacher, be forgiving in loving her

The shirt wears out and in it is the scent of the woven robe

لو زرْتُها لفتحْتُ بابَ جنانِها

وأقولُ يا نفسُ اطمئني وادخلي

If I visited her I would open the gate of her heavens

And I say O soul be reassured and enter

إنَّ القلوبَ إلى القلوبِ مشوقةٌ

قدْ أذكرتها بالرحيقِ السلسلِ

Hearts to hearts are longing

I have reminded it of the continuous sweet nectar

وزهورُها وطيورُها وسرورُها

وقصورُها وديورُها للمجتلي

Its flowers, birds, joy,

Palaces, houses for one isolated

اللّهُ قدَّرَ رحلتي عن ربعِها

يا قلبُ لا تهلكْ أسى وتجمَّلِ

God decreed my travel from its land

O heart do not perish in sorrow and forbear

يا ليتَ قومي يعلمونَ بنعمتي

لكنْ لأجلِ فراقِها لم تكملِ

I wish my people knew of my blessing

But because of parting from it, it was incomplete

أقسمْتُ لوْ نطقَتْ لأبدَتْ شوقَها

نحوي كشوقي نحوها وترقُّ لي

I swore if it spoke it would express its longing

Toward me like my longing toward it and it would be devoted to me

لمَ لا ترقُّ لدمعِ عينِ ما رقا

وجوارحٍ جرْحَى وبالٍ قدْ بلي

Why does it not devote itself to the tear of an eye that did not devote itself

And hurting organs and a long-suffering state

موتي حسينيٌّ بها ومَلامُكُمْ

فيها يزيدٌ وقدرُها عندي علي

My death in it is Husseini and your blame

In it is Yazid while with me it is Ali