أَهاجَكَ شَوقٌ أَم سَنا بارِقٍ نَجدي

يُضيءُ سَناهُ ما تُجِنُّ مِنَ الوَجدِ

Longing kindles you, or is it lightning flashing from Najd

Its light illuminates whatever anguish comes from ardour

تَعَرَّضَ وَهناً وَالنُجومُ كَأَنَّها

مَصابيحُ رُهبانٍ تُشَبُّ عَلى بُعدِ

It leaned, enfeebled, while the stars were like

Lamps of monks burning from afar

حَنَنتُ إِلَيهِ بَعدَما نامَ صُحبَتي

حَنينَ العِشارِ الحائِماتِ إِلى الوَردِ

I yearned for him after my companions fell asleep

With a hermit's yearning for flowers

يُذَكِّرُني عَصراً تَقَضّى عَلى الحِمى

وَأَيّامَنا في أَيمنِ العَلَمِ الفَردِ

He reminds me of an age spent in sanctuaries

And our days in the banner of the single standard

وَإِذ أُمُّ عَمروٍ كَالغَزالَةِ تَرتَعي

بِوادي الخُزامى روضَ ذاتِ ثَرىً جعدِ

When Umm 'Amr grazed like a gazelle

In Wadi Al-Khuzama, a meadow of soft soil and tangled hair

غُلامِيَّةُ التَخطيطِ ريمِيَّةُ الطُلى

كَثيبِيَّةُ الأَردافِ خوطِيَّةُ القَدِّ

The coquetry of her tattoo, the allurement of her sculpted form

The provocation of her hips, the allure of her slender waist

حَفِظتُ لَها العَهدَ الَّذي ما أَضاعَهُ

صُدودٌ وَلا أَلوى بِهِ قِدَمُ العَهدِ

I kept the promise to her which no hardships made me break

Nor did the passage of time cause me to alter it

أَلا يا نَسيمَ الريحِ مِن تَلِ راهِطٍ

وَرَوضِ الحِمى كَيفَ اِهتَدَيتَ إِلى الهِندِ

Oh breeze, from the hill of Rahat and the sanctuaries

How did you find your way to India?

تَسدَيتنا وَالبَحرُ دونَكَ مَعرِض

وَبيدٌ تَحاماها جَوازي المَها الرُبدِ

You avoided us though the sea lies between you and India

With no ships protected by the harbours from storms

فَأَصبَحَ طِيبُ الهِندِ يَخفى مَكانُهُ

حَياءً وَلا يَبدو شَذا العَنبَرِ الوَردِ

So India's perfume hides its origin

Shyly, its scent of roses and ambergris does not appear

أَأَهلُ الحِمى خَصوكَ مِنهُم بِنَفحَةٍ

فَأَصبَحتَ مُعتَلَّ الصَّبا عطرَ البُردِ

Did the people of the sanctuaries favour you with a waft

That you became, resplendent zephyr, the perfume of the chilled air?

لَئِن جَمَعَت بَيني وَبَينَهُمُ النوى

فَأَيُّ يَدٍ مَشكورَةٍ لِلنَوى عِندي

If love reunited me with them

What grateful hand would I have for love?

فَما زالَتِ الأَيّامُ تُمهي شِفارَها

وَتَشحَذُ حَتّى اِستَأصَلَت كُلَّ ما عِندي

The days continue to draw their swords

And sharpen them until they uproot all I own

فَأَقبَلتُ أَجتابُ البِلادَ كَأَنَّني

قَذىً حالَ دونَ النَومِ في أَعيُنٍ رُمدِ

So I took to wandering the lands as though

I were an irritation depriving eyes of sleep

فَلَم يَبقَ حَزنٌ ما تَوَقَّلتُ متنَهُ

وَلَم يَبقَ سَهلٌ ما جَرَرتُ بِهِ بُردي

No sorrow remains whose surface I did not examine

No plain remains I did not drag my cloak over

أَكِدُّ وَيُكدي الدَهرُ في كُلِّ مَطلَبٍ

فَيا بُؤسَ حَظّي كَم أَكِدُّ وَكَم يُكدي

I struggle and time struggles against me in every ambition

Oh what misfortune is my lot, how I struggle and how time struggles!

طَريدُ زَمانٍ لَم يَجِد لِصُروفِهِ

بِغَيرِ ذَرا البابِ العَزيزِيِّ مِن وِردِ

An outcast of time that found no consolation for its turmoil

Apart from the door of the noble house and its flower wreaths

فَلَمّا اِستَقَرَّت في ذَراهُ بِيَ النَوى

وَأَلقَت عَصاها بَينَ مُزدَحَمِ الوَفدِ

When worries settled on its atoms

And cast their staff amidst the bustling throngs

تَنصلَ دَهري وَاِستَراحَت مِنَ الوَجى

قَلوصي وَنامَت مُقلَتي وَعَلا جَدي

My life slipped away and was relieved of passion

My worries fell asleep and my brow was raised