يَا دَارُ أَهْلُكِ بِالسَّلاَمَة عَادُوا

لاَ النَّفيُ أَنْسَاهُمْ وَلاَ الإِبْعَادُ

O home of my family, farewell in peace, they have returned

Neither exile made me forget them, nor distance

بُشْرَاكِ أَنْ كَان الذي أَمَّلتِهِ

وَالكَائِدونَ تَمَيَّزوا أَوْ كَادُوا

Good tidings to you that what you hoped for has happened

And the schemers were distinguished or almost perished

ذَادُوا جُسُوماً عَنْ تضحِيةِ رَكْبِهِمْ

هَلْ عَنْ تَحِيَّتهِ النفُوسُ تذَادُ

They protected themselves, unwilling to sacrifice their expedition

Can souls refrain from greeting out of spite?

زَارَتْهُ قَبْلَ عُيونِنَا آمَالُنا

وَتَقَدَّمَتْ أَبْدَانَهَا الأكْبَادُ

Our hopes visited it before our eyes

And their bodies preceded it eagerly

اليَوْمَ عِيدٌ في الكَنَانَة كُلهَا

هَيْهَاتَ تُدْرِكُ جَاهَهُ الأَعْيَادُ

Today is an Eid across the oasis

Alas, festivals cannot attain its glory

كَادَ الصفَاءُ بِه يَتِم لأَهْلِهَا

لوْ لَمْ يَشُبْ ذَاكَ الصَّفاءَ حِدَاد

Serenity in it would have been complete for its inhabitants

Had that serenity not been marred by mourning

فَلِحِكْمَةٍ يَخشى الجَبَابِرُ بَأْسَهَا

وَيَخَافُ لَفْتَةَ عَدْلِهَا الحسَّادُ

Due to a wisdom, tyrants fear its might

And the envious dread its strokes of justice

ضِدَّانِ جَاءَا فِي مَقَامٍ وَاحِدٍ

لَمْ تَجْتَمِعْ فِي مِثْله الأَضْدَادُ

Two opposites came in one position

The likes of which opposites do not congregate

بِالساعَة البَيْضَاءِ حِينَ تَبَلَّجَتْ

أَذِنَ الْمُهَيْمَنُ أَنْ يُلَمَّ سَوَادُ

At the blessed hour when it shone radiant

The All-Powerful allowed darkness be folded

فَبَدَا عَلَى الحَالَيْنِ شَعْبٌ آخِذ

بِأَجَل قِسْطٍ مِنْهَا وبِلاَدُ

And over both conditions appeared a people

Taking up the burden of justice and leadership

أَرَتِ النِّهايَةَ فِي تَجِلَّةِ أُمَّةٍ

لِمُلُوكِهَا مَا أَخْلَصُوا وَأَفَادُوا

A nation saw its conclusion in the image

Of what its kings sincerely did and offered

أَهْلاً وَسَهْلاً بِالَّذينَ رَكَابُهم

حُرَّاسُهُ الأَرْوَاحُ وَالأَجْنَادُ

Welcome, welcome to those whose steeds

Are protected by souls and armies

مَهْمَا يَكنْ فَرَح فَلَيْسَ بِبَالِغٍ

فَرَح اللقَاءِ وَمَا بِه مِيْعَاد

However great joy is, it cannot match

The joy of meeting and its tryst

كَيْفَ اغْتِبَاطُ عَشِيرَةٍ اَوْلَتُهُمْ

مَحْضَ الوَلاَءِ وَمَا يظن مَعَاد

How can the ecstasy of a tribe who devoted

Pure loyalty to it expect any requital

ظَلَّتْ عَلَى رَعْيِ الذِّمَامِ مُقِيمَة

وَتَغَيَّرَ الآنَاءُ وَالآرَاد

It remained shading the pasture of glory

While years and encampments alternated

لِقلوبِهَا أَرَب وَحِيد شامِل

وَمَآرِبُ النَّاسِ العِدَاد عِدَادُ

It has one beloved, all-encompassing goal

While people's hopes are countless

وَالقَوْمُ إِنْ صَدَقوا الهَوَى أَيمَانَ

هُمْ فَمُرَادُهُمْ أَبَدَ الأَبِيد مُرَادُ

And if people are true to passion as oath

Their desire is eternally the desired

أَهْلاً وَسَهْلاً بِالأَلى لَهَمو عَلى

قُرْبٍ وَبَعْدٍ ذِمة وَوِدَاد

Welcome, welcome to the family in kinship

And affinity, a pact and affection

النَّازِلِينَ مِنَ السَّوَاد بِحَيْثُ إِنْ

فَاتَ العُيُونَ فَلِلْقلُوبِ سَوَادُ

Coming down from the upland where if

Eyes miss them, hearts have their darkness

الشَّائِقِينَ نُهى العِبَاد وَمَا رَأَى

مِنْهُمْ سِوَى الأَثرِ الجَمِيلِ عِبَادُ

Yearners for whom serving people saw nothing

Save their beautiful influence on devotion

لاَ بَلْ رَآهُمْ كُل رَاءٍ فَضْلَهُمْ

فِيمَا كَسَوا أَوْ أَطْعَموا أَوْ شَادُوا

Nay, every beholder saw their merit

In what they clothed, fed, or built

مِنْ كل مَفْخَرَةٍ تصَورُ حُسْنَهُمْ

فَيَرَاهُ فِي تَصْوِيرِهَا الأَشْهَادُ

In every source of pride depicting their beauty

Which viewers see in its depiction as witnesses

الشَّمسُ فِي أَوْجِ السَّماءِ وَرَسْمُهَا

فِي المَاءِ يُدْنِيهِ السَّنى الوَقَّادُ

The sun at its zenith and its shape

In water - brought near by kindling flames

وَلَهَا بِتَعْدَاد الأَشِعَّة في النَّدَى

صُوَرٌ يَضِيقُ بِحَصْرِهَا التَّعدَادَّ

With its numberless rays in dewdrops

Images too numerous to enumerate

فِي كُلِّ صُنعٍ يُجْتَلَى صُنَّاعُهُ

وَبِجَوْدِهَا تَتَمَثَّل الأَجْوَاد

In every art perfected by its artists

And by its quality the most generous are portrayed

شَرَّفْتِ أُمَّ المحسنين مَبَاءَة

هَشَّ النباتُ وَبَشَّ جَمَادُ

You have ennobled, O mother of benefactors, a desolate land

Vegetation sprouted and the inanimate came to life

وَازَّينَتْ بِكِ بَعْدَ أَنْ خَلَّفْتِهَا

وَكَأَنَّ زُخْرُفَهَا عَلَيْه رَمَاد

And after you left it, it adorned itself

As if its ornament were ashes upon it

فَإِذَا نَظَرْتِ فَكَمْ جَديدٍ حَوْلَهَا

تزْهى بِه الأَغْوَارُ وَالأَنجَادُ

Whenever you look - how much freshness surrounds it

The plains and hills flourish with it

أَلنِّيلُ ضَحَّاكٌ إِلَيْكِ بِوَجْهِهِ

بِشْراً وَقَدْ يُلْفَى شَجَاهُ بِعَاد

The Nile greets you cheerfully with its face

Though marred by the ravages of time

وَالروْضُ مُهْدِيَة إِلَيْكِ سَلاَمَهَا

فَتَسَمَّعي مَا يَحْمِلُ الإِنْشاد

And the garden offers you its greetings

So listen to what poetry it inspires

أَلبلْبلُ الْمَحْكِيُ يُوْقِعُ لَحْنَهُ

وَالطيْرُ مُجْمِعَة تَقولُ يُعَاد

The melancholic nightingale makes its melody fall

And the birds gathered together repeat and echo

أَي الجَزَاءِ يَفِي بِمَا لَكِ مِنْ بَدٍ

بَيْضاءَ لَيْسَ يَفِي بِهَا الإِجْمَادُ

What recompense can match your gift of originality

Too sublime to be equaled by sterility

بَلْ مِنْ طَوَالعَ لِلسُعُود بَعَثْتِهَا

فِي كلِّ مَوِقِعِ شِقْوة تَرْتَاد

Rather, from the auspices of your felicity you inspired

Every low place the heights aspire to

وَمِنْ مَفاخِرَ في البِلاَد ثوابِتٍ

أَخْلدْتِهَا وَلِمِثْلِهَا الإِخلاَدُ

And from the glories of the country you made lasting

Achievements which like them will endure

تَبْنِينَ لِلوَطَنِ الرجَالَ وَإِنمَا

هُمْ فِي مَدَارِسَ شِدْتِهَا أَوْلاَدُ

You build men for the nation - verily they

Are your school’s youth and children

وَمِنَ الرمَالِ تصَاغ أَصْلاْدُ الصفَا

وَبِهِن تَحْمِي الوَادِي الأَطوادُ

And from the sands the sturdy palms of glory are wrought

With them the valleys and dunes are protected

لله بَيْنَ بَنِي نَوَالِكِ فِتْيَةٌ

طَلَبُوا الفنونَ فَأَتْقَنوا وَأَجَادُوا

By God, among your children are youths

Who sought knowledge and excelled and mastered

زَادُوا كنوزَ الشَّرْقِ مِنْ تُحَفٍ بِمَا

فِي الغَرْبِ قصرَ دُونَهُ الأَندَادُ

They increased the East’s treasures with what

The West’s peers fall short of

وَأَتوا ضُروباً مِنْ بَدَائِعِ حَذْقِهِمْ

خَلاّبَةً لَمْ يَأْتِهَا الأَجْدَادُ

And came up with wondrous examples of their skill

Inimitable by ancestors

فاليَومَ تجْمَلُ فِي فَخارِ بِلادِهِمْ

مُسْتَحْدثاتُ العَصْرِ وَالأَبْلادُ

So today the contemporary and ancient glories

Beautify the pride of their country

وَسِوَى المَدَارِسِ كَمْ بُيُوتِ عِبَادَةٍ

أَسسْتِ حَيْثُ تَشَتتَ العِبَّاد

Apart from schools, how many houses of worship

You established where believers had dispersed

وَمَضَايفٍ وَمَلاَجِيءٍ وَمَوَاصِفٍ

تُشْفَى بِهَا الأَرْوَاحُ والأَجْساد

And lodges, shelters, hostels curing

Souls and bodies and relieving distress

تِلْك الفَضَائِلُ نَولتْكِ مَكَانَة

فِي الناسِ قَبْلَكِ نَالَهَا أَفرَادُ

These virtues granted you a status

Among people, reached by rare individuals before you

وَاسْتَعْبَدَتْ لَكِ يَا مليكَةُ مَعْشَراً

حُرّاً يَشِقُّ عَلَيْه الاسْتِعْبَادُ

And enthralled a free people for you

For whom being enslaved is intolerable

يَا خَيْرَ مُنْجِبَةٍ لأَسْنَى مَنْ نَمَا

فِي النَّبعَتَيْنِ أَعِزَّةٌ أَمْجَاد

O finest mother of the noblest descendants

Reared at the two wellsprings - honors and glories

لِلمَالِكِينَ السَّائِدينَ بَنِي الأُولى

مَلَكُوا زِمَامَ العَالَمِينَ وَسَادُوا

For the ruling sovereigns, the first family

Who ruled the reins of all and dominated

لَوْ صَوَّروا شَخْصَ الكَمَالِ لَكُنْتهِ

وَبِحُسْنِ فِعْلِكِ حُسْنُةُ مُزَدَادُ

Had they depicted the epitome of perfection, it would have been you

And the beauty of your deeds eternally increases

مَا غِبْتِ عَنَّا كَيْفَ غَيبَةُ مَنْ لَنَا

فِي كُلِّ مَكْرُمَةٍ بِهَا اسْتِشْهَادُ

You did not absent yourself from us - how can one absent herself

When in every honor we find you present?

ذِكْرَاكِ فِي أَفْوَاهِنَا يَحْلُو لَنا

تَرْدَادُها أنْ أَسْأَمَ الترْدَاد

Mentioning you is sweet upon our tongues

However much we repeat and reiterate

وَحِيَاضُ رِفْدكِ لَمْ تَشُحَّ وَلَمْ يَزَلْ

عَنْهَا كَعَهْدكِ يَصْدُرُ الورَّاُ

The stream of your generosity never waned

It flows from it as was your habit

عِيِشِي طَويلاً وَابْسِطي الظِّلَّ الَّذي

هوَ رَحْمَةٌ وَنَزَاهَةٌ وَرَشَادُ

Live long and extend your shade which

Is mercy, integrity, and guidance

إِنِّي رَفَعْتُ تَهَانِئِي وَقَبُولُهَا

هُوَ مِنْ لدُنْكِ السَّعدُ وَالإِسْعَادُ

I offered my congratulations and their being accepted

Comes through your grace and prosperity

حَرَّرْتُهَا وَسَوَادُ عَيْنَي يَشْتَهِي

لَوْ كَانَ مِنْهُ لِلسُّطورِ مِدَادُ

I penned them while my eyes’ blackness craves

To be ink for the lines, if it could afford it