أَرَاكَ الْحِمَى شَوْقِي إِلَيْكَ شَدِيدُ

وصَبْرِي وَنَوْمِي في هَوَاكَ شَريدُ

I see your passion for me is intense,

And my patience and sleep in your love are troubled.

مَضَى زَمَنٌ لَمْ يَأْتِنِي عَنْكَ قَادِمٌ

بِبُشْرَى ولَمْ يَعْطِفْ عَلَيَّ بَرِيدُ

Time has passed without any messenger coming to me

With good tidings, nor has any letter turned to me.

وَحِيدٌ مِنَ الْخُلانِ في أَرْضِ غُرْبَةٍ

أَلا كُلُّ مَنْ يَبْغِي الْوَفَاءَ وَحِيدُ

Alone, estranged among friends in a foreign land,

Indeed, whoever seeks loyalty is alone.

فَهَلْ لِغَرِيبٍ طَوَّحَتْهُ يَدُ النَّوَى

رُجُوعٌ وَهَلْ لِلْحَائِمَاتِ وُرُودُ

Is there a return for an emigrant whom the days of parting have cast off

Or a comeback for those who are gone?

وَهَلْ زَمَنٌ وَلَّى وَعَيْشٌ تَقَيَّضَتْ

غَضَارَتُهُ بَعْدَ الذَّهَابِ يَعُودُ

Does time that has passed and a life that has been diminished

Regain its freshness after it is gone?

أُعَلِّلُ نَفْسِي بِالقَدِيمِ وَإِنَّما

يَلَذُّ اقْتِبَالُ الشَّيءِ وَهْوَ جَدِيدُ

I comfort myself with the past, yet

The arrival of something new is more delightful.

وَمَا ذِكْرِيَ الأَيَّامَ إِلَّا لأَنَّها

ذِمَامٌ لِعِرْفَان الصِّبَا وَعُهودُ

And my recollection of days is just

To recognize youth and covenants.

فَلَيْسَ بِمَفْقُودٍ فَتىً ضَمَّهُ الثَّرَى

وَلَكِنَّ مَنْ غَالَ الْبِعَاد فَقِيدُ

Not lost is a man embraced by soil,

Rather lost is one distanced by separation.

أَلا أَيُّها الْيَوْمُ الَّذِي لَمْ أَكُنْ لَهُ

ذَكُوراً سِوَى أَنْ قِيلَ لِي هُوَ عِيدُ

O day that I was not awake for

Except being told it is a feast.

أَتَسْأَلُنَا لُبْسَ الجَدِيدِ سَفَاهَةً

وَأَثْوابُنَا ما قَدْ عَلِمْتَ حَدِيدُ

Will you foolishly ask us to wear new clothes

When our garments, as you know, are ragged?

فَحَظُّ أُناسٍ مِنْهُ كَأْسٌ وَقَيْنَةٌ

وَحَظُّ رِجالٍ ذُكْرَةٌ وَنَشِيدُ

The luck of some is a cup and a bottle,

And the fortune of men is boasting and singing.

لِيَهْنَ بِهِ مَنْ باتَ جَذْلانَ نَاعِماً

أَخَا نَشَوَاتٍ ما عَلَيْهِ حَقُودُ

To delight one who slept well-off and content,

A comrade of pleasures with no grudges.

تَرَى أَهْلَهُ مُسْتَبْشِرينَ بِقُرْبِهِ

فَهُمْ حَوْلَهُ لا يَبْرَحُونَ شُهُودُ

You see his family rejoicing at his nearness.

They are around him, never leaving as witnesses.

إِذَا سارَ عَنْهُمْ سَارَ وَهْوَ مُكَرَّمٌ

وَإِنْ عَادَ فِيهِمْ عَادَ وَهْوَ سَعِيدُ

If he travels away from them, he travels honored,

And if he returns to them, he returns happy.

يُخَاطِبُ كُلاً بِالَّذِي هُوَ أَهْلُهُ

فَمُبْدِئُ شكُرٍْ تَارَةً وَمُعِيدُ

He addresses each with what suits them,

Sometimes beginning gratitude, other times repeating it.

فَمَنْ لِغَرِيبٍ سَرْنَسُوفُ مُقَامُهُ

رَمَتْ شَمْلَهُ الأَيَّامُ فَهْوَ لَهِيدُ

But for a stranger whose stay is fleeting,

His group was torn apart by days and he became confused.

بِلادٌ بِهَا ما بِالْجَحِيمِ وإِنَّما

مَكَانَ اللَّظَى ثَلْجٌ بِهَا وَجَلِيدُ

A land where, unlike hell, there is ice and snow,

Bulgars, Romans, and Tatars gathered and competed,

تَجَمَّعَتِ الْبُلْغارُ وَالرُّومُ بَيْنَها

وزَاحَمَهَا التَّاتَارُ فَهْيَ حُشُودُ

When they chatter, you hear their clamor

Almost making the earth quake.

إِذَا رَاطَنُوا بَعْضاً سَمِعْتَ لِصَوْتِهِمْ

هَدِيداً تَكَادُ الأَرْضُ مِنْهُ تَمِيدُ

Ugly are their faces and looks as if they are

Soldiers for other than my father's people.

قِبَاحُ النَّوَاصِي وَالْوُجُوهِ كَأَنَّهُمْ

لِغَيْرِ أَبِي هَذَا الأَنَامِ جُنُودُ

Vagrants, not of a known tribe,

So no fathers or ancestors are known for them.

سَواسِيَةٌ لَيْسُوا بِنَسْلِ قَبيلَةٍ

فَتُعْرَف آباءٌ لَهُمْ وجُدُودُ

They have images, not faces, upon which

Eyes and cheeks are assigned.

لَهُمْ صُوَرٌ لَيْسَتْ وُجُوهاً وإِنَّما

تُنَاطُ إِلَيْهَا أَعْيُنٌ وَخُدودُ

They clamor around me like calves, some

Babble incoherently when they try to speak.

يَخُورُونَ حَولِي كَالْعُجُولِ وَبَعْضُهُمْ

يُهَجِّنُ لَحْنَ الْقَوْلِ حِينَ يُجِيدُ

I look around but see no gentleman among them

To chat with me where I chat.

أَدُورُ بِعَيني لا أَرَى بَيْنَهُمْ فَتىً

يَرُودُ مَعِي في الْقَوْلِ حَيْثُ أَرُودُ

So I gain no strangeness from them,

Nor am I, for as long as I stayed, beneficial among them.

فَلا أَنَا مِنْهُمْ مُسْتَفِيدٌ غَرِيبَةً

وَلا أَنَا فِيهِمْ ما أَقَمْتُ مُفِيدُ

Who can bring me days that passed before these

In Egypt where my life, if continued, would be pleasant?

فَمَنْ لِي بِأَيَّامٍ مَضَتْ قَبْلَ هَذِهِ

بِمِصْرَ وَعَيْشِي لَوْ يَدُومُ حَمِيدُ

Perhaps Allah will fulfill a reunion after estrangement

And a father and son will rejoice in the meeting.

عَسَى اللهُ يَقْضِي قُرْبَةً بَعْدَ غُرْبَةٍ

فَيَفْرَحَ بِاللُّقْيا أَبٌ وَوَليدُ