يا بحر أفديك بحرا

ملكت قلبي سحرا

O sea I ransom you with a sea

O Sea, I offer a sea as ransom for you; you have possessed my heart with magic

You have charmed my heart with magic

You have dazzled me with varieties of great charms

بهرتني بصنوف

من المفاتن كبرى

You have stunned me with great varieties

I see upon you hundreds of scenes following in succession

Of beauties

Your waters appear blue to the onlookers, and green

أرى عليك مآت

من المناظر تترى

I see hundreds of views

For your color at night is not like your color at dawn

Appearing over you

Nor is your color in the morning like your color at noon

تبدو مياهك زرقا

للناظرين وخضرا

Your waters seem blue

I tried to encompass you in description, but I could not bear the limit

To onlookers and green

O Sea, you are my companion when my chest is tightened by worry

فليس لونك ليلا

كمثل لونك فجرا

Your night color isn’t

Your proximity suffices me; truly, I see your proximity as a treasure

Like your dawn color

I have extolled your beauty with praise, O Sea, for beauty is meant to be praised

وليس لونك صبحا

كمثل لونك ظهرا

And your morning color isn’t

You tempted me with beauty, so I remain enamored with you

Like your noon color

Whoever swims in you with their body, in you I swim with my thought

حاولت حصرك وصفا

فلم أطق لك حصرا

I tried confining you in description

No matter how I marvel at a thing, you are a more marvelous thing

But couldn’t confine you in description

O you of white honor, the shores have dragged a burden of sin to you

يا بحر أنت أنيسي

إن ضقت بالهم صدرا

O sea you are my companion

Upon the shores is a torrent of scandals that bring disgrace

When worries constrict my chest

The young girl meets her young man, both of them naked in you

حسبي جوارك إني

أرى جوارك ذخرا

Your company suffices me

They expose obscenity to you and make you hear foul speech

I see your company as treasure

So the heart is sorrowful from that, and the eye is tearful from that

أطريت حسنك مدحا

يا بحر والحسن يطرى

I have flown your beauty in praise

I see you leaping like a tiger; I see you roaring like a lion

O sea and beauty flies

Are you dancing in play, or are you overflowing with drunkenness?

أغريتني بك حسنا

فلم أزل بك مغرى

You have tempted me with beauty

Your atmosphere has softened in kindness, and your water has cleared in purity

So I remain tempted by you

Various ships diversify within you, running by fire and wind

من فيك يسبح جسما

ففيك أسبح فكرا

Whoever swims in you

In the harbors are palaces, one palace overlooking another

Swims in thought in you

And if you dive, there are snakes that the whale fears in terror

مهما عجبت لأمر

فأنت أعجب أمرا

No matter how strange the matter is

Fast in swimming within you, swift in cleaving the waves

You are the strangest matter

As if they are caravans traversing a barren desert

يا أبيض العرض جرت

لك الشواطئ وزرا

O wide in breadth, shores

They left you no anchorage they did not run in, nor a channel

Have surrendered to you as dowry

And they left no part of you they did not possess, nor a section

على الشواطئ سيل

من الفضائح أزرى

On the shores is a torrent

And they left no surface of you they did not possess, nor a depth

Of wickedness, most wicked

So you were a fortress for some, and a grave for others

تلقى الفتاة فتاها

كلاهما فيك معرى

The maiden meets her lover

I fear a tomorrow where your white foam becomes red

Both naked in you

I fear a war heating up within you, turning the water into embers

يكاشفانك فحشا

ويسمعانك هجرا

Exposing to you shamelessness

Your harbors have come to be watched by sleepless observatories of stars

And hearing from you estrangement

In them are dusty armored vessels containing dusty armored men

فالقلب من ذاك آس

والعين من ذاك عبري

So the heart from that is sorrowed

Woe to him who crosses a limit, or a dead man who advances an inch

And the eye from that is tearful

And everyone who seeks war, truly seeks only loss

أراك كالنمر وثبا

أراك كالليث زأرا

I see you pounce like a tiger

O you of white face, Africa has gained pride through you

I see you roar like a lion

Through your bounty, it gained abundant good from the Peninsula

هل أنت ترقص لهوا

أم أنت تطفح سكرا

Are you dancing in passion

How many an Arab conqueror crossed you as a bridge to her

Or are you overflowing with intoxication

He established religion there and spread virtue

قد رق جوك لطفا

وراق ماؤك طهرا

Your weather is gentle

And a free commander within you drove the foreigners as captives

And your water pure

And the free man, if he revolts, overwhelms; like the lion, if hungry, becomes fierce

تنوعت فيك فلك

بالنار والريح تجرى

You have diversified within you sailing

I love in you steadfastness against calamities, and patience

With fire and wind racing

I love in you the mockery of the strong, and the ridicule

ففي المراسي قصور

قصر يشارف قصرا

So in the ports are palaces

I love in you a beauty that is fresh from nature

A palace almost rivalling a palace

I love in you a surface that cleared and shone with joy

وإن تغص فأفاع

يهابها الحوت ذعرا

And if narrow straitened

You are more worthy of love than beautiful women, and more deserving

Feared by the whale in panic

For you do not break a promise, nor do you harbor treachery

سريعة فيك سبحا

ذريعة فيك مخرا

Racing in you swimming

And you do not violate honor, nor do you uncover a veil

Rushing in you sinking

Love of nature is a habit for everyone who speaks poetry

كأنها قافلات

تجتاز صحراء قفرا

As if they were caravans

I see the waves in you as soldiers; I see the shores as a frontier

Crossing a barren desert

The wave never launched a war without conquering in victory

فلم تدع لك مرسى

لم تجر فيه ومسرى

You have not left a harbor

How often you adorned a hand with jewelry, and adorned a neck with jewelry

That you dredged and dock

Whoever smells a breeze from you, it is as if he smelled perfume

ولم تدع لك جزءا

لم تمتلكه وشطرا

And you have not left a part

You bestowed a favor upon me, so I came to offer you thanks

That you owned and coast

So is there a way to the best of lands, that you might carry me on your back?

ولم تدع لك سطحا

لم تمتلكه وقعرا

And you have not left a surface

Perhaps I may cast off a sin from me and gain a reward

That you owned and seabed

Perhaps I will be hosted in a dwelling where the free man is honored in its shade

فكنت للبعض حصنا

وكنت للبعض قبرا

So you were to some a fortress

I would have blown if I were a wind, and flown if I were an eagle

And to others a grave

To an Arab sanctuary, by which the free man rises in rank

أخشى غدا فيه تغدو

ازبادك البيض حمرا

I fear tomorrow in which your white froth

Your Creator fashioned you as a benefit to the worlds and a reminder

Turns red

So you were a canvas for drawing, and a book for nature

أخشى وغى فيك تحمى

فتقلب الماء جمرا

I fear chaos in which you blaze

Time flips pages before you, right and left

Turning the water to embers

We study the unseen in them, like one reading a book of divination

أمست مراسيك ترعى

مراصد الشهب سهرى

Your ports have become observing

I see you throwing rock against rock with the waves, and attracting rock

The meteors' vigil

Are you an adversary to the land, or seeking vengeance from it?

فيها دوارع غبر

تحوي دوارع غبرا

In them are dusty alleys

As if your surface is a horizon displaying bright stars

Containing dusty alleys

The full moon at night flows its lights in you like a river

ويل لمن جاز حدا

أو ميت تقدم شبرا

Woe to whoever crossed a border

And the sun in the morning scatters rays within you like gold dust

Or dead advanced a yard

Has nature become another nature within you?

وكل من رام حربا

فإنما رام خسرا

And all who intended war

How many a night you spent around me, rumbling like a stallion

Only intended loss

The boom of your waves is sweeter in tone than musical instruments

يا أبيض الوجه نالت

إفريقيا بك فخرا

O white of face, Africa attained

Grant glory to a people around you who are driven to humiliation by force

Pride through you

And enrich a people around you who complain of misery and poverty

نالت بفضلك خيرا

من الجزيرة وفرا

Attained through your favor goodness

This is the farewell of a lover intending to part from you for an age

From the peninsula and relief

He has no capital except sorrowful wishes

فكم من العرب غاز

لها تخطاك جسرا

So how many Arabs invaded it

O Sea, if a matter becomes tight, God may bring about a new matter

Crossing you as a bridge

Inevitably, after hardship, God will grant ease

فقام بالدين فيها

وبالفضيلة نشرا

So religion therein stood upright

And virtue disseminated

وقائد فيك حر

ساق الأعاجم أسرى

And a free leader in you, free

Drove the non-Arabs captive

والحر إن ثار يطغى

كالليث إن جاع يضرى

And the free if rebelled tyrannically

Like a hungry lion savaging

أحب فيك ثباتا

على الخطوب وصبرا

I love in you steadfastness

Against adversities and patience

أحب فيك هزوءا

بالأقوياء وسخرا

I love in you humbling

The powerful and ridicule

أحب فيك جمالا

من الطبيعة نضرا

I love in you beauty

From nature blossoming

أحب فيك أديما

صفا وأشرق بشرا

I love in you forever

Pure and shining with good news

لأنت بالحب أولى

من الحسان وأحرى

For you are more deserving of love

Than beauty and more rightful

فلست تخلف وعدا

ولست تضمرغدرا

For you do not fail a promise

Nor harbor treachery

ولست تهتك عرضا

ولست تكشف سترا

Nor violate a honor

Nor uncover a veil

حب الطبيعة دأب

لكل من قال شعرا

Loving nature is the habit

Of all who spoke poetry

أرى بك الموج جندا

أرى الشواطئ ثغرا

I see the wave as soldiers

I see the coasts as castles

ما أنشب الموج حربا

إلا تغلب نصرا

The wave did not wage war

Except to win victory

كم زنت بالحلي كفا

وزنت بالحلي نحرا

How many times did a palm weigh down

And the neck weigh down

من شم منك نسيما

كأنما شم عطرا

Whoever smelled a breeze from you

Is as if he smelled perfume

أوليتني منك فضلا

فجئت أوليك شكرا

You have granted me favor

So I came to thank you

فهل إلى خير أرض

تقلني منك ظهرا

Will any better land

Carry me away from you

عساي أطرح ذنبا

عني وأربح أجرا

I hope I cast off a sin

From me and gain reward

عساي أقرى بدار

في ظلها الحر يقرى

I hope I settle in a house

In whose shade the free settle

هببت لو كنت ريحا

وطرت لو كنت نسرا

If only I were the wind I would blow

If only I were an eagle I would fly

إلى حمى عربي

يسمو به الحر قدرا

To an Arab sanctuary

Where the free is valued

براك باريك جدوى

للعالمين وذكرا

Bless you, bless you in benefit

For the worlds and remembrance

فكنت للرسم لوحا

وللطبيعه سفرا

So you were for the universe a tablet

And for nature a book

يقلب الدهر صحفا

لديك يمنى ويسرا

Fate turns pages over you

Right and left

نطالع الغيب فيها

كمن يطالع جفرا

We read the unknown in them

As one reading divination

أراك بالموج ترمي

صخرا وتجذب صخرا

I see you hurling with the wave

A boulder and dragging a boulder

هل أنت للبر خصم

أو طالب منه وترا

Are you to the land a foe

Or seeking from it vengeance

كأن سطحك أفق

يبدي كواكب زهرا

Your surface seems a horizon

Revealing blossoming stars

البدر في الليل يجري

أنواره فيك نهرا

The moon at night courses

Its lights in you a river

والشمس ي الصبح تذري

فيك الأشعة تبرا

And the sun at dawn scatters

In you rays as crumbs

هل الطبيعة صارت

طبيعة فيك أخرى

Did nature become

Another nature in you

كم ليلة بت حولي

كالفحل تهدر هدرا

How many nights did I spend around you

Roaring like a stallion

دوي موجك أحلى

من المعازف نبرا

The sound of your wave is sweeter

Than melodies in tone

أعز حولك شعبا

يساق للذل قهرا

You have honored around you a people

Driven to humiliation forcibly

وأغن حولك قوما

يشكون بؤسا وفقرا

And enriched around you a people

Complaining of misery and poverty

هذا وداع محب

ينوي فراقك دهرا

This is the farewell of a lover

Intending to part from you eternally

ما عنده رأس مال

إلا أماني حسرى

Having no capital

Except hopeless wishes

يا بحر إن ضاق أمر

قد يحدث الله أمرا

O sea if the matter is straitened

God may decree a matter

لا بد من بعد عسر

أن يجعل الله يسرا

There must be ease after hardship

God will make ease