بَكى حَتى بَكَيتُ على بُكَاهُ

جَرِيحٌ عينُهُ نَزَفَتْ دِماهُ

He wept until I wept at his weeping.

A wounded man—his eye had shed its blood.

يُسائلُ أَينَ حَلَّ رِكابُ لَيلى

ويَنسَى أنَّ لَيلَى في حشاهُ

He asks, “Where has Layla's caravan alighted?”

forgetting that Layla dwells within his breast.

هَوَى قلبٍ تَعَلَّقَهُ اختياراً

فَصارَ عَنِ اضطِرارٍ مُنتَهاهُ

A heart's passion fastened upon her by choice,

until, by necessity, she became its final end.

ونارُ الحُبِّ يُوقِدُها غُرُورٌ

ولكنْ ليسَ يُخمِدُها انتبِاهُ

The fire of love is kindled by delusion,

yet even awakening cannot put it out.

تَنُودُ بنا العَواطِفُ راكباتٍ

طَريقاً لا تُقيمُ على هُداهُ

The passions sway us as they ride,

down a road whose guidance they will not keep.

فنَهوَى مَن تراهٌ العينُ طَوراً

ونَهَوى تارةً مَن لا تَراهُ

So now we love someone the eye can see,

and now, in turn, someone it cannot see.

هَوِيتُ النازلَينِ دِيارَ مِصرٍ

وقلبي قد أَحَلَّهما حِماهُ

I came to love the two who dwell in Egypt,

and my heart has lodged them in its sanctuary.

هُما القَمَرانِ في أكنافِ أَرضٍ

يَغارُ النَجْمُ منها في سَماهُ

They are two moons within the bounds of earth;

the star, high in its heaven, envies them.

كِلا الرَجُلَينِ من أَفرادِ عَصرِ

يُقصِّرُ كُلُّ عصرٍ عن مَداهُ

Each of the two men stands alone in his age;

every age falls short of his furthest reach.

وكُلُّهما حُسامٌ مَشرَفيٌّ

تَلُوحُ إذا استُطِيرَ بهِ المِياهُ

Both men are keen Mashrafi swords,

their watered sheen flashing when they are brandished.

أَصابا كُلَّ مَحمِدَةٍ وفَضلٍ

لهُ بينَ الوَرَى شَرَفٌ وجاهُ

They have attained every praiseworthy virtue and excellence

that bears honor and standing among humankind.

فذاكَ مُحمَّدٌ يُثنَى جميلاً

عليهِ وذاكَ مِن حَمدٍ ثَناهُ

The one is Muhammad, beautifully praised;

the other too—praise itself supplies his praise.

يَصُولُ يَراعُ كلٍّ في يَدَيهِ

بأَنفَذِ ما تَصُولُ بهِ قَناهُ

In each man's hands the pen charges forth

more piercingly than any lance can charge,

وأَبلغِ ما تُقَلِّبُهُ قُلوبٌ

وأفَصَحِ ما تَفُوهُ بهِ الشِفاهُ

with the most expressive thoughts that hearts can ponder

and the most eloquent words that lips can utter.

أَطاعَهُما القَرِيضُ فكانَ عَبداً

بأَسهارِ الليالي مُشتَراهُ

Verse obeyed them and became a slave,

purchased with their vigils through the nights.

ولو عَرَفَتْهُما الأَعرابُ قِدْماً

لَخرَّتْ نحوَ شِعِرِهِما الجِباهُ

Had the ancient Arabs known them,

foreheads would have bowed before their poetry.

على الإسكَندَريّةِ كلَّ يومٍ

سَلامُ اللهِ مُعتنِقاً رِضاهُ

Upon Alexandria, every day,

be God's peace, embracing His good pleasure.

لَئِنْ يكُ فاتَها جَبَلٌ ففيها

جِبالٌ في معارِجِها يُتاهُ

Though she may have lost a mountain, within her are

mountains upon whose steep ascents one loses the way.

بها الجَبَلانِ من عِلمٍ وحِلمٍ

وحَزمٍ قد أَقامَهُما الإِلهُ

There stand the two mountains of knowledge and forbearance—

and firm resolve—whom God established.

علَينا قام ظِلُّهما مديداً

ونورُ الشمسِ يَسطَعُ من وَراهُ

Long has their shade stood over us,

while sunlight shines from behind it.

نَهيمُ إلى ضِفافِ النِيلِ شَوقاً

وإِنْ بَعُدَتْ علينا ضِفَّتاهُ

We yearn in longing for the banks of the Nile,

though its two shores lie far from us.

ونَرصُدُ كلَّ غاديةٍ عَساها

ترَشَّفَتِ المَواطِرَ مِن صَفاهُ

We watch each passing rain cloud, hoping

it has sipped its showers from that limpid stream.

هِيَ الدُنيا تَغُرُّ بِها الأماني

وأَينَ مِنَ الذي غَرَّتْ مُناهُ

This is the world: its hopes deceive;

where now is the man whom his desires beguiled?

أَماتَتْ في هَواها كلَّ نفسٍ

وكلَّ فُؤَادِ صَبٍّ في هَواهُ

In love of itself it has killed every soul,

and every ardent heart enamored of it.

تَدورُ بنا على عَجَلٍ رَحاها

وداعي الموتِ قد دارتْ رَحاهُ

Its millstone spins us round in haste,

while the herald of death has set his millstone turning.

إذا غَرَسَ الفَتَى فيها رَجاءً

فلا يرجو الحَياةَ إلى جَناهُ

When a young man plants a hope within it,

let him not expect to live until he gathers its fruit.