على رسم ذياك الحمى والمنازل

سلام يُهادى بالضحى والأصائل

Peace upon the abode of that fever and those dwellings,

Peace greeted by the morning and notes of song.

سلام ويا ليت الرياح تحمَّلت

إليها فؤادي والهوى كان حاملي

Peace, and would that the winds had borne

To it my heart and love had carried me!

وقفت بها وجداً ولله وقفة

أنازعها روحي ووجديَ قاتلي

I stood weeping with longing, for God a stand

Where my soul contests with me, and yearning kills me.

بكيت وابكيت الرسومَ صبابةً

ورقّ لحالي خُلَّتي وعواذلي

I wept and my copious tears rained

For my state, my solitude and my wanton ways.

خليليّ ايامُ الشباب قصيرة

وما هي الاَّ دولة بالتداولِ

My friend, the days of youth are short

And they are but a shifting kingdom.

ينغصها الاحباب بالهجر والنوى

وتقطعها الآمال قطع المراحلِ

Friends mar them with estrangement and pining

And hopes cut through them like the stages of a journey.

وما وَصلنا الاَّ اجتماع لفرقةٍ

نودع بدراً آفلاً إثر آفلِ

Our reunion was nothing but parting for a company

Bidding farewell to a waning moon, following a waning moon.

ابى الله أن انسى على البعد عهدهم

واسلو ولو كان الوفاء مماطلي

God has decreed I should not forget the past

And so I have made light of their troth, even if loyalty fails me.

وبالله تنساني يميني اذا سلا

فؤادي ودادَ الشهم فرع الافاضلِ

By God, may my oath forget me when I ask

My heart for the love of generous souls!

أسائل عنّي ناظري وهو ساكن

فؤادي ويا ليت الفؤاد مواصلي

Ask about me of my watcher though he stays

My heart, and would my heart had been my questioner!

فلا فتئت اوصافك الغرّ مورداً

يخفُّ اليها للعلى كلُّ ناهلِ

Never did I cease to make your rare qualities

A spring to which every eminent one comes down to drink.