لَئن حبَسُوا جسمِي بجُدرانِ سِجنهِم

لَئن حبَسُوا جسمِي بجُدرانِ سِجنهِم

فما حبَسُوا رُوحي ولا حبَسُوا قلبِي

فما حبَسُوا رُوحي ولا حبَسُوا قلبِي

Even if they imprison my body within the walls of their prison,

Even if they have confined my body within their prison's walls,

they have not imprisoned my spirit, nor have they imprisoned my heart;

They have not confined my spirit, nor have they confined my heart.

ولا حَبسُوا مِني خَيالاً مرفرفا

ولا حَبسُوا مِني خَيالاً مرفرفا

يُحَوِّم مِن سِرِّ الحَياةِ علَى اللُّبِّ

يُحَوِّم مِن سِرِّ الحَياةِ علَى اللُّبِّ

nor have they imprisoned the fluttering imagination within me,

Nor have they confined my fluttering imagination,

hovering from life’s mystery over the mind’s very core.

Which hovers over the heart of life's mystery.

ولا حَبسُوا مِني ضَمِيرا عَرفتُه

ولا حَبسُوا مِني ضَمِيرا عَرفتُه

فأرضيتُهُ جَهدِي وإرضاؤهُ حَسبِي

فأرضيتُهُ جَهدِي وإرضاؤهُ حَسبِي

Nor have they imprisoned within me a conscience I have known;

Nor have they confined my conscience, which I have known,

I satisfied it as best I could, and its satisfaction is enough for me.

So I satisfied it as best I could; satisfying it is enough for me.

على ان لي في السجن متعة خاطر

على ان لي في السجن متعة خاطر

لقيت صحابا فيه من خيرة الصحب

لقيت صحابا فيه من خيرة الصحب

Yet in prison I have a comfort for the spirit:

Yet in prison I have a delight for the mind:

there I found companions among the finest of companions.

I have met companions there, among the finest of friends.

شُعورُهُم نحوِي شُعورِىَ نَحوَهُم

شُعورُهُم نحوِي شُعورِىَ نَحوَهُم

وأكلُهُمُ أكلِي وشربُهمُ شُربِي

وأكلُهُمُ أكلِي وشربُهمُ شُربِي

Their feeling toward me is the feeling I bear toward them;

Their feelings toward me are the same as mine toward them,

what they eat, I eat, and what they drink, I drink.

And their food is my food, and their drink is my drink.