رأيْتُك طَوْداً قد لَجأْتُ لِظلِّهِ

رأيْتُك طَوْداً قد لَجأْتُ لِظلِّهِ

فلي مَعْقِلٌ منه إذا دهرِيَ اعْتَدَى

فلي مَعْقِلٌ منه إذا دهرِيَ اعْتَدَى

I saw you as a lofty mountain in whose shade I have sought refuge.

I saw you as a towering form to which I fled for shade

Thus it affords me a stronghold when my fate assails me.

So it is a fortress for me when the days assail me

إذا قُمْتُ في نَادِيه أُنْشِدُ مِدْحَةً

إذا قُمْتُ في نَادِيه أُنْشِدُ مِدْحَةً

أنا الطائرُ المَحْكِيُّ والآخَرُ الصَّدَى

أنا الطائرُ المَحْكِيُّ والآخَرُ الصَّدَى

When I stand in his assembly reciting a poem of praise,

When I rise up in its presence to recite a eulogy

I am the bird being imitated, and the other is the echo.

I am the singing bird and the other the echo