أَتَيناكَ نُثني بِالَّذي أَنتَ أَهلُهُ

أَتَيناكَ نُثني بِالَّذي أَنتَ أَهلُهُ

عَلَيكَ كَما أَثنى عَلى الرَوضِ جارُها

عَلَيكَ كَما أَثنى عَلى الرَوضِ جارُها

We have come to praise you for that of which you are worthy—

We came to you with the praise you deserve,

to praise you as the meadow’s neighboring rain-cloud praises it.

Praising you as the meadows’ neighbor praised them.

تَقَدَّت بِيَ الشَهباءُ نَحوَ اِبنِ جَعفَرٍ

تَقَدَّت بِيَ الشَهباءُ نَحوَ اِبنِ جَعفَرٍ

سَواءٌ عَلَيها لَيلُها وَنَهارُها

سَواءٌ عَلَيها لَيلُها وَنَهارُها

The gray she-camel bore me swiftly toward Ibn Ja‘far;

The gray mount bore me onward toward Ibn Jaʿfar.

to her, her night and her day are all the same.

Her night and her day are alike to her.

تَزورُ فَتىً قَد يَعلَمُ اللَهُ أَنَّهُ

تَزورُ فَتىً قَد يَعلَمُ اللَهُ أَنَّهُ

تَجودُ لَهُ كَفٌّ بَعيدٌ غِرارُها

تَجودُ لَهُ كَفٌّ بَعيدٌ غِرارُها

She visits a young man whom God well knows

She visits a young man—God surely knows that he

has a freely giving hand whose reach is boundless.

Has a bountiful hand whose giving scarcely pauses.

فَوَاللَهِ لَولا أَن تَزورَ اِبنَ جَعفَرٍ

فَوَاللَهِ لَولا أَن تَزورَ اِبنَ جَعفَرٍ

لَكانَ قَليلاً في دِمَشقَ قَرارُها

لَكانَ قَليلاً في دِمَشقَ قَرارُها

By God, were it not that she visits Ibn Ja‘far,

So, by God, were it not that she visits Ibn Jaʿfar,

her stay in Damascus would indeed be brief.

Her stay in Damascus would indeed be brief.

فَإِن مُتَّ لَم يوصَل صَديقٌ وَلَم تَقُم

فَإِن مُتَّ لَم يوصَل صَديقٌ وَلَم تَقُم

طَريقٌ مِنَ المَعروفِ أَنتَ مَنارُها

طَريقٌ مِنَ المَعروفِ أَنتَ مَنارُها

For if you die, no friend will receive a benefaction, nor remain

For if you die, no friend will be shown kindness, nor will there remain

a road of kindness whose guiding beacon you are.

A path of kindness whose beacon you are.

ذَكَرتُكَ إِذ فاضَ الفُراتُ بِأَرضِنا

ذَكَرتُكَ إِذ فاضَ الفُراتُ بِأَرضِنا

وَجاشَ بِأَعلى الرَقَّتَينِ بِحارُها

وَجاشَ بِأَعلى الرَقَّتَينِ بِحارُها

I remembered you when the Euphrates overflowed through our land

I remembered you when the Euphrates overflowed in our land,

and its seas surged at the upper reaches of al-Raqqatayn.

And its seas surged in the upper reaches of the two Raqqas.

وَعِندِيَ مِمّا خَوَّلَ اللَهُ هَجمَةٌ

وَعِندِيَ مِمّا خَوَّلَ اللَهُ هَجمَةٌ

عَطاؤُكَ مِنها شَولُها وَعِشارُها

عَطاؤُكَ مِنها شَولُها وَعِشارُها

I possess, among what God has bestowed, a great herd—

And I have, among what God bestowed, a large herd of camels;

your gift—both its dry-milk she-camels and those ten months in calf.

Among them, the dry and ten-month-pregnant she-camels are your gift.

مُبارَكَةٌ كانَت عَطاءَ مُبارَكٍ

مُبارَكَةٌ كانَت عَطاءَ مُبارَكٍ

تُمانِحُ كُبراها وَتَنمي صِغارُها

تُمانِحُ كُبراها وَتَنمي صِغارُها

Blessed it was: the gift of a blessed man;

Blessed, it was the gift of a blessed man;

its mature females give freely, and its young ones flourish.

Its largest she-camel yields milk unceasingly, and its young ones grow.