1. بَلغتْ مَطيُّكَ أَوّلَ الرُّكبانِ

    ورَمتْ بَرحْلِكَ أبعدُ الأوطانِ

    Your mounts have reached the foremost of the riders,

    And set down your saddle in the farthest lands.

  2. حَدَتِ النَّوى بك أربعينَ عَوابساً

    شُوهَ الوُجوهُ ذميمةَ الألوانِ

    Parting sang you onward through forty scowling years,

    Hideous of face and loathsome of hue.

  3. مالَ الأسَى بِرحالِها وجرَى دماً

    ماءُ الشُّؤونِ فمالَ بالأرسانِ

    Grief bore down upon their saddles, and there flowed as blood

    The water of the tear ducts, weighing down the reins.

  4. تمضِي جَوافلُها بأغبرَ مُوحَشٍ

    تَنسابُ فيه نواعبُ الغِربانِ

    Their hurrying mounts pass through a dusty, desolate waste,

    Where the cawing ravens glide.

  5. وادي النَّوى اختطّتْ به لذويِ الأَسَى

    مَسْرَى الهُمومِ ومَسرحَ الأحزانِ

    The vale of parting, where for the grieving were marked out

    A night-path for cares and a roaming-ground for sorrows.

  6. يُزجِي الرّكائبَ كلَّ يومٍ شَطْرَهُ

    غادى الفراقِ ورائحُ الإخوانِ

    Each day the riding-camels are driven toward it

    By parting's dawn traveler and the friend who leaves at dusk.

  7. زالوا سِراعاً كالحُصونِ هَوَى بها

    قَدَرٌ من الزَّلزالِ ذي الرَّجَفانِ

    They departed swiftly, like fortresses toppled

    By the doom of a shuddering earthquake.

  8. عَدَتِ الخطوبُ فَطاحَ في غَمَرَاتِها

    شَعبٌ بأفياءِ الكِنانةِ عانِ

    Calamities assailed; into their depths there fell

    A captive people beneath Kinana's shade.

  9. ضاحِي المَقاتلِ ما يَزالُ يَنوشُه

    ضاحي العَداوةِ بارزُ الشَّنآنِ

    Its vital parts exposed, it is still assailed

    By one whose enmity is plain and whose hatred is overt.

  10. ما انفَّك يُجزَعُ بالحُماةِ أعزّةً

    مُستكبرينَ على ذَوِي التِّيجانِ

    It is ever made to mourn its defenders, men of honor,

    Disdainful of the wearers of crowns,

  11. مُتمرِّدينَ على الزَّمانِ يَسومُهم

    سِمةَ الهَوانِ وخُطَّةَ الإِذعانِ

    Rebelling against time, which would impose on them

    The brand of humiliation and the condition of submission.

  12. نهضَ الأُباةُ بهم إلى مُستشرفٍ

    تَنجابُ عنه قوارعُ الحِدْثانِ

    The unbowed bore them up to a lofty height,

    From which the crushing blows of time fall away.

  13. عَالٍ لَوَ اَنَّ الجِنَّ في سُلطانهِا

    هَمَّتْ به لَهَوتْ على الأذقانِ

    So high that, were the jinn in their might

    To attempt it, they would fall upon their chins.

  14. يَستصغرُ الخَطرَ المَهِيبَ نَزيلُه

    ويراه أَهْيَبَ مَنزلٍ ومكانِ

    Its dweller makes light of fearsome danger,

    And deems it the most awe-inspiring home and place.

  15. مَرقَى الرّجالِ إلى الخُلودِ وسُلَّمٌ

    يَنحطُّ عنه العاجزُ المُتواني

    Men's ascent to immortality, and a ladder

    From which the feeble laggard falls away.

  16. وإذا رُزِقْتَ النَّفسَ دائبةَ القُوى

    فَاهْنَأْ فلستَ على الزَّمانِ بفانِ

    And if you are granted a soul of tireless strength,

    Then rejoice, for through all time you shall not perish.

  17. أَعليُّ ما بكَ غيرُ رَوْحةِ نازعٍ

    قَلِقِ المطالبِ ثائرِ الأشجانِ

    O Ali, yours is but a yearning man's evening journey,

    Restless in his quests, his sorrows surging.

  18. ضاقت به الدّارُ الشَّقيَّةُ فَانْتَحى

    دارَ النَّعيمِ ومنزلَ الرِّضوانِ

    The wretched abode grew too narrow for him, so he turned

    To the abode of bliss and the dwelling of divine favor.

  19. عَزَّ الشّهيدُ وراح تاركُ حقِّهِ

    في ذِلَّةٍ من عَيْشهِ وهَوانِ

    The martyr has won honor; he who forsakes his right goes on

    In a life of abasement and disgrace.