1. ساكني مصر هناكُمْ طيبُها

    إنَّ عيشي بعدكمْ لم يطبِ

    O dwellers of Egypt, may her sweetness gladden you.

    Indeed, my life apart from you has not been sweet.

  2. لا عدمتُم راحةً مِن قربها

    فأَنا من بعدها في تعبِ

    May you never lack the comfort of her nearness,

    for since leaving her I have been weary.

  3. لا تركتُ الغمضَ يغشى ناظري

    لا ولا طيبَ الكرى يأنسُ بي

    No, I have not let sleep veil my eye,

    no, nor let the sweetness of slumber befriend me.

  4. لا وأَيام اجتماعي بكم

    إنها كانت زمان الطَّربِ

    No—by the days we were together!

    They were indeed a time of joy.

  5. أَنتمُ روحي وأَنتم منيتي

    أَنتم سُؤلي وأَنتم أَربي

    You are my soul, and you are my heart's desire;

    you are what I ask for, and what I long for.

  6. ليتني لما دعا داعي النَّوى

    بيَ من بينكمُ لم أجِبِ

    Would that, when the herald of parting called

    me away from among you, I had not answered,

  7. وأَنختُ العيسَ في أَبوابكم

    ولأَجواز الفلا لم أَجُبِ

    and had made the pale camels kneel at your doors,

    and had not traversed the desert's heartlands,

  8. وتصبَّرتُ على عتبكمُ

    وتلومتُ بتلكَ العَتَبِ

    and had patiently borne your reproaches,

    and had lingered at those thresholds.

  9. بَعُدَ العهدُ بأخباركمُ

    فابعثوا أَخباركم في الكُتبِ

    It has been long since I last heard news of you;

    so send your news in letters.

  10. ليتَ مصراً عرفتْ أَنّي وإنْ

    غبتُ عنها فالهوى لم يغبِ

    Would that Egypt knew that, although I

    have been absent from her, my love has not.

  11. فمتى أَظفرُ من قربكمُ

    يا أَخلايَ بنجحِ الطَّلبِ

    When, then, through nearness to you, shall I attain,

    O my dear friends, success in my quest?

  12. ومتى أَحصلُ بالوصلِ على ال

    واصلِ المرتقبِ المقتربِ

    And when, through reunion, shall I find the

    one who comes to join me, awaited and drawing near?

  13. ومتى أَطلعُ في أُفقكمُ

    قمراً يجمعُ شملَ الشُّهُبِ

    And when shall I rise on your horizon,

    as a moon that gathers the bright stars together?