1. طالعُ اليُمن بالوصال استهلاً

    ألف أهلاً بالواصلين وسَهْلاَ

    The star of good fortune rose with reunion.

    A thousand warm welcomes to those arriving!

  2. بعدما طالتِ النّوى وأطالَتْ

    بهم اليَعْمَلاَت حَلاًّ ورَحْلاَ

    After separation had lasted long, and long had

    the sturdy she-camels halted and journeyed with them.

  3. أيُّ سعدٍ وافى وأيةُ بشرى

    بِلسان الهنا على الدَّهر تُملَى

    What good fortune has arrived, and what glad tidings

    are dictated to time in the tongue of joy!

  4. لو قدرنا إذاً قضينا بتقبيل

    خفاف المطيّ فرضاً ونَفْلاَ

    Had we been able, we would have performed, by kissing

    the riding-camels' padded feet, both obligatory and voluntary devotions.

  5. إذا أَدَارتْ من الوصالِ كؤوساً

    أسكرتنا بهنّ عَلاًّ ونَهْلاَ

    When they passed around cups of reunion,

    they made us drunk on them, draught after draught,

  6. إذْ ثَنَتْ نحونا الأزمّة بالأحباب

    مَنَّاً مِنْها علينا وفَضْلا

    as they turned the reins toward us with the beloveds,

    as a favor from them to us, and a grace.

  7. يا لها منّةٌ لَهُنّ علينا

    ويداً صادفت لدينا مَحَلاًّ

    What a favor they have bestowed upon us,

    and a kindness that found a fitting place with us!

  8. لَستُ أنسى ذاك الوداع الذي

    مرَّ وذاك الفرقَ حين أطلاّ

    I do not forget that farewell which

    passed, and that parting when it loomed;

  9. والركاب الّتي غداة استفلّتْ

    دعتِ الصبر للنّوى فاستقلاّ

    and the riding-camels that, on the morning they slipped away,

    called patience away to separation, and it departed;

  10. والخيام الّتي حرمْنَ الأماقي

    بعدهنّ المنام إلاّ الأقَلاّ

    and the tents that denied the eyes

    all but the scantest sleep after they were gone;

  11. ودموعاً غدتْ تبلّ خدوداً

    وغليلاً وزفرةً لم يُبَلاّ

    and tears that came to wet cheeks,

    and a burning thirst and a sigh that were never quenched.

  12. يا أُحَيْبَابنا وقولي تصغيراً

    أَحَيبابنا ألذّ وأَحْلاَ

    O our little beloveds! My saying, in the diminutive,

    'our little beloveds' is more delightful and sweeter.

  13. أيّ صبٍّ تركتمُ ساعةَ البينِ

    يُطِلُ الدّموع سجلاً فسجلاَ

    What a lovesick man you left at the hour of parting,

    shedding tears, bucketful after bucketful!

  14. لازمَ الربْعَ بعدكم مذ رحلتُمْ

    فَسَلُوا الربعَ بعدكم هل تَسَلّى

    He stayed by the dwelling after you, ever since you departed;

    so ask the dwelling whether he found solace after you.

  15. وعلى اليعْملات حين تولّت

    بدرُ تَمٍّ على النفوس تولّى

    And upon the sturdy she-camels, as they departed,

    was a full moon holding sway over souls.

  16. يُخجل الغصنَ قامةً واعتدالاً

    ويغير البدورَ حسناَ وشكلاَ

    He shames the branch in stature and straightness,

    and makes the full moons jealous with his beauty and form.

  17. سلَّ يوم الوداع سودَ لحاظٍ

    ليس للبْيض عندها أن تُسلاّ

    On farewell day he unsheathed his black glances,

    beside which white swords may not be drawn.

  18. لستُ أرتاب كيف حرَّم وصلي

    إنما الشانُ في دمي كيف حلاّ

    I do not question how he forbade union with me;

    the question is how my blood became lawful to shed.

  19. عذتُ من جورِه بعدلِ مليكٍ

    مَدَّ مِنْ عدلِهِ على الأرض ظِلاًُ

    I sought refuge from his tyranny in a sovereign's justice,

    who spread over the earth a shade of his justice.

  20. ملكٌ سادَ في الزّمان كما ساد

    أبوه من قبل مَجْداً وفَضْلا

    A king who excelled in his age, as did

    his father before him, in glory and excellence.

  21. وجوادٌ بكفِّهِ غُصُنُ الجودِ

    لِسؤّالِه دَنَا فَتَدَلَّى

    And a generous man: in his palm the branch of bounty

    drew near to his petitioners and hung low.

  22. فرعُ مجدٍ نماه خيرُ البرايا

    طابَ هذا وذاك فرعاً وأصلا

    A branch of glory, nurtured by the best of creation;

    good are both, this branch and that root.

  23. طاهر العرض لم يزل وهو طفلٌ

    في مراضي الإله عَزَّ وجَلاَّ

    Pure in honor, even as a child he always lived

    in ways pleasing to God, the Mighty and Exalted.

  24. ذُو أيادٍ يغدُو إذا ما استهلْتْ

    عندها جودُ هاطلِ الغيث بخلاَ

    A man of favors: whenever they rain down,

    the bounty of pouring rain becomes stinginess beside them.

  25. فوّقَ الدِّينُ من عزائِمِه البيض

    إلى مقتل الضلالَةِ نَبلاَ

    Religion has nocked, from his bright resolves,

    arrows aimed at the vital spot of error.

  26. أحرز العلمَ والسيادةَ والحِلّمَ

    وبذلَ العطاءِ والبأسَ طِفلاَ

    He attained learning, leadership, and forbearance,

    and generous giving and valor, while still a child.

  27. وتحلّى مِن العُلَى بصفاتٍ

    لم يكن غيره بها يتحلَّى

    And he adorned himself with exalted qualities

    with which no other had adorned himself.

  28. وأبانت عُلاه آيات فضلٍ

    لم تَزلْ في صحيفةِ المجدِ تُتْلاَ

    And his lofty standing revealed signs of excellence

    that have never ceased to be recited on glory's page.

  29. لا يطيقُ الضّلّيل حصر مَعاليهِ

    وإن بات في القريض وظَلاَّ

    The errant poet cannot enumerate his lofty merits,

    even if he spends night and day composing verse.

  30. سابقْتهُ الملوك في حلْبةِ المجدِ

    فصلّوا وراءَه وهو جَلَّى

    Kings raced him on the racecourse of glory,

    so they came second behind him, while he came first.

  31. وقفوا دونَ منتهاه وأضحَى

    قِدحُهُ في الكمالِ وهو المعلَّى

    They halted short of his utmost reach, and

    his arrow-lot in perfection stood highest of all.

  32. وأقرُّوا لَه اعْتِرافاً وقالوا

    خُذ هنيئاً فما أحقّ وأولى

    They acknowledged him, conceding, and said:

    'Take it with joy—how deserving and worthy you are!'

  33. حَلّ صَنعا فزانَها بعُلاهُ

    وحلاَها بفضْلهِ حينَ حَلاّ

    He settled in Sana'a and graced it with his loftiness,

    and adorned it with his excellence when he arrived.

  34. يا مليكاً نداهُ قَدْ أَخجل البحْر

    وعمّ الأَرضين حَزناً وسَهْلاَ

    O sovereign whose bounty has put the sea to shame

    and encompassed the lands, rugged and level;

  35. وابنَ خير الأَنام طُرّاً وأزكى

    أَهْل بيت النبيّ قولاً وفعلاَ

    and son of the best of all humankind, and the purest

    of the Prophet's household in speech and deed:

  36. أنُهنّيكَ بالوصولِ الَّذي ضمَّ

    من المجدِ والمكارم شملا

    Shall we congratulate you on the arrival that brought

    glory and noble virtues together?

  37. أم تُهَنَّى فَطالَ مَا قَدْ رقبْنَا

    بكَ بدر الوصال حتى تَجَلَّى

    Or are you to be congratulated? Long have we awaited

    through you the full moon of reunion, until it shone forth.

  38. فلِذي العرش أفضل الحمدِ

    والشكر على ما ابْتَدَا إلينا وأولى

    So to the Lord of the Throne be the finest praise

    and thanks for what He first extended to us and bestowed.

  39. هاكَها مِن أسير فضلِكَ عذراء

    مَشت نحو سوحك الرحب خجْلَى

    Take her, a maiden, from a captive of your bounty;

    she walked shyly toward your spacious courts.

  40. هِيَ جهدُ المقلِّ مولاي فاعذرْ

    عبدَكم إن أَقلّ أو عن أخَلاّ

    She is the utmost effort of one with little, my lord; so forgive

    your servant if he offers little or falls short.

  41. وابقَ واسْلَم مدى المدَى في قبولٍ

    ونعيم برودُهُ ليْس تَبْلَى

    And live on in safety for all time, in favor

    and bliss whose robes never wear out.