أَهلاً بِهِ مِن كِتابٍ بَعضُ واجِبِهِ

أَهلاً بِهِ مِن كِتابٍ بَعضُ واجِبِهِ

تَقبيلُ تُربٍ عَلَيهِ رِجلُ كاتِبِهِ

تَقبيلُ تُربٍ عَلَيهِ رِجلُ كاتِبِهِ

Welcome to this letter, part of whose due honor

Welcome, book, part of your duty

is to kiss the dust on which its writer’s foot rests.

Is to kiss the soil where your author's foot stood.

وارَحمَتي لِغَليلي عِندَ مَورِدِهِ

وارَحمَتي لِغَليلي عِندَ مَورِدِهِ

قَد كانَ يَعنُفُ بي عُنفَ الدَلالِ به

قَد كانَ يَعنُفُ بي عُنفَ الدَلالِ به

Oh, pity my burning thirst upon its arrival:

My mercy on the one in chains when he comes here;

it had treated me harshly, with the harshness of coyness toward him.

He was cruelly treated, and cruel his fear.