1. رأت أطلال سلما بعد بعدٍ

    عيون نورها أطلال سلما

    Salma’s ruins were seen after separation

    by eyes whose light is Salma’s ruins.

  2. فأدهشها الشهود وفيه غابت

    بلذة ما رأت عما وعما

    The vision bewildered them, and in it they were lost,

    in the delight of what they saw, oblivious to this and that.

  3. تطيب لأعين القوم المرائي

    إذا جمعت على الأسرار حكما

    The sights delight the people’s eyes

    when they gather wisdom concerning the mysteries.

  4. و يرق في الغوير أهاج منا

    هياماً سربل الألباب هما

    And [a lightning flash?] in al-Ghuwayr stirred in us

    a passion that clothed our minds in sorrow.

  5. أشار لأهل هاتيك النواحي

    وقد ملأ البعاد الركب سقما

    It pointed toward the people of those parts,

    while separation had filled the caravan with sickness.

  6. لعمرك يا حويدنا أغثنا

    بصوتك واعط هذى العيسر عزما

    By your life, O our little camel-driver, come to our aid

    with your voice, and give these [pale camels?] resolve.

  7. لنا في حاجر و بأرض سلع

    مآرب بالتباعد لن تتما

    We have, in Hajir and in the land of Salʿ,

    desires that can never be fulfilled in separation.

  8. فقربنا لها نفديك إنا

    رأينا من شؤن البعد هضما

    So bring us near them—we would ransom you—for we

    have suffered injustice from the workings of separation.

  9. ودعنا نستسيل بها عيوناً

    تجود لنا العيون بها لتدمى

    And let us draw forth springs there,

    which our eyes lavish upon us until they bleed.

  10. رعى الله البقاع الخضر منها

    وحيا الجانب الغربي ثما

    May God guard the green tracts among them,

    and bless the western side there.

  11. بقاع قد تعيد الميت حيا

    ويرقص أنسها الحجر الأصما

    Lands that may restore the dead to life,

    and whose joy makes the deaf stone dance.

  12. وأحياء كساها الحسن ثوبا

    به انتظمت عقود الزهر نظما

    And settlements that beauty clothed in a robe,

    on which necklaces of blossoms were strung in order.

  13. حرمناها وقد بعدت علينا

    ويوما يغد قرب الحي غنما

    We have been denied them, and they have grown distant from us,

    and one day nearness to the camp will become a prize.

  14. عسى الباري يقرِّبنا إليها

    ويبعد بعدنا كرماً وحلما

    May the Creator bring us near them

    and banish our separation through generosity and forbearance.

  15. فنروى من مياه فجاج حيٍّ

    يزمزمها الولوع وليس يظما

    So we may drink our fill from the waters along a camp’s broad paths,

    over which the ardent lover murmurs, never thirsting.

  16. ونشهد في مفاوزها جمالاً

    ونسكر ضمن تلك القاع شما

    And we behold beauty in their desert wastes,

    and grow drunk on fragrance within that plain.

  17. ونشطح من بواديها بوادٍ

    به القلت جنان القدس سهما

    And we roam in ecstasy in a valley of their wilds,

    where the gardens of holiness [have cast?] a share.

  18. نهيم إلى الديار وساكنيها

    ويملأنا القلى هما وغما

    We yearn for the dwellings and their inhabitants,

    and aversion fills us with worry and grief.

  19. ولولاهم لكان الكون عتماً

    ومجمل هذه الأحكام ظلما

    Were it not for them, the universe would be darkness,

    and all these decrees would be injustice.

  20. أتوا والجهل قد طمَّ البرايا

    فماج بهم فجاج الأرض علما

    They came when ignorance had engulfed creation,

    so the earth’s broad paths surged with knowledge through them.

  21. وصارت ظلمةُ الأكوان نوراً

    وغلظةُ طبع من في الكون فهما

    And the darkness of the worlds became light,

    and the coarse nature of those in the universe became understanding.

  22. وقد ملأ الورى أسرار حقٍّ

    فما اسطاعت لها الأيامُ كتما

    And secrets of truth have filled humankind,

    so the days could find no concealment for them.

  23. وهم لحقائق الأرواحٍ روحٌ

    علوا في العالم العلوي نجما

    And they are the spirit of the realities of souls;

    they rose as a star in the higher realm.