1. بمنازلِ الفُسْطاطِ حلَّ فؤادي

    فارْبَعْ على عَرَصاتِهن ونادِ

    In the dwellings of Fustat my heart has settled.

    So linger by their courtyards and call out.

  2. يامصرُ هلْ عَرَضتْ لغصنٍ فوقهَ

    قمرٌ لرَبْعِك أَوْبةٌ لِمَعاد

    O Egypt, has there arisen for a bough above which

    a moon shines, a return to your abode, a homecoming?

  3. تَرِفٌ يُميِّله الصِّبا مَيْل الصَّبا

    بقَوامِ خُوط البانة المَيّاد

    A delicate one, whom youth sways as the east wind sways

    the form of a swaying bān-tree shoot.

  4. أَتُرَى أَنالَ النِّيلَ بعضَ رُضابِه

    فعَذُبْنَ منه مياهُ ذاك الوادي

    Do you think he gave the Nile some of his sweet saliva,

    so that the waters of that valley grew sweet from it?

  5. فأَجاد منه طعمَه لكنّ ذا

    يُرْوِى وذاك يَزيد كَرْبَ الصّادي

    Thus it gained its fine flavor from it; yet this

    quenches thirst, while that deepens the thirsty one's anguish.

  6. واهاً على تلك الرسوم فإنها

    آثارُ أحبابي وأهلِ ودادي

    Ah, for those traces, for they are

    the remnants of my loved ones and those I hold dear.

  7. فلقد أَحِنُّ لها ولَسْنَ منازلي

    وأَوَدُّها شَغَفاً ولْسن بلادي

    For indeed I yearn for them, though they are not my dwellings,

    and love them passionately, though they are not my homeland.

  8. دِمنٌ لبستُ بها الشبابَ ولِمَّتِي

    سَوداءُ تَرْفُل في ثياب حِداد

    Ruins where I wore my youth, while my tresses

    were black, trailing proudly in mourning robes.

  9. والعيشُ غَضٌّ والديارُ قريبةٌ

    وأَبيتُ من أَملي على ميعاد

    Life was fresh, and the dwellings close by,

    and I spent the night with a promise from my hope.

  10. والقلبُ حيث القلبُ رَهْنٌ والظُّبا

    حَدَقُ الظِّبا والغِيد قَيْدُ الغادي

    And the heart was where the heart lay captive; and the blades

    were the gazelles' eyes, and graceful maidens the traveler's fetters.

  11. شَتَّتُّ شملُ الدمعِ لما شَتَّتوا

    شَمْلي وصِحْتُ به بَدادِ بَدادِ

    I scattered the company of tears when they scattered

    my company, and I cried to it, 'Scatter! Scatter!'

  12. فالآنَ تخترِقُ الدموعُ سَواكِبا

    ما بينَ مثْنَى تَوْأَمٍ وفُرادِ

    So now the tears break through, pouring down,

    some in twin pairs, some singly.

  13. قانِي المَسيلِ كأنَّ فيضَ غُروبِه

    فوقَ الخدود عُصارة الفِرْصاد

    Crimson in their course, as though their overflowing streams

    upon the cheeks were mulberry juice.