1. على الجانبِ الإسكندريِّ سلامُ

    يُكرِّره مني عليه دوامُ

    Peace upon the Alexandrian region,

    forever repeated upon it from me.

  2. سلامٌ يُناجِى ذلك الثغر مُضحِكا

    رُباهُ بنَوْرٍ قد بَكاهُ غَمام

    A greeting that whispers to that port and makes

    its hills smile with blossoms over which clouds have wept.

  3. ذكرتُ زماني فيه والعيشُ أخضر

    وإذ أنا طفلٌ والزّمان غلام

    I recalled my days there, when life was green,

    and when I was a child and time was a boy.

  4. وأيامُنا كالدرِّ فُصِّل عِقْدُه

    وتم ولم ينفكَّ منه نظام

    And our days were like pearls, their necklace finely set,

    complete, its string never coming undone.

  5. محلٌّ به مَوْتَى حياةٍ شَهيةٍ

    تَلذُّ وعيِشي في سِواه حِمام

    A place where my death is a delectable life,

    sweet to savor, while my life elsewhere is death.

  6. ففي الجانبِ الغربيِّ منه مَدافنٌ

    وفيهنَّ أَجْداث عليَّ كِرام

    For on its western side lie burial grounds,

    and in them are graves dear to me.

  7. سَقتْها دموعُ الغيثِ بَدْءاً وَعَوْدَة

    ففيها عِظامٌ قد بَلِينَ عِظام

    The tears of rain have watered them, first and anew,

    for within them lie bones, decayed yet noble.

  8. عِظامٌ لها أصلانِ فرعُهما أنا

    وحَسْبُك فَهْمٌ منهما وجُذام

    Noble bones with two roots, whose branch I am;

    and of those two, Fahm and Judham suffice you.

  9. مُنيفان فوق الراسياتِ تَطاوُلا

    تُقصِّرُ رَضْوَى عنهما وشَمام

    Both towered high above the firmly rooted mountains;

    Radwa and Shamam fall short of them.

  10. ولو لم يكونا لي لَكانتْ فضائلي

    تُحقِّق ما قد قال قبلي عِصام

    And even if those two were not mine, my virtues would

    bear out what Isam said before me.

  11. قبور على الدِّيماسِ أضحتْ وفضلُها

    له في ظهورِ النّيِّراتِ زحام

    Graves now lie upon al-Dimas, and their glory

    jostles with the shining stars as they emerge.

  12. بها طاب ذاك التُّرْبُ حين بطيبِها

    تَأَرَّج فيه عَبْهَرٌ وخُزام

    Through them that soil grew fragrant, as with their scent

    narcissus and lavender breathed fragrance there.

  13. فرَياّ رياضِ الخِصبِ بعضُ ثَنائِهم

    لها في مناجاةِ الأنوف كلام

    So the scent of fertile gardens is part of their praise;

    it speaks in whispered converse with noses.

  14. فكم همةٌ فيها وكم أريحيةٌ

    وفضلٌ ومجدٌ شامخ وذِمام

    How much high resolve lies there, and how much generosity,

    and virtue, towering glory, and bonds of honor!

  15. وجوهٌ نأتْ عني وبيني وبينها

    ذراعٌ يُواريه ثَرىً ورِجام

    Faces grown distant from me, though between me and them

    lies a cubit's span, hidden by earth and piled stones.

  16. فكنتُ إذا ما اشتقْتُها خفض الأسى

    دُنُوٌّ إلى أَجْداثها ولِمام

    So whenever I longed for them, my grief would be eased

    by drawing near their graves and paying brief visits.

  17. فكيف وقد صار البعادُ ثلاثةً

    مماتٌ وبَينٌ نازحٌ وسَقام

    How then, now that separation has become threefold:

    death, far-distant parting, and sickness?

  18. فلا قربَ في الدنيا سوى أن يزورني

    خيالٌ وهيهاتَ النَّوى ومَنام

    So there is no nearness in this world, save a visit to me

    from a phantom—yet separation and sleep are far apart!

  19. فيا طالَما شِيمَ الحَيا من أَكُفِّها

    وفي غُرَرٍ منها الحياءُ يُشام

    Ah, how often life-giving rain was looked for from their palms,

    and modesty is discerned in their radiant brows!

  20. سأبِكي مدى الدنيا عليها فريضةً

    مؤكدةً فالصبر بعدُ حرام

    I shall weep for them as long as this world lasts, as a duty

    firmly enjoined—for patience henceforth is forbidden.