1. أَبْلِغْ رُعاةَ العِينِ في بَطْحائها

    أنِّي سمعتُ اليومَ حُسنَ نِدائها

    Tell the herders of the wide-eyed antelopes on her sandy plain

    That I heard today the beauty of her call.

  2. فعَدوتُ أستبقُ الرِّياحَ مهلِّلًا

    والمُزْنُ تَهطلُ في فسيحِ فِنائها

    So I ran, racing the winds in exultation,

    While the rain clouds poured in her spacious courtyard.

  3. يشتاقُ قلبي كلَّما هتفتْ له

    وسَرَى إليه الطَّيفُ مِن أرجائها

    My heart yearns whenever she calls to it,

    And a vision steals to it by night from her reaches,

  4. بحدائقٍ غنَّاءَ ذاتِ مَباهجٍ

    ذهبت بهذا القلبِ في أنحائها

    With lush gardens full of delights,

    That carried this heart through their reaches.

  5. أفَتِلكَ أمْ جرداءُ قَفْرٌ دُونَها

    قَطْعُ المهامهِ في سبيلِ لِقائها

    Is it that, or a barren waste, before which lies

    The crossing of vast deserts on the way to meeting her?

  6. عاجلتُها وقطعتُ خلفَ ديارِها

    أميالَ قَفْرٍ بِتُّ في غُلَوائها

    I hastened to her and crossed beyond her dwellings

    Miles of wasteland, spending the night amid her fury.

  7. بَكرتْ تَدُكُّ الرِّيحُ نَهْجَ مُتونِها

    وغدتْ تَسُحُّ المُزْنُ في أشلائها

    Early the wind pounded the path across her ridges,

    And the rain clouds began pouring among her scattered limbs.

  8. فتهدَّمتْ منها قِبابٌ بعدما

    سَمقتْ وملَّ الدَّهرُ طولَ بقائها

    So domes of hers collapsed, after

    They had risen high and time had tired of their long endurance.

  9. وترقرقتْ بينَ السُّهولِ هُتونُها

    فغدتْ تَهَشُّ بِصَفوِها وبهائها

    And her steady rains shimmered among the plains,

    So she began to beam with her serenity and splendor,

  10. في روضةٍ خَضِلتْ قِبابُ نخيلِها

    وسمتْ إليها الطَّيرُ في عليائها

    In a meadow where the domes of her palms grew moist,

    And birds soared toward her in her heights.

  11. سبحتْ عليها العِيسُ مثلَ بَوارقٍ

    يَرقبنَ بالبطحاءِ دَرْكَ نَجائها

    The pale camels glided over her like lightning flashes,

    Watching on the sandy plain to make good their swift escape.

  12. أو قانِصٍ عَرِدِ الشَّكيمةِ مُعْنِتٍ

    يَسعى بِسهمِ الموتِ بينَ ظِبائها

    Or a hunter, unyielding in resolve and ruthless,

    Hastening with death's arrow among her gazelles.

  13. قَدْ راعَه خلفَ الكِناسِ شواردٌ

    يعبثنَ بالأشطانِ تحتَ سمائها

    Strays behind the gazelles' covert had startled him,

    Playing with the ropes beneath her sky.

  14. فانقـضَّ مـثلَ البرقِ منه سـبعةٌ

    لَمْ يَلتقِينَ اليأسَ في طَخْوائها

    Then seven darted from him like lightning;

    They had encountered no despair amid her gloom.

  15. فاجتازَ أوَّلُهُنَّ يَسبقُ عَدْوَهُ

    سهمُ المنيَّةِ في خَفِيِّ خِبائها

    Then the first of them crossed, its running outpaced

    By death's arrow in the hidden recess of her tent.

  16. فعَدا فعادَ بِخِفْشِها فكأنَّما

    يَجترُّ ماءَ القلبِ عندَ دُعائها

    Then he ran and returned with her fawn, as though

    Ruminating on the heart's water at her cry.

  17. والبَرقُ تَصْحبُه الرَّواعدُ كلَّما

    هَزَّتْ جوانبَها سَرَى بِضيائها

    And lightning was accompanied by thunderclaps; whenever

    They shook her flanks, it coursed on with her radiance.

  18. فبكتْ كمِثلِ (مُبَارَكٍ) فِي خَلعِه

    أو مِثلِ (زَيْنٍ) رِيعَ في أنْدائها

    So she wept like Mubarak at his ousting,

    Or like Zayn, terrified in her assemblies,

  19. أو فَقْدِ (سُوزانٍ) مَغانمَ نَهبِها

    بالأمسِ بينَ (جَمالِها) و(عَلائها)

    Or like Suzanne losing the spoils of her plundering

    Yesterday, between her Gamal and her Alaa.

  20. لَمْ يَرْفعوا إلَّا الوَضيعَ ولَمْ يَصِخْ

    إلَّا رُعاةُ السُّوءِ مِن وُزرائها

    They exalted none but the base, and none listened

    Except the shepherds of evil among her ministers.

  21. وكذاكَ مَن ساسَ البلادَ بِخِسَّةٍ

    فمآلُه التَّشتيتُ في لَأوائها

    And likewise, whoever ruled the country basely,

    So his fate is dispersal amid its hardships.