تركت امتداح العالمين ولذت من

مدائح خير الخق بالعروة الوثقا

I forsook praising all mankind and took refuge, through

Praises of the best of creation, in the firmest handhold.

سأجعلُها كهفى وحصنى وملجئي

لعلى بالأمداح أستوجب العتقا

I shall make them my cave, my fortress, and my refuge,

Perhaps through these praises I shall merit deliverance.

وأشدو بها في كل ناد مرددا

أطارح في شجوى واشجاني الورقا

And I sing them in every gathering, repeating them,

Exchanging songs with gray doves in my sorrow and grief.

وأنتشق الأرواح من نحو يثرب

فتأرج لي نفحا وتعبق لي نشقا

And I inhale the breezes from the direction of Yathrib,

So they waft fragrance to me and perfume the air I breathe.

قرارة من أضحى ملاذاً وملجأ

وتربة من في المجد قد أحرز السبقا

The resting place of him who became a haven and refuge,

And the soil of him who has won first place in glory.

لثمنا بأوهام العقول ترابها

على نأينا والوجد يغلبنا شوقا

We kissed its dust in the imaginings of our minds,

Despite our distance, while passion overwhelms us with longing.

إذا ما سرى من نحو طيبة بارق

نكاد من الأشواق نعتنق البرقا

Whenever a lightning flash travels by night from the direction of Taybah,

We almost embrace the lightning out of longing.

فمن شيق تصلى جوانحه لظى

ومن واله أكباده قطعت خفقا

So some yearn, their ribs burning in flame,

And some are distraught, their livers torn apart by throbbing.

فأجسادنا بالغرب تعتنق الأسى

وأرواحنا راحت بأشواقنا شرقا

So our bodies in the West embrace sorrow,

And our souls have gone east with our longings.

قطعت زماني بالتذكر والأسى

بلا عيشة تصفو ولا دمعة ترقا

I have spent my time in remembrance and sorrow,

Without a life that grows serene or a tear that ceases to flow.

لئن قطعتني عن بلوغي لقبره

قواطع تضميني بأسهمها رشقا

If indeed I have been kept from reaching his grave

By hindrances that wound me with volleys of their arrows,

فمالي من حول سوى الدمع والأسى

عسى منجد السباق يعقبني لحقا

Then I have no power save tears and sorrow;

May the helper of those ahead grant me the chance to catch up.