يهيج غرام الصب إن هبت الصبا

فيذكر أوطانا بها ألف الصبا

The ardent lover's passion stirs when the east wind blows,

and he recalls homelands where he knew his youth.

ضمان على عين المتيم إن هفا

بريق اللوى أن تسكب الدمع طيبا

The lovesick one's eye is pledged, if there flickers

a gleam from al-Liwa, to shed tears willingly.

فيا معهد الأحباب والصب نازح

متى يرد الظمآن في الرى مشربا

O haunt of loved ones, while the lover is far away,

when will the thirsty one reach a watering-place to slake his thirst?

ويا دار سلمى والتباعد بيننا

متى الدهر يدنى منك صبا معذبا

And O home of Salma, with distance between us,

when will time draw a tormented lover near to you?

يطارح بالأسحار ورق حمائم

وإن جنت الظلماء سامر كوكبا

He exchanges songs with gray doves in the pre-dawn hours,

and if darkness falls, he keeps a star company through the night.

ولا عجب أن طال بالريع حزنه

وقد أصبحوا عن ساحة الريع غيبا

Nor is it strange that his sorrow lingers on the ridge,

now that they are absent from the ridge's open ground.

فلله أعلام المحصّب كم وكم

ركبنا بها للأنس واللهو مركبا

To God belong al-Muhassab's landmarks! How often, how often

we took a ride there for companionship and amusement!

معاهد كانت للأوانس مألفا

فياما ألذ العيش فيها وأطيبا

Haunts that were familiar gathering-places for maidens—

oh, how delightful life was there, and how sweet!

لقد كان لي فيها مغان ومريع

فأصبحت لا أبغى سوى العز مطلبا

There I once had dwellings and fertile pasture,

but now I seek no goal except honor.

ثنيت عنان الطرف بعد جماحه

لأن عذار الخد أصبح أشيبا

I drew in the reins of my gaze after its unruliness,

because the hair along my cheek has turned gray.

تبا خاطرى عن وصل سعدى وزينب

لأنى قد نبئت من سبأ نبا

My mind apparently turned away from union with Sa'da and Zaynab,

for I have been told news from Saba.

سأعمل للأحباب سير ركائبي

وأقطع بحرا للمعالى وسببا

I shall set my riding camels journeying toward my loved ones,

and traverse sea and path in pursuit of lofty honors.

فقد شمت من تلقاء يثرب بارقاً

وقد طاب عيشى بالحبيب وأخصبا

For I have glimpsed a lightning flash from the direction of Yathrib,

and my life has grown sweet and fruitful through the Beloved.

ألا فاعجبوا قلبٌ ترحل مشرقاً

وغادر جسما قد توطن مغربا

Behold, marvel: a heart has journeyed eastward,

and left behind a body that had settled in the west.

فمن مبلغ عنى الأحبة أن لي

فؤاداً بنار الشوق اصبح ملهبا

Who, then, will tell my loved ones on my behalf that I have

a heart set ablaze by the fire of longing?

يذكرني حادي الرفاق إذا سرى

حمائم بانات حللنَ المخصبا

The caravan's singing camel-driver, traveling by night, reminds me of

doves of ban trees that have settled on fertile ground.

ويطربني ذكر العقيق فأنثنى

كأنى غصنٌ جاذبته يد الصبا

And the mention of al-Aqiq thrills me, so I sway,

as though I were a branch tugged by the hand of the east wind.

ألا يا صبا الأسحار عنى فأبلغَن

سلاماً كما نمّت أزاهر بالربا

O east wind of the pre-dawn hours, do convey on my behalf

a greeting of peace, like the scent blossoms waft upon the hills,

على الطاهر الأزكى العليّ محمد

وأصحابه السامين في المجد منصبا

upon Muhammad, the pure, the purest, the exalted,

and his companions, whose rank in glory is lofty.