1. شَدَدْتُ على صَدْرِ الزّماعِ حِزَامي

    وَجَرَّدْتُ من عزْمي شقيقَ حُسامي

    I cinched my belt around the breast of resolve,

    and from my determination unsheathed the twin of my sword.

  2. وقمتُ نهوض العَوْدِ حُلّ عِقالُهُ

    فأقعدَني المقدورُ عند قيامي

    I rose like a seasoned camel whose hobble is loosed,

    but fate made me sit at the moment of rising.

  3. إذا صاحَ بي أمرٌ من اللّه صيحةً

    رجعتُ ورائي والحبيبُ أمامي

    When a command from God called to me with a shout,

    I turned back, with my beloved ahead of me.

  4. وكيفَ أرى لي قصْد وجهي إليكمُ

    إذا كانَ في كفّ القضاءِ زمامي

    And how can I hope to turn my face toward you,

    when my rein is in the hand of fate?

  5. وما هي إلا غربةٌ مُسْتمرّةٌ

    أرى الشيخَ فيها بَعْدَ سِنّ غلامِ

    It is nothing but unending exile,

    in which I see an old man after the years of a boy.

  6. كأنّ قذالي بالقتير مُعَوَّضٌ

    قبيلةَ سامٍ منْ قبيلةِ حامِ

    As though the back of my head, through gray hairs, had been given

    the tribe of Shem in place of the tribe of Ham.

  7. وما شيّبَ الإنسانَ مثلُ تَغَرّبٍ

    يَمُرّ عليه اليومُ منه كَعامِ

    Nothing turns a person's hair gray like living abroad,

    where a day passes over him like a year.

  8. وهل رحتُ إلا طالباً بالنوى عُلاً

    كأنّي منها للنّجوم مُسامِ

    Did I depart but to seek eminence through exile,

    as though through it I vied with the stars in height?

  9. وإنّي لَسَهْمٌ في نفاذي وليتني

    يُهدّبُ بي دارَ الأحبّةِ رامِ

    Indeed, I am an arrow in my onward flight; if only

    an archer would send me speeding to my loved ones' home!

  10. أبا الحسن اسمعْ عذرةً قد بعثتُها

    فلا زلتَ في عزّ قرين دوامِ

    Abu al-Hasan, hear an excuse I have sent;

    so may you ever enjoy honor wedded to permanence.

  11. إذا لم تُطِقْ عن أرض قوْمٍ ترَحَّلاً

    فرزقك ما استوعبته بمقامِ

    If you cannot bear to leave a people's land,

    then your sustenance is what you gather by staying.

  12. وأعربتَ عن نفسٍ إليّ مشوقةٍ

    كأنّ كلاماً منك طيّ كلامِ

    And you gave voice to a soul yearning for me,

    as though words from you lay folded within words.

  13. أتاني كتابٌ منك نَمّقْتَ خطّهُ

    كما دبّجَ الروضَ انسجامُ غمامِ

    A letter came to me from you, whose script you had adorned,

    as a cloud's pouring rain embroiders a garden.

  14. تناولتُهُ من كفّ مُهْدٍ كأنّما

    بَرَدْتُ بعذبِ الماء حَرَّ أُوامِ

    I took it from the giver's hand, as though

    I had cooled the heat of thirst with sweet water.

  15. مَشَى في ضميري بالسرور كما مشَى

    صَلاحُ شفاءٍ في فَسادِ سَقامِ

    It moved through my heart with joy, just as

    healing's goodness moves through sickness's blight.

  16. كأنّ كتابي باليمين أخذتُهُ

    وقيل ليَ ادخلُ جنّةً بسلامِ

    As though I had taken my book in my right hand,

    and had been told, 'Enter Paradise in peace.'

  17. فلا تحسبوني قدْ تَسَلّيتُ عنكم

    بطيبِ سَماعٍ أو بكأسِ مُدامِ

    So do not think I have consoled myself for your absence

    with sweet music or a cup of wine.

  18. ولا ضحكتْ منّي وهل ضحكتْ وما

    وضعتُ على فَضّ الدموعِ ختامي

    Nor has a smile come from me—how could it, when I have not

    set my seal upon the silver of tears?

  19. متى كنتُ مختاراً على الوَصْل فُرْقةً

    تُطيلُ إلى وِرْدِ اللقاءِ هيامي

    When have I ever chosen, over union, a separation

    that prolongs my thirst for reunion's watering-place?

  20. ولا تحسبوني خائفاً قَطْعَ مَهْمَهٍ

    يدومُ وأخفافُ المطيّ دوامِ

    Nor think me afraid to cross a trackless waste

    that stretches on while the camels' padded feet bleed.

  21. تَنَفّسَ منه الحرُّ في حُرّ وجنتي

    تَنَفُّسَ قَيْنٍ في صقيلِ حسامِ

    Its heat breathed upon the smooth skin of my cheek,

    as a smith breathes upon a polished sword.

  22. ولا ساكناً في ليلةٍ مُدْلَهِمَّةٍ

    سَرَى ركبُها فيها اصطلاءَ ظلامِ

    Nor think me one who stays still on a pitch-black night,

    whose caravan travels through it, scorched by darkness.

  23. إذا ما رغا في الجوّ فحلُ سحابها

    حَكى الثلجُ من شدقيه جَعْدَ لغامِ

    When the stallion of its clouds bellows in the sky,

    the snow from its jaws resembles curled foam.

  24. ألمْ أُركبِ النّفْسَ اشتياقاً إليكمُ

    غواربَ مخضرّ الغواربِ طامِ

    Did I not, longing for you, set my soul astride

    the crests of a green-crested, surging sea?

  25. ألم أكُ في الغَرْقى مُشيراً براحتي

    فلم أنجُ إلا من لقاءِ حِمامي

    Was I not among the drowning, gesturing with my palm?

    And I escaped only an encounter with my death.

  26. ألم أفقدِ الشمسَ التي كان ضوءُها

    يُجَلّي عن الأجفانِ كلّ ظلامِ

    Did I not lose the sun whose light

    used to dispel all darkness from my eyelids?

  27. طمعتُ بهذا كلّه في لقائكمْ

    لِتَغْرَمَ نَفْسٌ أُتْلِفَتْ بغرامِ

    Through all this I hoped to meet you,

    so that a soul destroyed by love might pay the price.

  28. بقيّةَ أحبابي الذين حَوَتْهُمُ

    مضاجعُ لم يُضْجَعْ بها لمنامِ

    O remnant of my loved ones, whom

    beds have enclosed—beds not lain in for sleep.

  29. أخذتُ ذمامي مِنْ زماني عليكمُ

    فما كان إلا غادراً بذمامي

    I took from my times a pledge to safeguard you,

    yet it proved nothing but treacherous to my pledge.

  30. تَفرّقتُمُ في البينِ في كلّ وُجْهَةٍ

    نثيرَ جُمانٍ في انقطاعِ نظامِ

    You scattered in parting in every direction,

    like pearls scattered when their string is broken.

  31. فَحزبٌ يكفُّ الدهرُ عنهُ عزيمَتي

    وحزبٌ تردّ الرومُ عنهُ مَرامي

    One group Time keeps my resolve from reaching;

    and another the Romans hold beyond my reach.

  32. سأُعْطي بشيراً قال لي قد تجمّعوا

    ثوابَ صلاتي طائعاً وصيامي

    I will give a bearer of good news who tells me, 'They have gathered,'

    the reward of my prayer and fasting, willingly.

  33. وأرْقُبُ يوماً فيهِ بالوَصْلِ تَلتقي

    سجامُ دموعٍ بيننا بسِجامِ

    And I await a day when reunion brings together

    streams of tears between us, stream with stream.

  34. متى آتكم يُنشَرْ لكم من ضريحه

    دفينُ اغترابٍ لا دفينُ رغامِ

    When I come to you, there will rise for you from his tomb

    one buried in exile, not one buried in dust.