يا حبذا جلق الفيحا وناديها

وطيب عهد أويقات مضت فيها

Ah, how lovely are spacious Jilliq and its gathering-place,

And how sweet the memory of little moments spent there!

واها لعيش لنا بالبسط مر بها

حلوا وأيامنا بيض لياليها

Ah, for a life of ours that passed there in delight,

Sweetly, while the nights of our days were bright.

حيث المياه بها تسقي الرياض وقد

قامت على سوقها تجري سواقيها

Where waters irrigate the gardens, which have

Risen upon their stalks, their irrigation channels flowing.

ومن كمائمها تلك الغصون غدت

تلقي علينا نثاراً من اعاليها

And from their buds those branches have begun

To shower us with scattered offerings from their heights.

والسحب حاكت بها من سندس حللا

بديعة الوشي قد رقت حواشيها

And the clouds have woven there robes of fine silk,

Wondrously embroidered, their borders grown delicate.

ومرسل الغيث قد حل النبات بها

والقطر ينهل سكبا في نواحيها

And the sender of rain has adorned the plants there,

And the rain pours in streams throughout its reaches.

واعين الطل در الدمع قد نثرت

والروض يضحك عجبا من تباكيها

And dew's eyes have scattered pearls of tears,

While the garden laughs in wonder at their feigned weeping.

وارضها كسماء في نضارتها

ونورها الشمرق الزاهي دراريها

And its earth is like a sky in its fresh splendor,

And its lush, radiant blossoms are its glittering stars.

وفي منازلها الحور الحسان بدت

كأنهن شموس في ضواحيها

And in its dwellings lovely, dark-eyed maidens appeared,

As though they were suns in its outskirts.

والطير يطرب اذ تشدو صوادحها

ما ليس يطرب بالالحان شاديها

And the birds, when its warblers sing, stir a joy

That its singer cannot stir with melodies.

وتحت ربوتها الانهار جارية

تجري لجينا على حصبا لآليها

And beneath its hill the rivers flow,

Flowing like silver over its pebbles of pearl.

ويعبق العرف من طيب النسيم بها

ويحجب الشمس عنا ظل واديها

And fragrance wafts there from the sweetness of the breeze,

And its valley's shade screens the sun from us.

كأنها جنة قد زخرفت وزهت

حسنا وشادت طباقا في مبانيها

As though it were Paradise, adorned and radiant

In beauty, with its buildings raised in tiers.

ان لم تكن اشبهتها في محاسنها

يوما فقد اشبهتها في معانيها

If it has not resembled Paradise in its beauties

On any day, it has surely resembled it in spirit.

عروسها بحماة لست ابدلها

ولو ليّ مطيعا جاء عاصيها

Its bride—I would not exchange her for Hama,

Even if its 'Rebel,' the Orontes, came to me obedient.

من ذا الذي عن دمشق يبتغي بدلا

ومن بمصر وبغداد يضاهيها

Who is it that seeks a substitute for Damascus?

And who would match it with Egypt and Baghdad?

وما رحيلي عنها عن رضاي وان

يكن فمن نكد الدنيا واهليها

And my departure from it is not by my choice; and if

It is, it is from the harshness of the world and its people.

ابيت اسجع بالشكوى وتنثرها

في الخد درا دموعي من مآقيها

I spend the night chanting my complaint in rhyme, and it is scattered

As pearls upon my cheek by my tears from the corners of my eyes.

لم تغن والله عن فقري بها فقري

كلا ولا رجعت درا قوافيها

By God, my writings there have not relieved my poverty;

No indeed, nor have their rhymes turned to pearls.

وليس الا وعود غير صادقة

حتى القيامة لا يرجى تقاضيها

And there is nothing but promises that are not true,

Not even by Resurrection Day can one hope to collect on them.

فان هجوت فاخشى من عواقبها

وان مدحت فلا دنيا ارجيّها

So if I satirize, I fear its consequences;

And if I praise, there is no worldly gain to hope for.

والناس ماتوا جميعا والكرام مضوا

والمكرمات تولت مع مواليها

And the people have all died, and the generous have passed away,

And noble deeds have departed with their patrons.

فهل عقيما غدا الدهر المشت بهم

ام هل لياليه قد شابت نواصيها

So has Time, which scattered them, become barren?

Or have its nights' forelocks already turned gray?

وليس لي مخلص منها اروم سوى

رئيسها وامام العصر قاضيها

And I seek no deliverer from it other than

Its chief and the imam of the age—its judge.

فقل لراجي الوفا من غير نائله

يمم حماه واعط القوس باريها

So tell whoever hopes for fulfillment from anyone but its giver:

Make for his sanctuary, and give the bow to its maker.