صبوت إلى الفيحا ونشر خزاماها

سقاها ملث الغاديات وحياها

I yearned for al-Fayha and the fragrance of its lavender.

May unceasing morning rainclouds water it and greet it.

وأيام جمع قد تصرم شطرها

فما كان أنآها الغداة وأدناها

And days of reunion, half of which have slipped away—

how far away they were this morning, and how near!

وأكواب وصل ما ألذ رسيسها

سلافته مختومة نتعاطاها

And cups of union—how sweet their lingering savor!

Its choicest wine, sealed, we pass among ourselves.

تطعمت من لذاتها شهدة الهوى

فبتنا نداماها وكنا نشاواها

From its pleasures I tasted the honeycomb of love;

so we spent the night its drinking companions, and were drunk on it.

ولي في شعبو الجامعين منازل

برغمي أن لا يكحل العين مرآها

And I have dwellings in Sha'bu al-Jami'ayn.

To my sorrow, my eye is denied the kohl of seeing them.

أصيخ بسمعي عند نشر حديثها

وأهتز من شوق لها عند ذكراها

I lend my ear when their story is told,

and tremble with longing for them at their remembrance.

ربوع لدفع المستهام فواقع

وصفوا وداد العامرية صفاها

Abodes that repel the love-struck—then he falls [wording unclear].

And their rocks are the pure essence of al-'Amiriyya's love [reading uncertain].

دعوني وأرض الجامعية إن تكن

تلاعاً وأيم اللَه لا أتعداها

Leave me with the land of al-Jami'iyya, though it be

mere hills—by God, I shall not go beyond it.

وهب تحسبون الركب عن وقفةٍ بها

فهل تمنعون القلب إن يتمناها

Suppose you keep the caravan from halting there,

can you restrain the heart if it longs for it?

تدب كما دب الهوى في مفاصلي

سلاميةً واهاً لجيرانها واها

It creeps through my joints as love crept through them—

Salamiyya—ah, for its neighbors, ah!

وقفنا بها ميل الرقاب كأنما

لها حكم داعي اللَه كشاف جلاها

We stood there with necks bowed, as though

it bore the authority of the caller to God, the revealer who illumined it.

تراقبه صيد الملوك وإنه

ليأمرها فيما يشاء وينهاها

The proudest kings watch him, and he indeed

commands them as he wishes and forbids them.

ويعرب عن علم عزيز وحكمةٍ

وينطق عن وحي بليغ إذا فاها

He expounds rare knowledge and wisdom,

and speaks from eloquent revelation whenever he opens his mouth.

إذا مر في واد العفاة سحابه

سقاها من التبر المذاب فأحياها

When his cloud passes through the valley of petitioners,

it waters them with molten gold and revives them.

إذا شاء أمراً كان غير مراقب

سوى اللَه فيه لا وزيراً ولا شاها

When he wills a thing, he heeds none

but God in it—neither vizier nor shah.

وثبعان موسى يوم ألقت حبالها

لإبطال دعواه فأبطل دعواها

And he is Moses' serpent: when they cast their ropes

to disprove his claim, he disproved theirs.

ودانت له عبادة العجل صورة

نفاقاً ولولا الصفح عنها لأخزان

And the calf-worshippers submitted to him in outward show,

hypocritically; but for his pardon, he would have shamed them [ending unclear].

ويجزي بحسناء عن السوء آفةً

وهل فتيةٌ تجزي عن السوء حسناها

He repays a scourge with goodness for evil;

does any band of youths repay evil with its finest deed?

تغذي ثمار العلم من دوحة التقى

ولا غرو ممن مذ نشا قد تفياها

He fed on knowledge's fruits from piety's great tree,

and no wonder in one who has sought its shade since childhood.

وأجرى حدود اللضه وفق حدودها

ومن غيره حد الحدود فأجراها

He enforced God's ordinances within their bounds;

and who but he defined those bounds and enforced them?

رقى رتبة في عزه ونواله

وسؤدده فوق السماكين مرقاها

He rose to a rank, in his glory and bounty

and his nobility, whose height lies above the two Simak stars.

أطاعته رغماً فتيةً جد سعيها

بحظته لكنها ضل مسعاها

A band of youths obeyed him unwillingly, striving hard

for his favor [reading uncertain], but their effort went astray.

وعذراً معيد العدل غضاً فإن لي

رواحل عجفاً عذر الدهر مسراها

Pardon me, you who restore justice afresh, for I have

lean mounts, whose night journey Time has excused [wording unclear].

ليهن بني الفيحا إقامة سيدٍ

أقام عماد الدين فيها وقواها

May the sons of al-Fayha rejoice that a master resides there,

who raised religion's pillar there and gave the city strength.

إذا هم بي زم إليك يصدني

كوالح دهر لا رعى اللَه مغناها

Whenever the urge to harness up for you stirs in me, I am held back

by the scowling woes of Time—may God not preserve their abode!