1. كَم تَهيمُ كم تَجِبُ

    كم تَهي وَتَضطَرِبُ

    How often you pine, how often you throb!

    How often you weaken and tremble!

  2. كُلما أَقولُ سَلا

    جَدَّ ذلك اللَعِبُ

    Whenever I say, "It has forgotten,"

    that play begins anew.

  3. كُلَّما أَقولُ خَبا

    شَبَّ ذلك اللَهَبُ

    Whenever I say, "It has died down,"

    that blaze flares up.

  4. أَيُّها الفُؤادُ تما

    ديكَ في الهَوى عَجبُ

    O heart, your persistence

    in love is a wonder!

  5. ما نِفارُ فاتِنَتي

    يا تُرى لهُ سَبَبُ

    My enchantress's aversion

    has, I wonder, no cause

  6. غيرَ أَنَّني كَلِفٌ

    في الهَوى بها تَعِبُ

    except that I am enamored,

    weary with my love for her,

  7. ذاكِرٌ إِذا نَسيَت

    قائِمٌ بما يجِبُ

    remembering her when she forgets,

    doing what is due.

  8. فِتنَتي الجَمالُ وَعُذ

    رى الجمالُ وَالأَدَبُ

    Beauty is my enchantment, and my excuse

    is beauty and refinement.

  9. هَل دَرَت بِمَن حَمَلَت

    في المَهامهِ النُجُبُ

    Did they know whom they bore

    through the wastes, those noble camels?

  10. هَل دَرَت مَكانةَ عَبّا

    سَ بينَ مَن رَكِبوا

    Did they know Abbas's rank

    among those who rode?

  11. فَهيَ لَم يُلِمَّ بها

    في طريقِها لَغَبُ

    For they were not touched

    by weariness along their road.

  12. بل عَدَت وَلَذَّ لها

    في المَفاوِزِ الخَبَبُ

    Rather, they sped, delighting

    in trotting across the wastes.

  13. هل رَأت وجوهَهُمُ

    في سَمائِها الشُهُب

    Did they see their faces—

    the stars in their sky?

  14. فَهيَ في مَنازِلها

    ساهرٌ وَمُرتَقِب

    So, in their stations,

    they keep vigil and watch.

  15. هَل رَأَيتَ من ذَهَبوا

    قافِلينَ لا ذَهبوا

    Have you seen those who went away

    returning home? May they never be lost!

  16. لا عَدِمتَ رَكبَهُمُ

    في الصَباح إِذ رَكِبوا

    May you never lack their caravan

    in the morning when they rode out,

  17. وَالحِجازُ قِبلَتُهُم

    وَالفُروضُ وَالقُرَب

    with the Hijaz as their destination,

    and religious duties and devotions.

  18. وَالنَبِيُّ يَطلُبُهم

    وَالمُحِبُّ يَقتَربُ

    And the Prophet seeks them,

    and the lover draws near;

  19. وَالحَنينُ يَجذُبُهُم

    وَالمَشوقُ يَنجَذِب

    and yearning draws them,

    and the yearning one is drawn;

  20. وَالجَلال يُؤنِسُهم

    وَالنجارُ وَالحَسَبُ

    and majesty comforts them,

    and lineage and ancestral honor.

  21. هاتِ يا بَشيرُ أَدِر

    ذِكرَهُم أَلا اِقتَرَبوا

    Tell me, O Bashir; let talk

    of them go round—have they not drawn near?

  22. ما الذي تُرَدِّدُه

    في بِلادِها العَرَبُ

    What is it that is repeated

    by the Arabs in their lands?

  23. سالَ في رُبوعِهِمُ

    مِن نَداهُمُ الذَهَبُ

    Through their dwellings flowed

    gold from their bounty.

  24. وَاِنبَرَت تُقَلِّدُهُم

    مِن سمائِها السُحُبُ

    And they set about imitating them—

    the clouds from their sky.

  25. فَالفَقيرُ جاءَ لهُ

    في ديارهِ النَشبُ

    So to the poor man came

    wealth within his home.

  26. وَالسُهولُ واصَلَها

    بَعدَ هَجرِهِ العُشُب

    And the plains were rejoined

    by grass, after it had forsaken them.

  27. إيهِ يا بَشيرُ أَفِض

    ما تَقولُ مُقتَضَبُ

    Go on, O Bashir; pour forth!

    What you say is brief.

  28. إِن تَزِد فَذو كرمٍ

    لِلكِرامِ يَنتَسِبُ

    If you add more, you are a generous man,

    numbered among the generous.

  29. أَو تُرِد فَمَوعِدُنا

    ما سَتَشرَحُ الخُطَبُ

    Or, if you wish, our rendezvous is

    with what the speeches will unfold,

  30. وَالنَدِيُّ تَمرَحُ في

    هِ القَصائِدُ القُشُبُ

    and the gathering where

    fresh poems frolic,

  31. وَالذي سَتَحفَظهُ

    في صُدورِها الكُتُبُ

    and what shall be preserved

    within the breasts of books.