1. تَأَمَّل بِدارٍ تَسرُّ الحَشا

    وَتَحكُم لِلرّوحِ أَن يَنعشا

    Contemplate a house that delights the heart,

    and ordains that the spirit be revived;

  2. وَتَقضي لِتَرصينِ بُنيانِها

    لِمَن قَد يَراها بِأَن يدهشا

    and, through the firmness of its structure, decrees

    that whoever sees it shall be amazed.

  3. تسامي الثريّا وَرَأسَ السهى

    وَتَعلو السّماكينِ ثمَّ الرَّشا

    It rivals the Pleiades and the head of al-Suhā in height,

    and rises above the two Simāk stars, then al-Rashā.

  4. تَمَنَّتْ بُروجُ السّماءِ بِأَنْ

    تَكونَ قُصوراً بِها تنتَشا

    The constellations of heaven wished that

    they might become palaces, reveling within it.

  5. فَيُوسُف مَع صِنوِهِ عمرٍ

    عَلى المَجدِ أَركانُها عرَّشا

    For Yusuf, together with his brother Umar,

    raised its pillars upon glory.

  6. وَقَد مَلَأ الحسنُ أَكنافَها

    وَماءُ النّضارَةِ فيها مَشى

    And beauty has filled its corners,

    and the water of freshness has flowed through it.

  7. كَذا اليُمنُ أَرّخته نالَها

    وَطيرُ السّعودِ بِها عَشعَشا

    Thus good fortune—I recorded its date—came to it,

    and the birds of good fortune nested within it.