1. نَزَعَ القَرِيضُ إلى حِمَى نَقَّاشِهِ

    كالطَيْرِ مُبتدرِاً إلى أعشاشِهِ

    Verse yearned for the haven of its Naqqash,

    like a bird hastening to its nests.

  2. حَملَتْهُ أجنِحَةُ الصَبابةِ فاستَوَى

    مُتَمَتِعّاً منها بِلينِ فِراشِهِ

    The wings of longing bore it, and it came to rest,

    enjoying, through them, the softness of its bed.

  3. يا حَبَّذا ذَاكَ المَزارُ فإنَّهُ

    وِرْدٌ بهِ يُرْوَى غليلُ عِطاشِهِ

    Ah, how lovely that place to visit, for it is

    a watering place where its thirsty ones’ burning thirst is quenched.

  4. خَلَعَ الحبيبُ عليهِ بَهْجةَ أُنسِهِ

    وعلى مَنازِلِنا دُجَى إيحاشِهِ

    The beloved clothed it in the radiance of his company,

    and our dwellings in the darkness of his absence.

  5. يا دارَ مَن أهوَاهُ حَيَّاكِ الصَّبا

    وسَقاكِ مُزْنُ الصُبحِ صَفْوَ رَشاشِهِ

    O dwelling of the one I love, may the east wind greet you,

    and may morning’s rainclouds water you with their pure spray.

  6. إن كانَ قَدْ سَكَنَتْ عليكِ رِحالُهُ

    فالقلبُ لم تَسكُنْ بلابلُ جاشِهِ

    If his baggage has indeed come to rest with you,

    yet the heart’s inner tumults have not grown still.

  7. طُبِعَ الزَّمانُ على تَقَلُّبِ حالهِ

    وعلى تَلَوُّن وَجهِهِ ورِياشِهِ

    Time is fashioned to change its state,

    and to change the colors of its face and plumage.

  8. ما زَالَ يَنصَحُنا بنَكْبَةِ غيرِنا

    ويَظُنُّهُ المنصوحُ من غُشَّاشِهِ

    It keeps counseling us through the misfortunes of others,

    yet the one counseled counts it among his deceivers.

  9. لا يذكُرُ الإنسانُ أمرَ مَعادِهِ

    إذ كان مُشتَغِلاً بأمر مَعاشِهِ

    Man gives no thought to his return to the hereafter

    when occupied with the business of his livelihood.

  10. يَستأْمِنُ الجَزَّارُ وهْوَ يَرَى المُدَى

    يَخْطَفْنَ حَوْلَ نِعاجِهِ وكِباشِهِ

    He trusts the butcher, though he sees the knives

    darting around his ewes and rams.

  11. يا مُسعِفاً دهري عليَّ بهَجْرِهِ

    لا تُسعِفِ البازي على خُفّاشِهِ

    O you who aid my fate against me by forsaking me,

    do not aid the hawk against its bat.

  12. أنْعِمْ بتَرْداد الرسائل مُنعِشاً

    مَن أنتَ مُقْتَدِرٌ على إنعاشِهِ

    Be generous with frequent letters, reviving

    one whom you have the power to revive.