أَجِيرانَنا كَيفَ السَّبيلُ وَقَد غَدَت

أَجِيرانَنا كَيفَ السَّبيلُ وَقَد غَدَت

ديارُكُمُ تَزدادُ من دارِنا بُعدا

ديارُكُمُ تَزدادُ من دارِنا بُعدا

O our neighbors, how can we reach you, now that

Our friends, how fares the road when your homes

your homes grow ever farther from our home?

Grow farther from our home by the day?

أَحنُّ إِليكُم والَمهامِهُ بَيننَا

أَحنُّ إِليكُم والَمهامِهُ بَيننَا

وَشَحطُ النَّوى قَد قَدَّني سَيفُهُ قَدَّا

وَشَحطُ النَّوى قَد قَدَّني سَيفُهُ قَدَّا

I yearn for you, with trackless deserts between us,

I yearn for you while fate keeps us apart,

and the sword of far-flung separation has cleft me through.

Its sword has pierced me with homesickness.

وَلي مُهجَةٌ قَد غَيَّرَ الشَّوقُ رَسمَها

وَلي مُهجَةٌ قَد غَيَّرَ الشَّوقُ رَسمَها

يَذوبُ بِها دَمعٌ غَدا ماؤُهُ وِردا

يَذوبُ بِها دَمعٌ غَدا ماؤُهُ وِردا

And I have a soul whose form longing has altered,

My heart is transformed, longing has changed its shape,

where tears dissolve, their water now a draught;

My tears now melt to become a stream,

وَقَلبٌ إِذا هَبَّ النَّسيمُ يَزيدُهُ

وَقَلبٌ إِذا هَبَّ النَّسيمُ يَزيدُهُ

غَراماً غَدا من حَرِّ ذِكرِكُمُ وَقدا

غَراماً غَدا من حَرِّ ذِكرِكُمُ وَقدا

and a heart, which the breeze, whenever it blows, fills

My heart, when the breeze blows, grows

with greater passion, has become a blaze from the heat of remembering you.

Ever fonder, the memory of you flames within.

إِذا لاحَ بَرقُ الشَّامِ فالدَّمعُ هاطِلٌ

إِذا لاحَ بَرقُ الشَّامِ فالدَّمعُ هاطِلٌ

عَلَيكُم وَقَلبي لا يَقِرُّ ولا يَهدا

عَلَيكُم وَقَلبي لا يَقِرُّ ولا يَهدا

When the lightning of al-Sham flashes, tears pour down

When lightning flashes in Damascus, my tears flow

for you, and my heart neither rests nor grows calm.

Ceaselessly for you, my heart knows no peace.

وأَذكُرُ أَيَّامُ الوِصال وَلَيتَها

وأَذكُرُ أَيَّامُ الوِصال وَلَيتَها

تَعودُ ولا نُحصي لساعاتِها عَدَّا

تَعودُ ولا نُحصي لساعاتِها عَدَّا

And I recall the days of union—if only they

I remember the days we were together, would that

would return, and we would not count their hours,

They return, that we count their hours no more.

وَيُصبِحُ ثَغرُ الزَّهرِ بالقُربِ بِاسِماً

وَيُصبِحُ ثَغرُ الزَّهرِ بالقُربِ بِاسِماً

وَنَعدَمُ ما عِشنا القَطيعَةَ والصَّدَّا

وَنَعدَمُ ما عِشنا القَطيعَةَ والصَّدَّا

and the mouth of the flowers would smile at our closeness,

That the rosebud mouth smile close by each dawn,

and we would be free of estrangement and rejection for as long as we lived.

That we forget the estrangement and separation we knew.