ليتها الغربة تقضي بعجل

ويصير العام شهرا أو أقل

If only exile would end swiftly,

And the year would become a month or less,

ونرى الشهر كيوم ينقضي

والليالي تنطوي طي السجل

And we could see the month pass like a day,

And the nights would fold up like a scroll.

هين ذاك وان كان كما

قيل من أعمارنا ذاك العجل

That is a small matter, even if, as

They say, such haste is at our lifespans’ expense.

ساعة تعدل شهراً عندنا

فمتى يا هل ترى نيل الامل

An hour equals a month to us;

When, then, I wonder, will hope be fulfilled?

فابو النصر أني بالحق اذ

قال لما حل لالوت الجبل

For Abu al-Nasr [spoke] the truth when

He said, upon reaching Lalut on the mountain:

رزقنا في دارنا خير لنا

شامنا جنة فردوس الحلل

Our sustenance in our own home is better for us;

Our Sham is a garden, a paradise of dwellings.

أي شيء عندنا أشهى لنا

من لقاكم حاشا لو كان عسل

What could be sweeter to us

Than meeting you? Surely nothing, even were it honey.

فمنانا وصلكم عزما على

أحسن الاحوال في ذاك المحل

Our firm wish, then, is reunion with you in

The best of circumstances in that place.

بالنبيء المصطفى خير الورى

احمد الامي ذو القدر الاجل

By the Prophet, the Chosen One, the best of creation,

Ahmad, the unlettered, of the most exalted rank:

صل يا رب عليه وعلى

آله ما ابن البروني اشتغل

Send blessings, O Lord, upon him and upon

His family, as long as Ibn al-Baruni labors.