أَجُودُ بِدَمْعِي وَالدُّمُوعُ عَلَى الخَدِّ

أَجُودُ بِدَمْعِي وَالدُّمُوعُ عَلَى الخَدِّشُهُودٌ عَلَى الأَشْوَاقِ وَالحُزْنِ وَالوَجْدِ

Ajūdu bidamʿī wa-ad-dumūʿu ʿalā al-khaddi, Shuhūdun ʿalā al-ʾashwāqi wa-al-ḥuzni wa-al-wajdi

I pour out my tears, and the tears upon my cheek bear witness to my longing, my grief and my ecstasy.

أُحِسُّ بِقَلْبِي حَسْرَةً وَكَآبَةًلِمَا نَالَنِي مِنْ وَحْشَةِ البُعْدِ وَالصَّدِّ

Uḥissu biqalbī ḥasratan wakaʾābatan, Limā nālanī min waḥshati al-buʿdi wa-aṣ-ṣaddi

I feel in my heart regret and sadness for the loneliness of distance and rejection that has befallen me.

إِذَا رُمْتُ مِنْ نَجْدٍ دُنُوّاً تَزَاحَمَتْعَلَيَّ أُمُورٌ تَقْتَضِي البُعْدَ عَنْ نَجْدِ

Idhā rumtu min najdin dunuwwan tazāḥamat, ʿalayya umūrun taqtaḍī al-buʿda ʿan najdi

Whenever I seek to draw near to Najd, there crowd upon me affairs that demand distance from Najd,

وَعَنْ جِيرَةِ الحَيِّ الَّذِي حَلَّ حُبُّهُمْفُؤَادِي فَأَلْهَانِي عَنِ القَبْلِ وَالبَعْدِ

Waʿan jīrati al-ḥayyi al-ladhī ḥalla ḥubbuhum, Fuʾādī faʾalhānī ʿani al-qabli wa-al-baʿdi

And from the neighbours of the encampment whose love has settled in my heart and made me forget all before and after.

مَحَبَّتُهُمْ دِينِي وَفَرْضِي وَسُنَّتِيوَعُرْوَتِيَ الوُثْقَى وَأَفْضَلُ مَا عِنْدِي

Maḥabbatuhum dīnī wafarḍī wasunnatī, Waʿurwatiya al-wuthqā waʾafḍalu mā ʿindī

Love for them is my religion, my duty and my practice, my firmest handhold and the best of what I have.

وَفِي قُرْبِهِمْ أُنْسِي وَرَوْحِي وَرَاحَتِيوَلَسْتُ بِشَيْءٍ إِنْ بَلَوْنِيَ بِالبُعْدِ

Wafī qurbihim unsī warawḥī warāḥatī, Walastu bishayʾin in balawniya bi-al-buʿdi

In their nearness is my intimacy, my spirit and my rest, and I am nothing if they try me with distance.

وَمَهْمَا سَرَتْ لِي نَسْمَةٌ مِنْ رُبُوعِهِمْيُخَالِطُهَا عَرْفُ البَشَامَاتِ وَالرَّنْدِ

Wamahmā sarat lī nasmatun min rubūʿihim, Yukhāliṭuhā ʿarfu al-bashāmāti wa-ar-randi

Whenever a breeze from their dwellings reaches me by night, mingled with the scent of the basham and the rand,

وَرِيحُ الخُزَامَى وَالأَرَاكِ تَهِيجُ بِيشُجُوناً تَدَعْنِي لَا أُعِيدُ وَلَا أُبْدِي

Warīḥu al-khuzāmā wa-al-ʾarāki tahīju bī, Shujūnan tadaʿnī lā uʿīdu walā ubdī

And the fragrance of lavender and arak stirs in me sorrows that leave me unable to speak or reply,

فَمَا حِيلَتِي وَالعُمْرُ وَلَّى وَلَمْ أَنَلْلِقَاهُمْ وَمَا لِلْعُمْرِ إِنْ فَاتَ مِنْ رَدِّ

Famā ḥīlatī wa-al-ʿumru wallā walam anal, Liqāhum wamā lilʿumri in fāta min raddi

What can I do, when life has passed and I have not attained their meeting, and life, once gone, cannot be brought back?

وَمَا أَسْتَلِذُّ العَيْشَ فِي البُعْدِ عَنْهُمُوَلَوْ كَانَ مُلْكُ الأَرْضِ فِي قَبْضَةِ اليَدِّ

Wamā astalidhdhu al-ʿaysha fī al-buʿdi ʿanhumu, Walaw kāna mulku al-ʾarḍi fī qabḍati al-yaddi

I find no pleasure in life far from them, even if the kingdom of the earth were in my grasp.

وَإِنِّي لَأَرْجُو قُرْبَهُمْ وَوِصَالَهُمْوَإِنْ طَالَتِ الأَيَّامُ مَا لَمْ أَرِدْ لَحْدِي

Waʾinnī laʾarjū qurbahum wawiṣālahum, Waʾin ṭālati al-ʾayyāmu mā lam arid laḥdī

Yet I hope for their nearness and their union, however long the days, so long as I have not come to my grave.

فَيَا سَعْدُ سِرْ بِي نَحْوَهُمْ وَأَبْلِغَنَّهُمْبِأَنِّي عَلَى حِفْظِ المَوَدَّةِ وَالعَهْدِ

Fayā saʿdu sir bī naḥwahum waʾablighannahum, Biʾannī ʿalā ḥifẓi al-mawaddati wa-al-ʿahdi

So, O Sa'd, take me toward them and tell them that I keep faith with love and with the covenant.

وَنَبِّئْهُمُ عَنْ لَوْعَتِي وَصَبَابَتِيوَكَتْمِي لِأَسْرَارِ الهَوَى غَايَةَ الجُهْدِ

Wanabbiʾhumu ʿan lawʿatī waṣabābatī, Wakatmī liʾasrāri al-hawā ghāyata al-juhdi

Tell them of my anguish and my yearning, and how I keep the secrets of love with all my strength,

وَأَنِّي مُقِيمٌ فِي مَوَاطِنِ غُرْبَةٍعَلَى كَثْرَةِ الأُلَّافِ فِي جَانِبٍ وَحْدِي

Waʾannī muqīmun fī mawāṭini ghurbatin, ʿalā kathrati al-ʾullāfi fī jānibin waḥdī

And that I dwell in lands of exile, alone on one side, for all my many companions:

قَرِيبٌ بَعِيدٌ كَائِنٌ غَيْرُ كَائِنٍوَحِيدٌ فَرِيدٌ فِي طَرِيقِي وَفِي قَصْدِي

Qarībun baʿīdun kāʾinun ghayru kāʾinin, Waḥīdun farīdun fī ṭarīqī wafī qaṣdī

Near yet far, present yet not present, solitary and alone in my path and in my aim.

أُمُورٌ وَأَحْوَالٌ تَعِنُّ وَلَمْ أَجِدْعَلَيْهَا مُعِيناً وَهْيَ تَقْعُدُ بِالفَرْدِ

Umūrun waʾaḥwālun taʿinnu walam ajid, ʿalayhā muʿīnan wahya taqʿudu bi-al-fardi

Affairs and states arise for which I find no helper, and they weigh heavily on one alone.

فَكُنْ لِي شَفِيعاً عِنْدَهُمْ فَلَعَلَّهُمْيَمُنُّوا بِجَمْعِ الشَّمْلِ فَضْلاً عَلَى العَبْدِ

Fakun lī shafīʿan ʿindahum falaʿallahum, Yamunnū bijamʿi ash-shamli faḍlan ʿalā al-ʿabdi

So be my intercessor with them; perhaps they will grant reunion as a favour to their servant.

فَيَا لَيْتَ شِعْرِي هَلْ أَزُورُ خِيَامَهُمْسُحَيْراً عَلَى حَالِ المَسَرَّةِ وَالوُدِّ

Fayā layta shiʿrī hal azūru khiyāmahum, Suḥayran ʿalā ḥāli al-masarrati wa-al-wuddi

Oh, would that I knew whether I will visit their tents before dawn, in a state of joy and love,

وَهَلْ تَجْمَعُ الأَيَّامُ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَهُمْوَهَلْ بَعْدَ هَذَا البُعْدِ يَا سَعْدُ مَا يُجْدِي

Wahal tajmaʿu al-ʾayyāmu baynī wabaynahum, Wahal baʿda hadhā al-buʿdi yā saʿdu mā yujdī

And whether the days will bring us together, and whether, after this distance, O Sa'd, anything will avail.

أُرَجِّي وَلِي ظَنٌّ جَمِيلٌ بِخَالِقِيتَعَالَى عَظِيمِ الشَّأْنِ مُسْتَوْجِبِ الحَمْدِ

Urajjī walī ẓannun jamīlun bikhāliqī, Taʿālā ʿaẓīmi ash-shaʾni mustawjibi al-ḥamdi

I hope, and I think well of my Creator, exalted, Mighty in station, worthy of all praise,

إِلَهِ البَرَايَا كُلِّهَا وَمَلِيكِهَاتَنَزَّهَ عَنْ شِبْهٍ وَمِثْلٍ وَعَنْ نِدِّ

Ilahi al-barāyā kullihā wamalīkihā, Tanazzaha ʿan shibhin wamithlin waʿan niddi

God of all creation and its King, transcendent beyond any likeness, equal or rival.