أَلَا لَيْتَ شِعْرِي وَالفُؤَادُ بِهِ نَارُ

أَلَا لَيْتَ شِعْرِي وَالفُؤَادُ بِهِ نَارُوَفِي العُمْرِ إِسْرَاعٌ وَفِي الدَّهْرِ إِدْبَارُ

Alā layta shiʿrī wa-al-fuʾādu bihi nāru, Wafī al-ʿumri isrāʿun wafī ad-dahri idbāru

Oh, would that I knew (while there is fire in my heart, and life hastens on and time turns its back)

هَلِ العَيْشُ فِي حَيِّ الأَحِبَّةِ عَائِدٌوَهَلْ قَدْ جَرَتْ بِالعَوْدِ يَا سَعْدُ أَقْدَارُ

Hali al-ʿayshu fī ḥayyi al-ʾaḥibbati ʿāʾidun, Wahal qad jarat bi-al-ʿawdi yā saʿdu aqdāru

Whether life in the encampment of the beloveds will return, and whether destiny, O Sa'd, has decreed a return.

فَقَدْ مَنَعَتْنِي عَنْ لِقَاهُمْ مَوَانِعٌوَقَدْ قَصُرَتْ بِي دُونَ ذَلِكَ أَعْذَارُ

Faqad manaʿatnī ʿan liqāhum mawāniʿun, Waqad qaṣurat bī dūna dhalika aʿdhāru

Obstacles have kept me from meeting them, and excuses have held me back from it.

وَلِي أَرَبٌ لَمْ يَنْقَضِي بَعْدُ فِي الحِمَىوَلِي ثَمَّ أَحْبَابٌ وَلِي ثَمَّ أَوْطَارُ

Walī arabun lam yanqaḍī baʿdu fī al-ḥimā, Walī thamma aḥbābun walī thamma awṭāru

I have an aim not yet fulfilled in the sanctuary; I have beloveds there, and I have wishes there.

وَلِي شَجَنٌ فِيهِمْ وَلِي وَلَعٌ بِهِمْوَلِي مَدْمَعٌ فِي الخَدِّ لِلْبُعْدِ مِدْرَارُ

Walī shajanun fīhim walī walaʿun bihim, Walī madmaʿun fī al-khaddi lilbuʿdi midrāru

I have a sorrow for them and an ardour for them, and a tear on my cheek that pours for their distance.

وَلِي زَفْرَةٌ تَعْلُو مَتَى مَا ذَكَرْتُهُمْوَكَمْ بِيَ مِنْ فَرْطِ الصَّبَابَةِ آثَارُ

Walī zafratun taʿlū matā mā dhakartuhum, Wakam biya min farṭi aṣ-ṣabābati ʾāthāru

I have a sigh that rises whenever I remember them, and how many traces excessive love has left on me!

أَسِيرُ هَوىً تَسْمُو بِهِ نَسْمَةُ الصَّبَاإِذَا مَا سَرَتْ مِنْ حَيِّهِمْ وَهْيَ مِعْطَارُ

Asīru hawan tasmū bihi nasmatu aṣ-ṣabā, Idhā mā sarat min ḥayyihim wahya miʿṭāru

A captive of love, lifted by the east wind's breeze when it comes by night from their encampment, fragrant,

تُذَكِّرُهُ قُرْبَ الأَحِبَّةِ وَاللِّقَاسُحَيْراً إِذَا غَنَّتْ عَلَى الأَيْكِ أَطْيَارُ

Tudhakkiruhu qurba al-ʾaḥibbati wa-al-liqā, Suḥayran idhā ghannat ʿalā al-ʾayki aṭyāru

Reminding him of the nearness of the beloveds and of meeting, before dawn, when the birds sing in the thickets.

وَيَأْخُذُهُ كَالسُّكْرِ طِيباً وَنَشْوَةًإِذَا ذُكِرُوا وَالرَّاحُ ذِكْرٌ وَتَذْكَارُ

Wayaʾkhudhuhu ka-as-sukri ṭīban wanashwatan, Idhā dhukirū wa-ar-rāḥu dhikrun watadhkāru

Something like intoxication seizes him, sweet and rapturous, when they are mentioned; for the wine is mention and remembrance.

رَعَى اللهُ جِيرَانَ الأَبَاطِحِ وَالصَّفَافَقَدْ جَاوَرُونِي بِالجَمِيلِ وَمَا جَارُوا

Raʿā Allāhu jīrāna al-ʾabāṭiḥi wa-aṣ-ṣafā, Faqad jāwarūnī bi-al-jamīli wamā jārū

May Allah protect the neighbours of al-Abatih and al-Safa, for they were good neighbours to me and did me no wrong.

وَأَمَّا هَوَاهُمْ وَالغَرَامُ فَقَدْ سَطَاعَلَيَّ وَلَا لَوْمٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا عَارُ

Waʾammā hawāhum wa-al-gharāmu faqad saṭā, ʿalayya walā lawmun ʿalayhim walā ʿāru

As for love of them and passion, it has overpowered me, yet there is no blame or shame on them.

فَإِنِّي رَضِيتُ المَوْتَ فِيهِمْ صَبَابَةًوَإِنِّيَ مُرْتَادٌ لِذَاكَ وَمُخْتَارُ

Faʾinnī raḍītu al-mawta fīhim ṣabābatan, Waʾinniya murtādun lidhāka wamukhtāru

For I am content to die of love for them, and I seek that and choose it.

وَلَا أَنْثَنِي عَنْ حُبِّهِمْ وَوِدَادِهِمْوَإِنْ طَالَتِ الأَيَّامُ وَانْتَزَحَ الدَّارُ

Walā anthanī ʿan ḥubbihim wawidādihim, Waʾin ṭālati al-ʾayyāmu wantazaḥa ad-dāru

I will not turn from loving them and my affection for them, even if the days grow long and the home is far.

وَمَا أَنَا بِالنَّاسِي عُهُودَ أَحِبَّتِيوَإِنْ لَمْ أَزُرْهُمْ فِي الزَّمَانِ وَلَا زَارُوا

Wamā anā bi-an-nāsī ʿuhūda aḥibbatī, Waʾin lam azurhum fī az-zamāni walā zārū

I am not one who forgets the pledges of my beloveds, even if I have not visited them in all this time, nor they me.

فَقَدْ خَالَطَتْ كُلِّي بَشَاشَةُ حُبِّهِمْوَهُمْ فِي رُبَى قَلْبِي سُكُونٌ وَحُضَّارُ

Faqad khālaṭat kullī bashāshatu ḥubbihim, Wahum fī rubā qalbī sukūnun waḥuḍḍāru

The joy of loving them has mingled with all of me, and they dwell and are present in the hills of my heart.

بَقِيَّةُ قَوْمٍ قَدْ مَضَوْا وَخَلَفْتُهُمْوَهُمْ خَلَّفُونِي فِي الحِمَى عِنْدَمَا سَارُوا

Baqiyyatu qawmin qad maḍaw wakhalaftuhum, Wahum khallafūnī fī al-ḥimā ʿindamā sārū

They are the remnant of a folk who have passed, and I have succeeded them; they left me behind in the sanctuary when they set out.

وَمُقْتَبِسٌ مِنْ نُورِهِمْ وَبِسِرِّهِمْعُنِيتُ وَأَنْوَارٌ لَدَيْهِمْ وَأَسْرَارُ

Wamuqtabisun min nūrihim wabisirrihim, ʿunītu waʾanwārun ladayhim waʾasrāru

I take light from their light, and with their secret I have been graced; theirs are the lights and the secrets.

وَلَيْسَ مَعِي إِلَّا انْكِسَارٌ وَذِلَّةٌوَفَقْرٌ وَذَنْبٌ وَالمُهَيْمِنُ غَفَّارُ

Walaysa maʿī illā nkisārun wadhillatun, Wafaqrun wadhanbun wa-al-muhayminu ghaffāru

I have nothing with me but brokenness and humility, poverty and sin, and the Guardian is Forgiving.

وَلِي أَمَلٌ فِي اللهِ جَلَّ جَلَالُهُوَظَنٌّ جَمِيلٌ لَمْ تُغَيِّرْهُ أَغْيَارُ

Walī amalun fī Allāhi jalla jalāluhu, Waẓannun jamīlun lam tughayyirhu aghyāru

I have hope in Allah, majestic is His majesty, and a beautiful thought of Him that nothing else has changed.

وَلِي مِنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ جَدِّي عِنَايَةٌوَوَجْهٌ وَإِمْدَادٌ وَإِرْثٌ وَإِيثَارُ

Walī min rasūli Allāhi jaddī ʿināyatun, Wawajhun waʾimdādun waʾirthun waʾīthāru

And from the Messenger of Allah, my grandfather, I have care, favour, support, inheritance and preference.

عَلَيْهِ صَلَاةُ اللهِ ثُمَّ سَلَامُهُيَدُورُ بِهَا بَعْدَ العَشِيَّةِ إِبْكَارُ

ʿalayhi ṣalātu Allāhi thumma salāmuhu, Yadūru bihā baʿda al-ʿashiyyati ibkāru

Upon him be the blessings of Allah and His peace, returning each morning after every evening.