Love of homeland

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

حب وطن از ملک سلیمان خو شتر
خاروطن از سنبل وریحاں خوشتر

یوسف کہ عصر پادشاہی می کرو
می گفت گدا بودن کنعان خوشتر

Love of the homeland is better than the kingdom of Sulayman (عليه السلام) . 
The thorns of the homeland are better than hyacinths and raihan (a certain fragrant plant) 
Yousuf (عليه السلام) wept as the king of his time
Preferring being a beggar of Canaan.



There is an alternate rendering as well:

خشتِ وطن از ملکِ سلیمان خوشتر
خارِ وطن از سنبل و ریحان خوشت
یوسف کہ ملکِ مصر شاہی می کرد
می گفت گدا بودن کنعان خوشتر

A brick of the homeland is better than the kingdom of Sulayman (عليه السلام) . 
The thorns of the homeland are better than hyacinths and raihan (a certain fragrant plant) 
Despite performing the role as the king of his time,  Yusuf (عليه السلام) wept
Preferring being a beggar of Canaan. 

 

Also, the following two bayts (couplets) by the Abbasid poet Abū Tammām (أبو تمّام) are often used to convey the same meaning.

 

نَقِّل فُؤادَكَ حَيثُ شِئتَ مِنَ الهَوى

ما الحُبُّ إِلّا لِلحَبيبِ الأَوَّلِ

كَم مَنزِلٍ في الأَرضِ يَألَفُهُ الفَتى

وَحَنينُهُ أَبَداً لِأَوَّلِ مَنزِلِ

 

“Move your heart wherever you wish, from one passion to another—
love is only for the first beloved.

How many a home on earth a chivalrous youth gets used to—
yet his longing is always for the first home.”

 

 

Note:

Abd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī (in Dalāʾil al‑Iʿjāz) cites the opening hemistich and explicitly labels it: “the kāmil (meter) of Abū Tammām” — i.e., he names Abū Tammām as the poet.

Ibn al‑Qayyim quotes them while talking about longing for one’s “first home” (reading it spiritually as yearning for the original homeland).