1. What ails my heart that it has grayed,
And I dyed it but the whiteness washed away its dye,

2. Sorrows crept in at night and left
Between my chest and guts their bequests,

3. My tears did not flow till the pain of grief
Touched them, and lo! they burst forth and swayed,

4. I tasted for a while loss of loved ones
And struggled in the hands of passion - and snapped its ties,

5. I reproach the days openly but do not blame them
That I prolonged reproaching them,

6. As for shocking events, you’ll never see
Me heedless of precautions, so I avoid their traps,

7. Circumstances left me, in their ups and downs,
Biting the fingers of adversity with its canine teeth,

8. And I am forbearing, so before my estrangement
I never parted due to disunion - and deterred its crow,

9. I regret that I enjoyed my youth
And let my soul have what it desired in its prime,

10. And for long I dragged it into the pits of passion
To frolic - and avoid its reckoning in its youth,

11. And I witnessed drinking in the taverns
Where they serve the pure wine’s draught,

12. And I visited the mistress of the tents, and around her
The bright stars of Canopus spent the night enveloping her pavilions,

13. And many a night I wandered under the darkness of night's gloom,
Feeling the night breeze blow through its dress,

14. And I wade at dawn through the warbling of the first light
As the sun wanders distraught, licking its lips,

15. And I praise the sublime kings to the noble dynasties,
And remember their great feats,

16. I ransom the family of Umar ibn Nabhan -
They attained the heights and put on its robes,

17. The progeny of Atik who inherited the glory of generosity,
Its core and essence,

18. Who shoulder the burdens of their tribe,
And support it in its trials,

19. Who plunge into its deep waters during chaos,
And pave its way to the heights,

20. They are the lions in the face of calamities,
Who made their den between spearheads and sword blades,

21. And if their tribe is exposed to adversity someday,
They prevent its misfortunes and blame,

22. And when disaster strikes them they become
The strongest to endure and the most resolute,

23. They were generous even when grieved
By the loss of a precious pearl,

24. They controlled their anguish and rarely agonized
Over what makes men forgetful in bewilderment,

25. An assassin descended upon the princess of her people
And killed her while she stood praying in her sanctuary,

26. And truly she was the sun of the sublime
Which disappeared and donned the dress of the ruin,

27. She settled with the traits of glory and decency
In the belly of dust but her kin still surround her tomb,

28. I have no power over what I witnessed but
I mourn for her that she left her loved ones,

29. The turns of fate sufficed me, and she attained
In the hands of God her bliss and reward.