1. I stood weeping at Al-Mustansiriya
Its grounds once bustling with knowledge are now empty

2. I stood there crying for its past glory
And the virtues I weep for and the heights I mourn

3. I stood there weeping for its daughters my verse
And eulogizing its qualities and eulogizing the efforts

4. I cried there for an era that passed in its yards
Noble, would that the era had not gone by

5. I cried there for the buried in its chambers
Of knowledge until my tears soaked my cloak

6. I tried to restrain my overflowing tears
But they insisted on streaming down my cheeks

7. I bowed my head to its ruins in humility
And greeted its melodies with submission

8. My gaze roamed it and I found it
A lofty structure for the elevation of knowledge

9. A splendid edifice the pride of science
I said this is how one should build if he were a builder

10. Some of its wall has collapsed
And some remains standing as it was before

11. The summer winds blow in its chambers
Cloaking it in a garment of patchwork

12. The cobwebs hasten to mend its cracks
To rebuild what dilapidated of its structure

13. I blamed its balconies and terraces
And asked its long vacant lands

14. I said to the college of research you were grand
And I said to the study club I greeted a club

15. College of knowledge that was once a meadow
Prospering as progress willed exuberantly

16. With what wind in you were discordant gales unleashed
Devastating that meadow uprooting its plants

17. You were once the abode of wisdom
Where people learned the essence of matters

18. You were the luminous sun in the orient's horizon
Radiating light of knowledge vibrantly

19. While the lands of the west were in ignorance
Enduring profound, dense darkness

20. Where are the men who were your sheikhs
To whom students flocked eagerly

21. They were the profound oceans of knowledge
And the sturdy mountains of wisdom

22. They were the guiding stars and lights
By them those lost in the night found their way

23. By day spreading knowledge tirelessly
By night solving the most complex problems

24. Your districts today are vacant of students
Though they once filled the quarters densely

25. So it said may God protect you, do not ask me
For what use is your questioning and mine?

26. I said grace me as you were before
Answering those seeking knowledge readily

27. It said immense tribulations have befallen me
And afflicted these lands with their ills

28. Fate there has wronged people by changing
Lowering the esteemed and elevating the lowly

29. An Arab state declined there
In which days elevated prestige

30. It was replaced by state after state
Pleased that ignorance spreads among people

31. That's because knowledge guides man
To defend his rights steadfastly

32. After Baghdad was struck with the blows of fate
Where peace flourished splendidly

33. That diminished the charm of science's prime
As consecutive events extinguish determination

34. The least of what befell it of calamities
Is my ruin, without which it would not have fallen

35. It endured tribulations and grave adversity
And suffered calamities and misfortune

36. Some men disgraced its former glory
They were adversaries of the essence of knowledge

37. It was neglected until its foundations collapsed
As you see the structures that elevated its buildings

38. It became subject to those who shunned
Knowledge, oh you, to what you now see me

39. So the lush branch withered away
And the good deed that kept it thriving is disabled

40. It enlightened eras that have now gone
So ask, if you wish, about my past eras

41. I hoped its restoration would come
If Providence sent one to sponsor knowledge

42. I awaited that return in vain
And lived an age of wishful dreaming

43. I hoped to regain my youth in it
But now I know no reunion will occur

44. Time's injustice has erased my honor
And the nights follow the nights ceaselessly

45. The tyranny of time has marred my livelihood
So who can I find to face time undaunted?

46. The transgressors tore me apart
With none to forbid that act

47. Some of me they made warehouses
Some shops and some places of entertainment

48. And merchandise was piled in my squares
That the people buy with hardship

49. I suffered from them every debasement and disdain
So what more can I expect to face?

50. I spend the night without a light to dispel my gloom
And banish my loneliness and darkness

51. I am barred from drinking a drop of water
While the Tigris flows right before me

52. Would that I had been completely erased
And such degradation was not displayed

53. As my sister, Al-Nizamiyya, was erased
With no relics left of it to remain

54. All that is new will turn to ruin
Unless God Himself protects and defends