1. The dwellings of loved ones are but dust and ruins,
Though stars once rose within them shining bright.

2. When the tent-pitchers struck camp and loaded
Their beds and pots, the sites and traces took flight.

3. Their sides moan as the storms blast through,
Wearing their flanks while whirling in Might.

4. Time and decay have toyed with them,
Leaving only crumbling walls in sight.

5. Gales have roared within them, blowing wild,
Piling up sand as they fiercely bite.

6. They have waned till they became dens for beasts,
With no green sprouts or plants in sight.

7. No maid rose early within to bake bread,
Wrapping their edges in cozy light.

8. No hands of spring wove coverlets on them,
No branches swayed gentle in the light.

9. I stood among them one noon questioning,
As doubts and thoughts tortured me outright.

10. Of the friendly gazelles, our old companions,
Their beauty once graced this site.

11. Gazelles still roam my heart untamed,
My passions their meadow and shrine.

12. Hunting bold lions with glances,
Gentle, languid, serene and benign.

13.
Without meeting them, spears stay sheathed,

14. Without recalling them, lions decline.
My visiting them at dawn, swords shone bright,

15. No shields or armor to confine.
God granted an age of union I severed in nights

16. Not everlasting, but brief delights.
Once lush with greenery that did not fade,

17. The clouds watered its range and heights.
As the palm of the prince Muhammad poured

18. Wealth on the needy, both glad and contrite.
Scion of the generous and glorious Sa’id,

19. His bounty nourished both moist and arid.
So I sang when his right hand gave me

20. Gifts of precious pearls, proud and elighted.
He loved lofty merits as a child,

21. So wed him while young to her heights.
A youth whose quest in his time was knowledge and munificence,

22. And now for piety and renown is he dight.
My tongue is sharpened by the plenty he gave,

23. As the white rock makes knives keen and bright.
This, which I etched on the plain, I made

24. My refuge, when fate glooms blight.
When the days darken with sadness and grief,

25. His radiance is brilliant light.
With his rising, the gloomy world shone again,

26. Became a bride, though wrinkled and blighted.
He brought light into the Sa’idis, shining clear,