ظُفْر تُرى ما أراه أم نابُ

ظُفْر تُرى ما أراه أم نابُ

أم تلك للدهر فيَّ أوصابُ

أم تلك للدهر فيَّ أوصابُ

Is what I see, I wonder, a claw or a fang?

Is this vision I see before me real or a mirage

Or are those the afflictions Time has laid upon me?

Or is it one of time's tricks playing out within me

ما العيد عيدٌ كما عهدت وقد

ما العيد عيدٌ كما عهدت وقد

زال خليط وشطَّ أحبابُ

زال خليط وشطَّ أحبابُ

The feast is no feast as I once knew it, now that

The feast day now is not the same feast I once knew

companions have departed and loved ones are far away.

Friends now departed, my circle broken

أحبابنا أين أين منك ترى

أحبابنا أين أين منك ترى

مضاربٌ للهنا وأطناب

مضاربٌ للهنا وأطناب

Where are our loved ones? Where, I wonder, can you find

Where, oh where have all our friends gone

the tents and guy ropes of joy?

Wandering afar over the dunes and hills

جررت في ظلها الذيول وقد

جررت في ظلها الذيول وقد

نيطت بها للسرور أهداب

نيطت بها للسرور أهداب

I trailed my hems in their shade, while

The ladies dragged their trains in joyful company

the fringes of joy had been fastened to them.

Adorned for celebration, their accessories a-jingle

فيا سقى الله أعصُراً سلفت

فيا سقى الله أعصُراً سلفت

كان بها للقلوب إطراب

كان بها للقلوب إطراب

Oh, may God water the ages that have passed,

May he who brought us wine in former days be spared by God

when hearts were filled with rapture.

To cheer men's hearts and banish their sorrows

ويا سقي الله من أبيك ثرى

ويا سقي الله من أبيك ثرى

ثوت به حشمة وآداب

ثوت به حشمة وآداب

And, oh, may God water your father's soil,

And blessings on the father of our host in his grave

where dignity and good manners lie at rest.

A man of dignity and high manners

قد كان خلا صفت مشاربه

قد كان خلا صفت مشاربه

والآن للّه منه أعقاب

والآن للّه منه أعقاب

He was indeed a friend whose wellsprings were pure;

His drinking parties were plain and pure

and now—God be praised—what offspring he has left!

Now may God have mercy on his soul

خلف ملء العيون منك فتىً

خلف ملء العيون منك فتىً

صار له العقل والهدى داب

صار له العقل والهدى داب

He left behind, in you, a youth who fills the eyes,

Though gone, his face still fills my eyes, that noble youth

for whom reason and right guidance have become a habit.

Gifted with wisdom and guidance his staff and stay

وقد دَرَى كل خابر زَكن

وقد دَرَى كل خابر زَكن

إِنَّ الرَّدى للأنام نهابُ

إِنَّ الرَّدى للأنام نهابُ

And every experienced, discerning person knows

Many wise men know well, destruction will always

that death is a plunderer of humankind.

Be the fate of mortal man, no escape

تأسَ يا صاحِ بالذين مضت

تأسَ يا صاحِ بالذين مضت

من قبلنا فوقهنَّ أحقابُ

من قبلنا فوقهنَّ أحقابُ

Take comfort, my friend, in those over whom

Take comfort, my friend, in those we mourned before us

ages passed before our time.

Laid to rest under mounds of earth

واصبر فإِنّ الأمور أنجحها

واصبر فإِنّ الأمور أنجحها

ما خيط فيها للصبر جلبابُ

ما خيط فيها للصبر جلبابُ

And be patient, for the most successful undertakings

Have patience - truly the most successful of all affairs

are those in which a cloak of patience is sewn.

Is that girded by steadfast endurance