أشجَتْكَ أطلال لخو

أشجَتْكَ أطلال لخو

لةَ كالمَهَارِق دُرَّسُ

لةَ كالمَهَارِق دُرَّسُ

Have Khawlah’s ruined traces grieved you,

Your ruins have saddened me, O Lakhaw

like worn-out sheets of parchment?

Like tents patched up and repaired

أودت بهنَّ الباكيا

أودت بهنَّ الباكيا

تُ الضاحكات الرُجَّسُ

تُ الضاحكات الرُجَّسُ

They were laid waste by the weeping,

In them the laughing ones have become crying

laughing, thunderous clouds,

And the pure ones unclean

والعاصفاتُ القاصفا

والعاصفاتُ القاصفا

تُ المُعصراتُ الرمَّسُ

تُ المُعصراتُ الرمَّسُ

and the raging, shattering,

The stormy winds and the reaping winds

rain-bearing, obliterating storms.

And the twisted and trampled winds

ما إن بها إلا الجآ

ما إن بها إلا الجآ

ذرُ والظباء الكُنَّسُ

ذرُ والظباء الكُنَّسُ

Nothing is there but wild-ox calves

Nothing in them except the streams and the gathered dust

and gazelles sheltering in their cover.

And the beautiful ones, truncated and truncated

ولقد تحل بها الحسا

ولقد تحل بها الحسا

ن القاصرات الأنَّسُ

ن القاصرات الأنَّسُ

And indeed, fair women once dwelt here,

From every thin rod that grew from it a knotty or brittle palm

modest and companionable,

It has a face upon which the harshness of time has put on its dress

من كل رودٍ كالقضي

من كل رودٍ كالقضي

ب نَماهُ دِعصٌ أوعسُ

ب نَماهُ دِعصٌ أوعسُ

each a supple woman, like a branch

Like the moon surrounded by bliss and absent from it are the unlucky

nurtured by a soft sandhill:

It has soft braids above the litters combed

خَوْد لها وجه علي

خَوْد لها وجه علي

ه من القسامة ملبسُ

ه من القسامة ملبسُ

a tender young woman, her face clothed

And it has a hanging muffler, rough and silent

in a garment of loveliness,

As if its tilt were coveting a frightened young gazelle

كالبدر حفته السعو

كالبدر حفته السعو

د وغاب عنه الأنْحسُ

د وغاب عنه الأنْحسُ

like the full moon, encircled by auspicious stars,

Startled by the news of an ardent lover so for that it was suspicious

with the most ill-omened star absent from it.

Until when will the ruins cry and the branch of your head be ripe

ولها غدائرُ حُلَّكٌ

ولها غدائرُ حُلَّكٌ

فوق الرَّوادفِ مُيَّسُ

فوق الرَّوادفِ مُيَّسُ

And she has jet-black braids,

Will the tears that the guards have taken from you return

swaying above her hips.

ولها وشاحٌ جائلٌ

ولها وشاحٌ جائلٌ

زَجْلٌ وحِجلٌ أخرس

زَجْلٌ وحِجلٌ أخرس

And she has a freely swaying sash,

jingling, and an anklet that is mute.

وكأنما يرنو بمق

وكأنما يرنو بمق

لتها غزال أعيس

لتها غزال أعيس

And it is as though through her eye gazes

a pale, tawny-white gazelle,

ذَعَرتْه نَبأةُ قانصٍ

ذَعَرتْه نَبأةُ قانصٍ

فلهُ لِذاك توجُّس

فلهُ لِذاك توجُّس

startled by a hunter’s faint sound,

and therefore filled with apprehension.

حتى متى تبكي الديا

حتى متى تبكي الديا

رَ وفرعُ رأسك مُخلِس

رَ وفرعُ رأسك مُخلِس

How long will you weep for the dwellings,

while the hair of your head is streaked with gray?

هل يرجعُ الدمع الذي

هل يرجعُ الدمع الذي

سَلَبتْهُ عنك الأحرُس

سَلَبتْهُ عنك الأحرُس

Will tears restore what

the ages have taken from you?