1. بني صامتٍ قد أصبحتْ دار خالدٍ

    مقدسةَ البُطنان ملعونةَ الظهرِ

    O sons of Samit, Khalid's house has now become

    hallowed in its depths, accursed on its surface.

  2. بها شهداء السلم لم يشهدوا الوغى

    ولا سمعوا باسم الرباط ولا الثغر

    Within it are martyrs of peace who never witnessed battle,

    nor heard the name of frontier duty or a border post.

  3. ولكن كما ألقتهمُ أمهاتهمْ

    قذفنَ بهمْ في كل مظلمة القعر

    But just as their mothers brought them forth,

    they hurled them into every dark-bottomed pit.

  4. وما استمتعوا من صدر أمٍّ بضمةٍ

    ولا سقطوا في قعر مهد ولا حجر

    And they never enjoyed an embrace at a mother's breast,

    nor fell into the hollow of a cradle or a lap.

  5. فعزّ علينا أن تكون رمامُهم

    ودائعَ دار الفاسقين إلى الحشر

    So it grieves us that their decayed remains should be

    held in trust in the house of the wicked until the gathering for Judgment.

  6. هي الدار يُؤوي ليلُها كلُّ فاسقٍ

    وفاسقةٍ مقبوحة السر والجهر

    It is the house whose night shelters every wicked man

    and wicked woman, vile in secret and in public.

  7. لها رب سوءٍ مثلُها خُلِقت له

    وفاقاً وكان الأمرُ يُقْدر للأمر

    It has an evil master like itself; it was made for him,

    a fitting match, and one thing was ordained for the other.

  8. إذا جُمِعَتْ ضِيفانُهُ ونساؤهُ

    فبطنٌ على بطنٍ ونحر على نحر

    When his guests and his women are gathered together,

    then belly lies upon belly, and chest upon chest.

  9. خليطان فوضى من رجالٍ ونسوةٍ

    يبيتون يُحْيون الفسوق إلى الفجر

    Two intermingled throngs—men and women, unrestrained—

    spend the night keeping debauchery alive until dawn.

  10. فمن لعنةٍ تغشَى ضجيعَيْ خطيئةٍ

    ومن رحمة تغشى شهيدين في قبر

    So a curse envelops two bedfellows in sin,

    and mercy envelops two martyrs in a grave.

  11. كأني أراهم بين رجس ورجسةٍ

    تُحَنْدِسُ من سوءاتهم ليلةُ القدر

    I seem to see them between a filthy man and a filthy woman;

    the Night of Decree grows pitch-black from their indecencies.

  12. يبيتون لم يخشَوْا من اللَّه نِقمَةً

    ولا حَفِلوا منه بكيدٍ ولا مكر

    They spend the night fearing no retribution from God,

    nor heed any stratagem or plot from Him.

  13. تكاد نجوم الليل وهْي زواهر

    تهاوَى عليهم أو تَحار فلا تسري

    The stars of night, radiant as they are, almost

    tumble down upon them, or grow bewildered and cease their nightly course.

  14. فلو وافقتْهم ليلة القدر لم تزل

    تَقاعس عن ميقاتهم آخرَ الدهر

    So if the Night of Decree chanced upon them, it would never cease

    holding back from their appointed hour until the end of time.