ألا يا أهلَ أندلسٍ فَطنتُم

ألا يا أهلَ أندلسٍ فَطنتُم

بِلُطفكم إلى شيءٍ عجيبِ

بِلُطفكم إلى شيءٍ عجيبِ

O people of al-Andalus, you have perceived,

Behold, O people of al-Andalus, you have discerned

Oh people of Andalusia, you have perceived

with your subtle wit, a wondrous thing:

through your subtle wit, something wondrous.

Through your refinement, a truly wondrous thing:

لبستم فِي مآتِمكُم بياضاً

لبستم فِي مآتِمكُم بياضاً

وَجئتم منه في زِيٍّ غريبِ

وَجئتم منه في زِيٍّ غريبِ

You wear white in times of mourning,

You wore white at your mourning gatherings,

You wear white raiment in your times of mourning,

and thus appear in strange attire.

and appeared in it in unusual attire.

Adopting a guise that seems strange to behold.

صدَقْتُم فالبياضُ لباس حزنٍ

صدَقْتُم فالبياضُ لباس حزنٍ

ولا حزن أشدَّ من المشيبِ

ولا حزن أشدَّ من المشيبِ

You are right—for white is the garb of sorrow,

You were right, for white is the garb of grief,

Yet you are right, for white is the color of sorrow,

and no sorrow is harsher than gray hair.

and no grief is greater than the graying of hair.

And no sorrow is more intense than the graying of age.