رب دار بالغضا طال بلاها

حكت الطيف شؤونا وحكاها

Many a dwelling at al-Ghaḍā has long lain in decay.

It resembled the phantom in its ways, and the phantom resembled it.

ضحكت عن بهجة حتى لقد

عكف الدهر عليها فبكاها

It smiled, revealing splendor, until indeed

Time lingered over it and wept for it.

درست الا بقايا اسطر

في صحاف الدهر بالوهم تلاها

It was effaced, save for remnants of lines

On the pages of Time, read in imagination.

ولمعنى من تصاريف القضا

سمح الدهر بها ثم محاها

And for some purpose among fate's vicissitudes,

Time bestowed it, then erased it.

كان لي فيها زمان وانقضى

آه كم وجداله اخلصت آها

I had my time there, and it passed.

Ah, how much yearning for it I poured into a heartfelt sigh!

زمن فها تقضى وقفة

اشبعت بالعارض الجاري ثراها

A time there passed in a pause

That drenched its earth with the passing raincloud.

رهصتها بالحيا حتى اذا

لصقت حر ثراها بحياها

It laid its foundation with rain until, when

It bound its fine earth with its rain

وبكت اطلالها نائبة

وابل اللهفة من اهل هواهال

And wept over its ruins, standing in for

The downpour of yearning from those who loved it,

اسعفتني حين سحت فجرت

عن جفوني احسن الله جزاها

It aided me as it poured and flowed

From my eyelids—may God reward it well.

قل لجيران مواثيقهمو

نشر الخلف ذراها وطواها

Tell the neighbors—their covenants:

Broken faith unfurled their crests and folded them away.

سمة الحرباء فيها برزت

كلما احكمها ريب قواها

The chameleon's mark appeared in them

Whenever a trial bound them tight and strengthened them.

كنت مشغوفا بكم اذ كنتم

جيرتي كالشمس مجد او ضحاها

I was enthralled by you when you were

My neighbors, like the sun in glory or its morning radiance.

وبروض العز كنتم للعلى

شجرا لا يبلغ الطير ذراها

And in honor's gardens, for exalted rank you were

Trees whose crowns no bird could reach.

لا يبيت الليل الا حولها

اسد غاب غيرة ترعى فناها

Only around them did they spend the night—

Forest lions, jealously guarding their grounds.

وقفت تزأر في اطرافها

حرسا ترشح بالموت ظباها

They stood roaring at their edges,

As sentries, their blades dripping death.

فاذا مدت الى اغصانها

همة الدهر التوت دون مداها

And when there reached toward their branches

Time's ambition, it bent back short of their reach.

واذا طالت لها عن طمع

كف جان قطعت دون جناها

And when, out of greed, there stretched toward them

A trespasser's hand, it was severed before reaching their fruit.

فتراخى الامر حتى اصبحت

عرضة جف ودل طرفاها

Then affairs slackened, until they became

An exposed target; their two edges dried and [unclear].

وغدت من بعد صون شامخ

هملا يطمع فيها من رآها

And, after towering protection, they became

Untended, coveted by whoever saw them.

تخصب الارض فلم امور بها

حين القى ساقى الاصل فتاها

The earth grows fertile—why should I roam over it,

When I find its youth a 'waterer of the root' [sense unclear]?

لم ارح يوما لدى قيعانها

رائدا الا اذا عز حماها

I never went, even for a day, to its lowlands

As a scout, unless its preserve was secure.

لا يراني الله ارعى روضة

داس انذال البريات رباها

May God never see me graze in a garden

Whose knolls the vilest of creatures have trampled,

وغدت في زهوها ملعبة

سهلة الاكناف من شاء وعاها

And which, in its splendor, became a plaything,

Easy of access, encompassed by whoever wished.

واذا ما طمع اغرى بكم

ميل روح قبل قد كنتم مناها

And whenever hope enticed toward you

A spirit's inclination—you once were its desire—

فكر العقل بكم حينا وقد

عرض اليأس لنفسي فثناها

The mind pondered you awhile, though already

Despair had come upon my soul and turned it back.

فصبابات الهوى اولها

نظرة يتبع القلب خطاها

For love's ardent longings begin with

A glance whose steps the heart follows.

نظرة ينتج عنها عنوق

طمع النفس وهذا منتهاها

A glance from which [unclear] results:

The soul's craving—and that is its culmination.

لا تظنوا لي اليكم ويهم

قطعة كنت وقلي قد محاها

Do not suppose I have [unclear] toward you.

For a spell I was [so], and aversion [uncertain reading] has already erased it.

همت فيكم قبل ان جربتكم

كشف التجريب عن عيني عماها

I was love-struck with you before I tested you;

Testing lifted the blindness from my eye.