1. لما رأيت زماناً

    يفتر عن كل صعبه

    When I saw an age

    laying bare every hardship,

  2. والقحط في أكله النا

    سَ بالذئاب تشبَّه

    and famine, in its devouring of peo-

    ple, had come to resemble wolves,

  3. والحَبُّ قد عزَّ حتى

    أنسى المحبَّ الاحبه

    and grain had grown so scarce that

    it made the lover forget his loved ones,

  4. في حَبةِ القلب منّى

    زرعت حُبَّ ابن حبَه

    in the kernel of my heart

    I planted love for Ibn Habbah.