1. دارٌ عَلَيها وَحشة وَقتامُ

    ذَهَبت بِرَونَق حُسنِها الأَيّام

    A house shrouded in desolation and gloom;

    the days have carried away the luster of its beauty.

  2. كانَت بِها شَمس السَعادة لَم تَغب

    مِن حَولِها كُل البُدور قِيام

    The sun of happiness shone within it and never set;

    around it stood all the full moons.

  3. سُبحان مَن قرن الخُروج مِن الحِما

    بِالقَتل لَما اِستَولَت الحُكام

    Glory to Him who linked departure from the sanctuary

    with killing, when the rulers took power.

  4. لا العَيش عَيش بَعدَ سُكان الحِما

    كُلاً وَلا تِلكَ الخِيام خِيام

    Life is no life after the sanctuary's dwellers have gone—

    all of them—nor are those tents still tents.

  5. ذَهب الشَباب فَلا أَنيس بَعدَهُ

    وَأَتى المُشيب فَلا عَلَيهِ سَلام

    Youth has departed; after it there is no companion;

    gray hair has come—no greeting of peace upon it.

  6. أَو ما تَراهُ فُضة في عارِضي

    سَبَكتُهُ في نيرانِها الأَيّام

    Do you not see it as silver upon my cheek?

    The days have smelted it in their fires.

  7. بيض النُصول تَجَرَدَت مِن جِفنِها

    فَعَلى الحَياة تَحية وَسَلام

    White blades have slipped free of their sheath;

    so to life, a greeting and farewell.

  8. فَإِذا الحَبيب أَسا بِنا أَو أَحسَنا

    نَرضى بِذاكَ وَما عَلَيهِ ملام

    If the beloved wrongs us or treats us well,

    we are content with that, and no blame falls upon him.

  9. تَرَكوا حَلاوة كُل عَيش عَلقَماً

    تَردي النُفوس وَتَسقَم الأَسقام

    They made the sweetness of every life bitter colocynth,

    which destroys souls and makes even illnesses sick.

  10. لَيسَت تَطيب لَنا حَياة بَعدَهُم

    كانَت ضِياء عَيونِنا الآرام

    No life is sweet to us after them;

    the white gazelles were the light of our eyes.

  11. ما كُنت أَرضى بِالمَجرة مَورِداً

    وَظَلالَها وَأَحبَتي ما داموا

    I would not accept the Milky Way as a watering place,

    nor its shade, so long as my loved ones remained.

  12. لَيَتَ الحَياةَ تَزول بَعد ذَهابِهُم

    شَطوا فَما بَعدَ المرام مَرام

    Would that life would vanish after their departure!

    They have gone far away; beyond the desired goal there is no goal.

  13. قَصر عَلى فَلك السَعادة شادَهُ

    المَنجِكيّ مُحَمَد الضرغام

    A palace upon the sphere of happiness, built by

    Muhammad al-Manjaki, the lion.

  14. فَسَقَت ضَريحاً قَد حَواهُ سَحابة

    تَهمي عَلَيهِ رَحمة وَسَلام

    May a cloud water the tomb that has received him,

    pouring mercy and peace upon him.

  15. مَن آل منجك طابَ نَشر حَديثِهم

    كَالزَهر في الأَكمام حَيث أَقاموا

    Of the house of Manjak—sweet is the fragrance of their tale,

    like flowers in their calyxes, wherever they dwelt.

  16. قَوم صَغيرُهُم كَبير في العُلا

    يَهوى الجَميل وَلَم يَرَعهُ فِطام

    A people whose youngest is great in eminence,

    loving what is noble, undaunted by weaning.

  17. قَوم إِذا رَكِبوا الجِياد لِمَوقف

    نَبَتوا رَباً وَعَلى الكِرام كِرام

    A people who, when they mount their steeds for a stand,

    rise like hills, noble above the noble.

  18. قَومٌ إِذا سَلَت ذُكور سُيوفِهم

    قَتل النِساء الهمّ وَالاَوهام

    A people: when their virile swords are drawn,

    anxiety and fears slay the women.

  19. قَد مَجني أَجلي وَكُنتُ أَرومَهُ

    يَوم النَوى إِذا شَطَت الأَقوام

    My appointed death has spat me out, though I desired it,

    on the day of separation, when the people went far away.

  20. غَيري يُبالي بِالفَخار وَأَنَّني

    فَحل الرِجال وَرُتبة وَمَقام

    Others care about boasting, whereas I am

    the stallion among men, with rank and station.

  21. إِذ منشأي قَد كانَ تَحتَ سَرادق

    خدّامها الصَمصام وَالقمقام

    For I was raised beneath a canopy

    whose servants were the keen sword and the mighty lord.

  22. جدي الَّذي مَلك البِلاد بَرَأيِهِ

    لا بِالجُنود الباسل البَسام

    My grandfather, who ruled the lands by his judgment,

    not by armies—the valiant, ever-smiling one.

  23. قَد كانَ مَملوكاً وَأَصبَحَ مالِكاً

    كُل المُلوك بِبابِهِ خدّام

    He had been a slave and became a sovereign;

    all kings were servants at his gate.

  24. قَد عمر الخانات في سُبل الهُدى

    لَم يَحصِها صُحف وَلا أَقلام

    He built caravanserais along the paths of guidance,

    which neither pages nor pens could count.

  25. تِسعاً وَتسعيناً بَناها مُخلِصاً

    ذاكَ الأَمير المُحسن المنعام

    He built ninety-nine of them in sincere devotion,

    that prince, the beneficent, the lavish giver.

  26. دار الأَمير أَبو المَعالي منجك

    مِن دون بَعض بِنائِها الأَهرام

    The house of the prince Abu al-Ma'ali Manjak—

    the pyramids fall short of even part of its structure.

  27. وَلَهُ قُصور شَيِدَت فَوق العُلا

    بَوّابها الإِجلال وَالاعظام

    He has palaces raised above the heights,

    whose gatekeepers are reverence and veneration,

  28. وَمَساجد قَد أُسِسَت بِيَد التُقا

    فيها رِجال سُجَّد وَقِيام

    and mosques founded by the hand of piety,

    where men prostrate themselves and stand in prayer.

  29. ملك إِذا أَم الضُيوف جَنابُهُ

    يَدعو القَرى لِسَبيلِهِ الأَنعام

    A king: when guests seek his presence,

    hospitality calls livestock to his path.

  30. مَلك إِذا سَلَّت صَوارم جُندِه

    عِيدانُها الهندي وَالصَمصام

    A king: when his troops' sharp swords are drawn,

    their lutes are the Indian blade and the keen sword.

  31. ملك إِذا إِزدَحَم المُلوك بِمَورد

    صَدَروا لَهُ وَقُلوّبهنَّ أَوام

    A king: when kings crowd at a watering place,

    they yield it to him, their hearts still parched.

  32. ملك إِذا ضَنَ السَحاب بِوَبلِهِ

    فاضَت بِحار مِن يَدَيهِ سِجام

    A king: when clouds withhold their downpour,

    seas pour from his hands in torrents.

  33. إِن ضَلت الضيفان عَن أَبوابِهِ

    يَهديهم لِسَبيلِهِ الإِكرام

    If guests lose their way to his gates,

    generosity guides them to his path.

  34. وَلها مَواقد مِن لَظى نِيرانها

    يَدعو بِالسنة القُراء الإِضرام

    And it has hearths; from the blaze of their fires,

    the flames call out in the tongues of hospitality.

  35. سَجروا بِهاتيك المَواقد عَنبَراً

    إِذ أَمطَروا مِن راحَتيهِ سِجام

    They stoked those hearths with ambergris,

    as torrents from his palms rained upon them.

  36. تَبّاً لَدُنيانا فَكُل صَنيعها

    أَبَداً شُرور وَالسُرور مَنام

    Woe to our world! All its doing

    is forever evil, and joy is a dream.

  37. أَفعالُنا أَفعى لَنا ما بَينَنا

    تَسعى لِمهلكنا وَنَحنُ نِيام

    Our deeds are a serpent in our midst,

    striving for our destruction while we sleep.

  38. ذلَّت وَجُوه الناس إِذ قَعس الحجا

    وَتَعاظَمَت سفل الرِجال وَقاموا

    People's faces were humbled when reason recoiled,

    and the basest men exalted themselves and rose.

  39. ذَهب الَّذين يعاش في أَكنافِهم

    وَبَقيت في خَلف هُم الأَنعام

    Gone are those in whose shelter one could live,

    and I remain among successors who are cattle.

  40. إِني لِأَشهَد إِنَّ رَبي واحد

    وَنَبيهُ لِلمُرسَلين أَمام

    I do indeed bear witness that my Lord is One,

    and His Prophet is foremost among the messengers.

  41. ميل القُلوب إِلى سِواهُ ضَلالة

    وَسِوى المُهيمن كُلَها أَصنام

    The hearts' turning toward any but Him is error,

    and all besides the Guardian are idols.

  42. صَلى الإِلَه عَلى النَبيّ وَآلِهِ

    وَعَلى صَحابَتِهِ رِضاً ما داموا

    May God's blessing be upon the Prophet and his family,

    and upon his Companions, with favor, as long as they endure.

  43. هَذي المَظاهر وَالظَواهر كُلَها

    فِتَن لَدَيك وَكَلَها أَحلامُ

    These manifestations and outward appearances, all of them,

    are trials before you, and all of them are dreams.