لَمَّا حَكَمَ الزَّمانُ بِالتَّفْرِيقِ

لَمَّا حَكَمَ الزَّمانُ بِالتَّفْرِيقِ

وَاسْتَبْطَنَ نادِيهِمْ ظُهُورَ النُّوقِ

وَاسْتَبْطَنَ نادِيهِمْ ظُهُورَ النُّوقِ

When time decreed separation,

When fate decreed we must part

and their company settled upon the backs of she-camels,

And their dwellings emptied of them all

أَطْلَقْتُ دُمُوعِي إِثْرَهُمْ في قَبَسٍ

أَطْلَقْتُ دُمُوعِي إِثْرَهُمْ في قَبَسٍ

مِنْ نارِ زَفِيري خَشْيِةَ التَّغْرِيقِ

مِنْ نارِ زَفِيري خَشْيِةَ التَّغْرِيقِ

I released my tears in their wake into a flame

I let flow my tears in their wake

from the fire of my sighing, for fear of drowning.

From the fire of my sighs, fearing to drown