1. يا فراشاً من المَدَرْ

    ووساداً من الحَجَرْ

    O bed of clay,

    and pillow of stone,

  2. جَوْفَ بيتٍ كَتَولَجِ الظَّ

    بيِ في الضيقِ والقِصَر

    inside a house like the lair of a

    gazelle, in narrowness and smallness;

  3. مظلمِ اللونِ لا تُرى

    فيه شمسٌ ولا قمر

    dark in color, where neither

    sun nor moon is seen.

  4. ليسَ يدري المقيمُ في

    ه بريحٍ ولا مَطَر

    Its dweller knows nothing

    of wind or rain.

  5. يا بني الموتِ إن لل

    حيِّ في الموتِ مُعْتَبَر

    O children of death, surely for the

    living there is a lesson in death.

  6. فكأَنّي بكمْ وقد

    بعتمُ الدورَ بالحُفَر

    So it is as though I see you, having already

    traded your houses for grave-pits.

  7. وَابْنتا وأعزَّ مَنْ

    ساءَ دهري به وَسَرّ

    Alas, my daughter, dearest of those

    through whom my days brought sorrow and joy!

  8. ما أراد القضاءُ من

    شُؤْمِ جدِّي أو القدر

    What did divine decree intend by

    my ill-starred fortune—or what did fate intend?

  9. كيف لم ينفعِ التوقِّ

    ي ولم ينفعِ الحذر

    How did taking precautions fail to help,

    and caution prove of no use?

  10. يا ابنتي أين غبتِ عن

    رمضانٍ وقد حضر

    O my daughter, where have you gone, absent from

    Ramadan, now that it has arrived?

  11. فلقد كنتِ أُنسنا

    في عشاياهُ والبكر

    For you were indeed our delight

    in its evenings and early mornings.

  12. ولقد كنتِ بعتِ نَوْ

    مَ لياليه بالسَّهَر

    And you had indeed traded the sleep

    of its nights for wakeful vigil,

  13. واعتكافٍ على الدعا

    ء أو الدرسِ للسُّوَرْ

    and devotion to prayer

    or the study of the surahs.

  14. يا أبي ليس عند من

    مات علمٌ ولا خبر

    O father, those who have

    died possess neither knowledge nor news.

  15. لا هِلالُ الصباحِ يُر

    عى ولا الفطرُ ينتظر

    No morning crescent is watched,

    nor is the breaking of the fast awaited.

  16. لا فطورٌ ولا سحو

    رٌ لنا إن دنا السَّحَر

    Neither a fast-breaking meal nor a predawn meal

    is ours when the predawn hour draws near.

  17. لا ولا أهْبَةٌ لعي

    دٍ حلا العيد أو أمَرّ

    No, nor any preparation for a

    feast, whether the feast be sweet or bitter.

  18. دَرَسَتْ يا أبي المحا

    سنُ وانمَحَّتِ الصور

    Beauty has faded, O father,

    and forms have been effaced.

  19. نحن في عالمٍ طوى

    صَرْفُهُ البدوَ والحَضَر

    We are in a world whose

    vicissitudes have swept away nomads and townsfolk,

  20. في ثرىً لا يُحَسُّ في

    ه بمن زارَ أو هَجَر

    in soil where there is no awareness

    of anyone who visits or stays away.