1. وَلَقَد مَرَرتُ عَلى دِيارِهِمُ

    وَطُلولُها بِيَدِ البِلى نَهبُ

    And indeed I passed by their dwellings,

    While their ruins lay as plunder in the hand of decay.

  2. فَوَقَفتُ حَتّى ضَجَّ مِن لَغَبٍ

    نِضوي وَلَجَّ بَعُذَّلي الرَكبُ

    So I halted until it cried out from exhaustion—

    my worn-out mount—and the riders persisted in reproaching me.

  3. وَتَلَفَّتَت عَيني فَمُذ خَفِيَت

    عَنها الطُلولُ تَلَفَّتَ القَلبُ

    And my eye looked back; then, when they vanished

    from its sight—the ruins—my heart looked back.