1. O ruins near the encampment where I played as a child,
A companionable place it was yesterday, laughing,

2. Today it has become desolate and frowning.
They moved away without my noticing, they did not know

3. That part of my conscience stands guard over them,
Following them wherever they went and settled,

4. Perhaps being a leader for the camels.
Until when they camped in an arid, waterless desert,

5. Pitched tents and spread out the rugs,
It turned with them to a fertile, verdant meadow,

6. After having been a barren desert.
Every campsite they stayed at was transformed

7. Into a garden full of birds by their beauty.
Every place they moved away from was filled

8. With lovers pining for them, weeping.