1. O friend! Though your family and mine were neighbors
In the valley of shifting sands where he used to teach,
١. أَلا حَيِّ إِذ أَهلي وَأَهلُكَ جيرَةٌ
مَحَلّاً بِذاتِ الرَمثِ قَد كانَ يَدرُسُ
2. And though it was a school for innocent children,
To him its days were the fairest and its councils wisest,
٢. وَقَد كانَ لِلبيضِ الرَعابيبِ مَعهَداً
لَهُ في الصِبا يَومٌ أَغَرُّ وَمَجلِسُ
3. With classes where hunger's pangs were killing,
And a headmaster who sat enthroned in might supreme.
٣. بِهِ حَلَقٌ فيها مِنَ الجوعِ قاتِلٌ
وَمُعتَمَدٌ مِن ذِروَةِ العِزِّ أَقعَسُ