وَلَمَّا أَنْ نَأَتْ مِنْكُمْ دَيَارٌ

وَلَمَّا أَنْ نَأَتْ مِنْكُمْ دَيَارٌ

وَحَلَ الْبُعْدُ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنِي

وَحَلَ الْبُعْدُ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنِي

And when your dwellings had receded far away,

And when dwellings lay far from you,

and distance came between you and me,

And distance settled between you and me,

بَعَثتُ لَكُمْ سَوَاداً فِي بَيَاضٍ

بَعَثتُ لَكُمْ سَوَاداً فِي بَيَاضٍ

لأَِنْظُرَكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِثْلِ عَيْنِي

لأَِنْظُرَكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِثْلِ عَيْنِي

I sent you blackness set upon white,

I sent you blackness within whiteness,

that I might behold you through something like my eye.

To look upon you with something like my eye.