يا دارُ مالكِ لَيسَ فيكِ أَنيسُ

إِلا معالم آيُهُنَّ دُروسُ

O abode of Malik, within you there is no companion,

Except ruins whose lessons are clear,

الدَهرُ غالَكِ أَم عَراك مِن البَلى

بَعدَ النَعيم خُشونَةٌ ويُبوسُ

Has time deceived you or has decay struck you?

After comfort there is gloom and dryness,

ما كانَ أَخصَبَ عَيشِنا بك مرَّة

أَيامَ ربعُك آهِلٌ مأنوسُ

Our livelihood was never as plentiful with you,

As the days when your dwellings were populated and familiar,

فَسقاكِ يا دارُ البَلى مُتَجرّفٌ

فيهِ الرَواعِدُ والبروقُ هَجوسُ

So time has made you drink, O abode, a draft

In which thunder and lightning wildly rage,

دار جلا عنها النَعيم فرَبعها

خَلقٌ تَمرُّ بِهِ الرياح يَبيسُ

An abode which comfort has deserted, so its dwellings

Are a people blown by the winds and withered,

طَلَلٌ مَحت آيُ السَماء رسومَه

فَكأَنَّ باقي مَحوهنَّ دروسُ

Ruins which have erased the celestial signs upon them,

So it is as if their remaining traces are lessons,

ما استَحلَبَت عَينيك إِلا دِمّنة

ومَخرَّبٌ عَنهُ الشَرى مَنكوسُ

Your eyes have not shed anything but blood,

And from it good fortune has departed, reversed,

وَمَخيَّسٌ في الدارِ يَندبُ أَهلَهُ

رَثُّ القِلادة في الترابِ دَسيسُ

In the house there is a mourner grieving for its people,

A lean hyena amidst the dust, miserable,

أَنِسَ الوحوشُ بِها فَليسَ بِربعها

إِلا النَعامُ تَرودُه وَتجوس

The beasts have become familiar with it, so in its dwellings,

There are only ostriches wandering and trespassing,

رَبعٌ تَربَّعُ في جوانِبهِ البَلى

وَعفَت مَعالمُهُ فَهُنَّ طموسُ

Dwellings which decay has settled in its corners,

And its features are obscured, so they are vague,

يَدعو الصَدى في جَوفِهِ فيُجيبُهُ

رُبدُ النَعامِ كأَنَّهُنَّ قُسوسُ

The echo calls out within it, and answering it

Is the ostriches' clamor, as though they are cherubs,

وَلَربّما جَرَّ الصَبّا لي ذَيلَهُ

فيهِ وَفيهِ مأَلَفٌ وأَنيسُ

And perhaps the morning breeze has dragged its train for me,

In which there is a familiar friend and companion,

مِن كُلِّ ضامِرة الحَشا مَهضومَة

لِحبالِها بِحبالِنا تَلبيسُ

From every concealed and ruined enclosure,

With its ropes intertwined with our ropes, a covering,

مُتَستّرات بِالحياء لَوابِسٌ

حُلَل العَفاف عَن الفواحِش شوسُ

Concealed in shyness, grimacing,

Wearing the garb of chastity, aloof from abominations,

وَسَبيئة مِن كَرمِها حيريَّة

عَذراء من لمس الرِجال شَموسُ

And a young camel from its bounty, lost,

A virgin untouched by the hands of men, aloof,

لَم يَفتق النُعمان عُذرَتَها وَلَم

يَرشِفُ مجاجَة كأسها قابوسُ

Al-Nu'man did not pluck her virginity, nor

Did Al-Mundhir wet his drinking cup, nor Khusraw,

كَتَبَ اليهودُ عَلى خَواتِمِ دَنّها

يا دنُّ أَنتَ عَلى الزَمان حَبيسُ

The Jews wrote on her anklets,

"O she-camel, you are imprisoned by time,"

ذِمّيَّة صَلّى وَزَمزَم حَولَها

مِن آل برمكَ هَربدٌ ومَجوسُ

A dhimmi who prayed while Magians bustled around her,

Drinking cups shining when the veil was lifted from her face,

تَجلو الكؤوس إِذا جَلَت عَن وَجهها

شَمساً غذاها الشمس فَهيَ عروسُ

Like a sun nourished by the sun, so she is a bride,

The wild does gathered around her as though they

عَكفَت بِها عُفر الظِباء كأَنَّها

بأَكفِّهِنَّ كَواكِبٌ وَشموسُ

Were, with their palms, planets and suns,

From every well-bred, high-humped she-camel,

مِن كُلِّ مُرتَجِّ الرَوادف أَحورِ

كسرى أَبوهُ وأُمَّهُ بلقيسُ

Her father and mother were Khusraw and Bilqis,

She is left loose-reined when I begin, and a servant,

رَخو العِنان إِذا ابتَديتُ فَخادِمٌ

وإِذا صَبوتَ إِليهِ فَهوَ جَليسُ

And when you incline towards her, she is a companion,

He hurries with a jug, as though its leather

يَسعى بإبريق كأنَّ فِدامَهُ

مِن لَونِها في عُصفرٍ مَغموسُ

Were dyed with its colour in saffron, soaked,

He gives you to drink the spittle of a lost young she-camel,

يَسقيكَ ريقَ سَبيئةٍ حيريّة

مِما استَباه لِفِصحِهِ القَسّيسُ

Which the priest deemed too pure for his eloquence,

Between Khawarnaq and Sadir, an abode

بَينَ الخوَرنَقِ والسَدير مَحِلَّة

لِلهَّوِ فيها مَنزِلٌ مَطموس

For dalliance, in it there is an obscured dwelling,

So the stream is redolent with its basil,

فالنَدّ مِن ريحانِها مُتَضَوِّعٌ

والظَهرَ مِن غِزلانِها مَدحوسُ

And the back is from its young gazelles, trodden,

Time was inauspicious to its people so they split,

نَحِسَ الزَمان بأَهلِها فتَصَدَّعوا

إِنَّ الزمَانَ بأَهلِهِ لَنَحوسُ

Truly time is inauspicious to its people,

We lived in it in delight,

كُنّا نَحلّ بِهِ وَنَحنُ بِغبطَةٍ

أَيامَ للأَيامِ فيهِ حَسيسُ

Days in which there was a sensitive living,

So time built upon it the structures of decay,

فَبَنى عَليهِ الدَهرُ أَبنيةَ البِلى

فَعَلى رُباه كآبةٌ وعُبوسُ

And over its dwellers there is gloom and frowning,

And a drunkard whose neck was bitten

وَصريع كأس بِتُّ أَرقبه وَقَد

نَهشَتهُ مِن أَفعى المدام كئوسُ

By the serpents of wine-cups, vicious,

Reason has tied his tongue, and his legs have failed him,

عقلَ الزجاجُ لِسانَهُ وَتخاذَلَت

رِجلاهُ فَهو كأَنَّهُ مَطسوسُ

So it is as though he is trampled and crushed,

Madness has empowered him, so he wanders as though

سَطَتِ العُقارُ بِهِ فراحَ كأَنَّما

مجَّ الرَدى في كأَسِهِ الفاعوسُ

The spittle were streaming in his accursed cup,