فهل للوصال إلينا معاد

وهل لتصاريف ذا الدهر حد

Homecoming, will we reunite?

Will union ever find its way back to us?

Do fortunes' cycles have an end?

And is there any limit to the vicissitudes of this time?

فقد أصبح السيف عبد القضيب

وأضحى الغوال الأسير أسد

The sword now serves the rod,

For the sword has become the slave of the slender bough,

And lions languish, captive prey.

And the captive gazelle has turned into a lion.