كم زورةٍ ليَ بالزوراءِ خُضْتُ بها

عُبابَ بحرٍ من الليلِ الدجوجيِّ

How many times have I wandered the ruins at night,

Sailing an ocean of darkness unfathomably deep.

وكم طرقتُ قِبابَ الحيِّ مرتديا

بصارمٍ مثلِ عزمي هُنْدوانيه

How often have I knocked on the abodes of the living,

My sword as steadfast as my resolve, like Indian steel.

والليلُ يسترني غربيبُ سُدْفَتِهِ

كأنني خَفَرٌ في خدِّ زنجيِّ

And the night conceals me in its dark cloak

As though I were a guard on the cheek of an Abyssinian.