ما لِدُبَيَّةَ مُنذُ العامِ لَم أَرَهُ

وَسطَ الشُروبِ وَلَم يُلمِم وَلَم يَطِفِ

Dubaiya, whom I have not seen since last year,

Amidst the drinking and merriment, he's neither gathered nor wandered.

لَو كانَ حَيّاً لَغاداهُم بِمُترَعَةٍ

فيها الرَواويقُ مِن شيزى بَني الهَطِفِ

Had he been alive, he'd have visited them in a pasture,

Where partridges abound from Sheeza of Bani Haftif.

كابي الرَمادِ عَظيمُ القِدرِ جَفنَتُهُ

عِندَ الشِتاءِ كَحَوضِ المَنهَلِ اللَقِفِ

My ash-colored friend, great in worth, his eyelids

In winter are like the basin of a dripping fountain.

أَمسى سُقامٌ خَلاءً لا أَنيسَ بِهِ

إِلّا السِباعُ وَمَرُّ الريحُ بِالغَرَفِ

He has become desolate and empty, with no companion,

Save for predators, and the wind passing through the rooms.