وَمَنْهَلٍ أَقْفَرَ مِن أَلْقائِهِ

وَرَدْتُهُ وَاللَيْلُ في أَغْشائِهِ

An empty watering place of its visitors,

I came upon it while night cloaked it,

بِجَشِبٍ أَتْلَعَ في إِصْغائِهِ

جاءَ وَقَدْ زادَ عَلَى أَظْمائِهِ

With a dry cough from its listening,

It came while its afflictions had increased,

يُجاوِرُ الحَوْضَ إِلَى إِزائِهِ

رَشفاً بِمَخْضُوبَيْنِ مِنْ صَفْرائِهِ

Neighboring the basin up to its rim,

Sipping with jaundiced lips of its yellowness,

وَقَدْ شَفَتْهُ وَحْدَها مِنْ دائِهِ

مِنْ طائِفِ الجَهْلِ وَمِنْ نُزائِهِ

Its solitude alone had quenched its thirst,

From the altars of ignorance and its proceedings.