أحسنُ ممّا تضمّنَ العطنُ

وبلدةٍ قد أبادَها الزمَنُ

Better than what was implied in promise,

Lovelier than all the resting-grounds enclose,

And a country that time has destroyed,

Or any town that Time has worn away,

ومن طلولٍ طالَ الزمانُ بها

يطول فيها البكاءُ والحزنُ

And from tall heights where time lingered,

Or ruins where the ancient silence grows,

Where weeping and sorrow lingered long,

Where weeping and deep sorrow hold their sway,

ظبيٌ أعارَ الزمانَ مقلتَهُ

كأنّهُ في جمالهِ وثَنُ

A gazelle who lent his eye to time

A gazelle who lent to Time his very eye,

As if in his beauty an idol.

As if he were an idol, standing high.