أَلا حَيِّ إِذ أَهلي وَأَهلُكَ جيرَةٌ

مَحَلّاً بِذاتِ الرَمثِ قَد كانَ يَدرُسُ

O friend! Though your family and mine were neighbors

In the valley of shifting sands where he used to teach,

وَقَد كانَ لِلبيضِ الرَعابيبِ مَعهَداً

لَهُ في الصِبا يَومٌ أَغَرُّ وَمَجلِسُ

And though it was a school for innocent children,

To him its days were the fairest and its councils wisest,

بِهِ حَلَقٌ فيها مِنَ الجوعِ قاتِلٌ

وَمُعتَمَدٌ مِن ذِروَةِ العِزِّ أَقعَسُ

With classes where hunger's pangs were killing,

And a headmaster who sat enthroned in might supreme.