تلكَ أيّامنا عليها السَلامُ

أجفَلتْ من زَوالِها الأيامُ

Those are our days, peace be upon them,

Their days have faded into the past,

أوهَمَتْنا طُولَ الحياة علينا

بَعْدَها إنَّ ساعةَ الصبرِ عامُ

They deluded us with the long life ahead,

Afterwards, the hour of patience lasted a year,

يا خليليَّ لا تَلُوما فمن لا

مَ بما لا مَلامَ فيه يُلامُ

Oh my friend, do not blame me, for who can be blamed

For what is blameless, yet still blamed,

طالَ شوقٌ على فُؤادٍ ضعيفٍ

قبلَ شوقٍ ممَّا بَراهُ السَقامُ

Yearning has lasted long for a weak heart,

Before the yearning from what illness has shown,

أَسَهرُ الليلَ والعُيونُ نيامٌ

كرقيبٍ في حَيِّ قومٍ يُقَامُ

I stay up at night while eyes are sleeping,

Like a guard in the neighborhood staying awake,

إنّ عيني بِلُجَّةٍ من دُموعي

غَرِقتْ والغريقُ كيفَ يَنامُ

My eyes are certainly drowned in my tears,

And the one drowning, how can he sleep?

يا بُرَيقَ الحِمى نَعِمتَ صَباحاً

أينَ أهلُ الحِمَى وأينَ الخِيامُ

O mirage of the camp, good morning,

Where are the people of the camp and where are the tents?

هل أصابَ الحيا رُبوعَ المُصلَّى

وهَلِ اخضَرَّ بعدَ ذاكَ البَشامُ

Did the ruins reach the praying place,

And did the low plants turn green after that?

طالمَا راع قَبلكَ الدَهرُ ثغراً

بِدَهاءٍ فلاحَ منهُ ابتِسامُ

Long has the time deceived before you with a smile,

Cunningly gaining from it a smile,

ولَكَم شَبَّ في الزَمانِ ضِرامٌ

ولَكَم شابَ في الزمانِ غُلامُ

And how often has a young man matured in time,

And how often has a young man matured in time?

كلُّ حالٍ سينقضي ليسَ للدهْ

رِ دَوامٌ وليسَ فيهِ دَوامُ

Every state will end, time has no

permanence and no permanence within it,

رُبَّما عاهَدَ الفَتَى اليومَ لكنْ

لم يُعاهِدْ غَداً فأينَ الذِمامُ

Perhaps the young man promised today but

did not promise tomorrow, so where is the oath?

حالَ عهدي ولم يَحُلْ عهدُ وُدّي

بكِرامٍ وهم عليّ كِرامُ

My state has changed and my love has not changed

With generosity, and they are generous to me,

ذاكَ عِقدٌ تناثَرَ الدُرُّ منهُ

وعلى اللهِ بعدَ ذاكَ النِظامُ

That is a knot whose pearls have scattered,

And after that, the system is up to God,

أيها الجيرةُ الذينَ تَوَلَّوا

هل لكم جِيرةٌ سِوانا تُرامُ

O neighbors who have turned away,

Do you have neighbors like us you can count on?

حَملَتْ من سَلامِنا لكُمُ الرِّي

حُ ولكنْ ضاعَتْ وضاعَ السَلامُ

It carried our greetings to you, but

the greetings were lost and the greetings vanished,

مَشهَدٌ يَقصُرُ القَنا دُونَ أدنا

هُ فماذا تَنالُهُ الأقلامُ

A scene too great for elegy to reach

So what can the pens attain?