نِلتُ في مصرَ كلَّ ما يرتجِي الآ

مِلُ مِن رِفْعةٍ ومالٍ وجَاهِ

In Egypt I attained all ambitions cherish

Wealth, status, rank - yet all did quickly perish

فاستردّتْ ما خوّلَتْني وما أَسْ

رَعَ نقْصَ الأمورِ عند التَّناهِي

What it had granted me, it soon retrieved

Lessened, alas, as matters came to end

كنتُ فيهَا كأَنّني في مَنامٍ

زالَ مِنهُ ما سَرَّ عند اُنْتبَاهي

My sojourn was as though it were a dream

Its pleasures passed when I awoke, it seems