كَيفَ السُلوُّ وَلا أَزالُ أَرى لَها

كَيفَ السُلوُّ وَلا أَزالُ أَرى لَها

رَبعاً كَحاشِيَةِ اليَماني المَخلَقِ

رَبعاً كَحاشِيَةِ اليَماني المَخلَقِ

How can I forget, when I still see her

How long will her quarters remain, though I still see

dwelling, like the hem of a threadbare Yemeni cloth?

A section like the border of the embroidered Yemenite cloak,

رَبعاً لِواضِهَةِ الجَبينِ غَريرَةٍ

رَبعاً لِواضِهَةِ الجَبينِ غَريرَةٍ

كَالشَمسِ إِذ طَلَعَت رَخيمِ المَنطِقِ

كَالشَمسِ إِذ طَلَعَت رَخيمِ المَنطِقِ

A dwelling of a bright-browed, innocent maiden,

A section for the forehead of a charming gazelle,

like the sun at its rising, soft of speech.

Like the rising sun when it appears with a soft utterance.

قَد كُنتُ أَعهَدُها بِهِ في عِزَّةٍ

قَد كُنتُ أَعهَدُها بِهِ في عِزَّةٍ

وَالعَيشُ صافٍ وَالعِدى لَم تَنطُقِ

وَالعَيشُ صافٍ وَالعِدى لَم تَنطُقِ

I once knew her there, held in honor,

I was accustomed to it in her heyday

while life was untroubled and the foes had not spoken.

When life was pure and the enemies were mute.

حَتّى إِذا نَطَقوا وَآذَنَ فيهُمُ

حَتّى إِذا نَطَقوا وَآذَنَ فيهُمُ

داعي الشَتاتِ بِرِحلَةٍ وَتَفَرُّقِ

داعي الشَتاتِ بِرِحلَةٍ وَتَفَرُّقِ

Until they spoke, and notice was given among them

Until they spoke and the summoner to dispersion

by the herald of dispersal: departure and separation.

Called out among them with departure and scattering.

خَلَتِ الدِيارُ فَزُرتُها وَكَأَنَّني

خَلَتِ الدِيارُ فَزُرتُها وَكَأَنَّني

ذو حَيَّةٍ مِن سَمِّها لَم يَعرَقِ

ذو حَيَّةٍ مِن سَمِّها لَم يَعرَقِ

The dwellings stood empty; I visited them, as though I were

The dwellings became empty so I visited them as if

a snake-bitten man who had not sweated out its venom.

I were one with a serpent's poison that had not sweated out.