يَا مَصنعاً قَد تَرَدّى حُلّة الهَرَم

يَا مَصنعاً قَد تَرَدّى حُلّة الهَرَم

مَشهودُ حالِهِ عُنوَانٌ عَنِ القِدَمِ

مَشهودُ حالِهِ عُنوَانٌ عَنِ القِدَمِ

O edifice that has donned the robe of decrepitude,

O ancient edifice whose vestments of elegance have crumbled

your visible state is a sign of antiquity.

Its current state bears witness to its antiquity

كَم طَافَ حَولَكَ مِن حَافٍ وَمُنتَعِل

كَم طَافَ حَولَكَ مِن حَافٍ وَمُنتَعِل

بَادوا وَأَنتَ حَبِيسُ الدَّهرِ لَم تَرمِ

بَادوا وَأَنتَ حَبِيسُ الدَّهرِ لَم تَرمِ

How many, barefoot and shod, have walked around you!

How many nobles and lords have circled around you

They perished, while you, time's captive, have not stirred.

While you remained imprisoned by time without decay

وَكَم تَأَلَّفَ فِيكَ الرُّومُ وَاجتَمَعُوا

وَكَم تَأَلَّفَ فِيكَ الرُّومُ وَاجتَمَعُوا

وَأَنتَ فِي أَنفِ ذَاكَ الجَمعِ كَالشّمَمِ

وَأَنتَ فِي أَنفِ ذَاكَ الجَمعِ كَالشّمَمِ

And how often the Romans came together within you and assembled,

And how the Romans congregated within you

while you, at that throng's forefront, were like a lofty nose-bridge.

Yet to them you were like a poisonous sting

والدَّارُ دَارُهُمُ وَالأَمرُ أمرُهُمُ

والدَّارُ دَارُهُمُ وَالأَمرُ أمرُهُمُ

وَصِيتُهُم فِي الوَرَى نَارٌ عَلَى عَلَمِ

وَصِيتُهُم فِي الوَرَى نَارٌ عَلَى عَلَمِ

And the abode was theirs, and authority was theirs,

It was their abode and their command

and their renown among humankind was a fire atop a mountain,

And their legacy in the land was like a flag on a banner

حَتَّى انتَحَتهُم صُرُوفُ الدَّهرِ فَانقَرَضُوا

حَتَّى انتَحَتهُم صُرُوفُ الدَّهرِ فَانقَرَضُوا

فَأَينَ رِمَّتُهُم فِي جُملَةِ الرّمَمِ

فَأَينَ رِمَّتُهُم فِي جُملَةِ الرّمَمِ

until the vicissitudes of time assailed them, and so they died out.

Until the vicissitudes of fate made them disappear

So where are their remains amid the mass of mouldering bones?

So where are their remnants among the debris?

يَا مُشبِهَ القَوسِ إِلا أَنَّ أَسهُمَهُ

يَا مُشبِهَ القَوسِ إِلا أَنَّ أَسهُمَهُ

قَضَت عَلَى مَن تَبَنَّاهُ مِنَ الأُمَمِ

قَضَت عَلَى مَن تَبَنَّاهُ مِنَ الأُمَمِ

O you who resemble a bow—except that its arrows

O resembling a bow except that its arrows

have struck down those among the nations who took it as their own.

Vanquished those nations who sought to possess it

قَالُوا هُوَ المَلعَبُ البَادِي فَقُلتُ لَهُم

قَالُوا هُوَ المَلعَبُ البَادِي فَقُلتُ لَهُم

نَعَم وَلَكِن لِخَيلِ الرِّيحِ وَالدِّيَمِ

نَعَم وَلَكِن لِخَيلِ الرِّيحِ وَالدِّيَمِ

They said, "It is the arena in plain view"; I said to them,

They said it is a dilapidated playground, so I told them

"Yes, but for the steeds of the wind and the steady rains."

Yes, but for the steeds of wind and Eternity

يَا هَيكَلاً أَخبَرَت عَنهُ مَنَاظِرُهُ

يَا هَيكَلاً أَخبَرَت عَنهُ مَنَاظِرُهُ

بِأنَّهُ نُقطَةٌ فِي أَبحُرِ الهِمَمِ

بِأنَّهُ نُقطَةٌ فِي أَبحُرِ الهِمَمِ

O great edifice, whose outward features declare

O temple, its façade tells

that it is a speck in the oceans of ambition.

That it is but a speck in the oceans of ambitions

يَا لَيتَ شِعرِي عَن أَهلِيكَ كَيفَ غَدَت

يَا لَيتَ شِعرِي عَن أَهلِيكَ كَيفَ غَدَت

أَشلاؤُهُم لِلرَّدَى لَحماً عَلَى وَضَمِ

أَشلاؤُهُم لِلرَّدَى لَحماً عَلَى وَضَمِ

Oh, would that I knew of your people—how it came to be

Oh how I wish I knew what became

that their limbs were meat for Death upon a butcher's block!

Of its people, their limbs scattered as meat on bone

فَحِينَ ذَكَّرتُهُ أَهلِيهِ طَارَحَنِي

فَحِينَ ذَكَّرتُهُ أَهلِيهِ طَارَحَنِي

عَنهُم وَحَاوَرَنِي نُطقاً بِغَيرِ فَمِ

عَنهُم وَحَاوَرَنِي نُطقاً بِغَيرِ فَمِ

So when I reminded it of its people, it spoke with me

When I recalled its people to it, they shunned me

of them and conversed with me, speaking without a mouth.

And conversed with me in speech without mouths

وَقَالَ وَلَّوا وَخَلَّونِي وَرَاءَهُمُ

وَقَالَ وَلَّوا وَخَلَّونِي وَرَاءَهُمُ

وَاستَودَعُونِي حُسنَ الرَّعيِ لِلذّمَمِ

وَاستَودَعُونِي حُسنَ الرَّعيِ لِلذّمَمِ

And it said: "They departed and left me behind them,

And they turned away, left me behind them

and entrusted me with the faithful keeping of their covenants.

Entrusting me to virtuously guard their possessions

فَجَيبُ سُورِيَ قَد مَزَّقتُهُ أَسَفاً

فَجَيبُ سُورِيَ قَد مَزَّقتُهُ أَسَفاً

وَسِنُّ صَخرِيَ مَقرُوعٌ مِنَ النَّدَمِ

وَسِنُّ صَخرِيَ مَقرُوعٌ مِنَ النَّدَمِ

So I have torn the collar of my wall in grief,

So I tore my fences in sorrow

and the tooth of my stone is struck in remorse.

And my rocky teeth are broken by regret

آلَيتُ أَسلُوهُم رَعياً لِعَهدِهِم

آلَيتُ أَسلُوهُم رَعياً لِعَهدِهِم

أَلَيسَ رَعيِي لِذَاكَ العَهدِ مِن كَرَمِ

أَلَيسَ رَعيِي لِذَاكَ العَهدِ مِن كَرَمِ

I have sworn not to forget them, in fidelity to their covenant.

Shall I tend to their covenant faithfully

Is not my care for that covenant an act of nobility?"

Is not my tending of that covenant but generosity?

فأودعَ السَّمعَ قُرطاً مِن حَدِيثِهِمُ

فأودعَ السَّمعَ قُرطاً مِن حَدِيثِهِمُ

يَا مَن رَأى أَعجَماً يُنبِي عَنِ العَجَمِ

يَا مَن رَأى أَعجَماً يُنبِي عَنِ العَجَمِ

So it placed in the ear an earring of their tale.

So the hearing has preserved a pendant

O you who have seen a mute thing tell of the non-Arabs!

From their conversation, O you who saw the incomprehensible elucidate the cryptic