تقول لي الأشواق هذي ديارهم

تقول لي الأشواق هذي ديارهم

فقلت نعم لكنها منهم قفر

فقلت نعم لكنها منهم قفر

My longings tell me, “These are their abodes.”

Longing tells me, “These are their dwellings.”

I answer, “Yes—but without them, they lie desolate.”

So I said, “Yes, but they stand empty of them.”

وما كنت أهوى الدار إلا لأهلها

وما كنت أهوى الدار إلا لأهلها

وبعدهم لا جاد ساكنها القطر

وبعدهم لا جاد ساكنها القطر

I never loved the dwelling save for its people;

I loved the dwelling only for its people.

And after them, may rain never bless whoever dwells there.

And after them, may no rain bless its inhabitant.

فما الدار تلك الدار بعد قطينها

فما الدار تلك الدار بعد قطينها

ولا الدهر فيما بعدهم ذلك الدهر

ولا الدهر فيما بعدهم ذلك الدهر

That abode is no longer the same abode, once its people are gone,

For the dwelling is not that same dwelling once its residents are gone,

Nor, after them, is time the same time.

Nor is time, after them, that same time.