دِيارَهُمُ قد أَطْمَسَتْكِ الطِّوامِسُ

دِيارَهُمُ قد أَطْمَسَتْكِ الطِّوامِسُ

فَرَسْمُكَ مَمْحُوٌّ وربعُكِ دارِسُ

فَرَسْمُكَ مَمْحُوٌّ وربعُكِ دارِسُ

O their dwellings, the effacing forces have obliterated you!

Their abodes have been erased by time

Your trace is erased, and your abode effaced.

So your image is blurred and your dwellings demolished

لكِ اللُّه ما بالُ الظّباءِ نوافراً

لكِ اللُّه ما بالُ الظّباءِ نوافراً

بربعِكِ قَدْ أَضْحَتْ وهُنَّ كَوَانِسُ

بربعِكِ قَدْ أَضْحَتْ وهُنَّ كَوَانِسُ

God keep you! Why have the gazelles become skittish

My God, why do the gazelles wander freely

In your abode, though they shelter in their lairs?

In your dwellings which are now barren and desolate

وغصنُكِ ذَاوٍ والثَّرَى ولطالَما

وغصنُكِ ذَاوٍ والثَّرَى ولطالَما

أَتيناكِ قِدْماً وَهْوَ رَيَّانُ مائسُ

أَتيناكِ قِدْماً وَهْوَ رَيَّانُ مائسُ

And your bough is withered, and the soil—how often

Your branches have withered and the soil that once

We visited you long ago, while it was lush and swaying!

We trod lush and verdant, is now arid and desiccate

أَلبسَتْ دِيارَ المالِكِيَّةِ هَذِهِ

أَلبسَتْ دِيارَ المالِكِيَّةِ هَذِهِ

أَوِ الطَّرْفُ من دُونِ الثَّرى لَكِ حارسُ

أَوِ الطَّرْفُ من دُونِ الثَّرى لَكِ حارسُ

These dwellings of al-Mālikiyya have been clothed,

Did the abodes of the Malikis here

Or is the eye, rather than the soil, your guardian?

Become bleary-eyed, or are they vigilant guardians of your grave?