وَلَو أَنَّ لي داراً يَحِلُّ دخولُها

وَلَو أَنَّ لي داراً يَحِلُّ دخولُها

لَمَتَّعتكم بِالعزفِ فيها وَبِالخَمرِ

لَمَتَّعتكم بِالعزفِ فيها وَبِالخَمرِ

And if I had a house one could lawfully enter,

Even if I had a house where entering was possible

If I but had a house fit to be entered,

I would entertain you there with music and wine.

I would have entertained you with music and wine in it

I would have entertained you therein with music and wine;

وَلَكِنَّني في دار سَوءٍ كَأَنَّها

وَلَكِنَّني في دار سَوءٍ كَأَنَّها

بَقيَّةِ ناووسٍ عَلى ساحِلِ البَحرِ

بَقيَّةِ ناووسٍ عَلى ساحِلِ البَحرِ

But I am in a wretched house, as though it were

But I am in an evil house that is as if

But I reside in a wretched dwelling, as though it were

The remnant of a burial vault on the seashore.

It were the remnants of a na'us on the seashore

The remnants of a tomb upon the seashore.

أؤدي إِلى مَن عَجَّل اللَهُ مَوتَهُ

أؤدي إِلى مَن عَجَّل اللَهُ مَوتَهُ

لأدفِنَهُ فيها ثَلاثينَ في الشَهرِ

لأدفِنَهُ فيها ثَلاثينَ في الشَهرِ

I pay someone—may God hasten his death

I pay to one whom Allah hastened his death

I pay rent to one whose death may God hasten,

So I may bury him there—thirty a month.

To bury him in it thirty times a month

To bury thirty a month within it.