1. ألِمَّا بِى عَلَى دِمَنٍ تَذُوبُ

    غَرَاماً مِن تَذَكَّرِهَا القلُوبُ

    Stop with me, you two, at ruins where hearts melt

    with passionate longing at their remembrance.

  2. سَحِبتُ مَطَارِفَ الغفلاتِ فيها

    زمانا لا تنوبُ به الخُطُوبُ

    I trailed the bordered cloaks of heedlessness there,

    for a time when no calamities struck,

  3. ولاَ نَصَبٌ يَمَسُّي القومَ فِيهِ

    ولا فَيه يَمَسُّهُمُ لُغُوبٌ

    and no hardship touched the people there,

    nor did weariness touch them there.

  4. شققتُ به جلابيبَ كُلَّ خَودٍ

    وشُقِّقَتِ البراقعُ والجُيُوبُ

    There I tore the outer robes of every lovely maiden,

    and face-veils and necklines were rent.

  5. وكَم غَنِيَت بساحِتها فَتَاةٌ

    مُهَفهَفَةٌ مُعَمَّةٌ عَرُوبُ

    And many a maiden dwelt in their courtyard,

    slender-waisted, nobly born, and loving.

  6. وَبانَت عن مَعَاهِدِهَا واضحَت

    قِفَاراً والنَّوائِبُ قَد تَنُوب

    And she left her familiar haunts, and they became

    barren wastes—and misfortunes may strike.

  7. فيا ليتَ العهودَ كما عهدنا

    وليتَ الدهرَ ذَاهِبُهُ يَئوبَ

    So, would that the old days were as we knew them,

    and would that bygone time returned.