أَعائِدَةٌ تِلكَ اللَيالي بِذي الغَضى

أَعائِدَةٌ تِلكَ اللَيالي بِذي الغَضى

أَلا لا وَهَل يُثنى مِنَ الدَّهرِ ما مَضى

أَلا لا وَهَل يُثنى مِنَ الدَّهرِ ما مَضى

Are those nights at Dhū al-Ghaḍā returning?

Those nights of intimacy with the tender one,

Ah, no! Can what has passed of time be brought back?

Alas! Time past will not come again.

إِذا ذَكَرَتْها النَّفسُ باتَت كَأَنَّها

إِذا ذَكَرَتْها النَّفسُ باتَت كَأَنَّها

عَلى حَدِّ سَيفٍ بَينَ جَنبيَّ يُنتَضى

عَلى حَدِّ سَيفٍ بَينَ جَنبيَّ يُنتَضى

When the soul recalls them, it spends the night as though it were

When the soul recalls them, it's as though

On the edge of a sword being drawn between my sides.

Lying on the edge of a sword being drawn.

فَحِنَّ رُوَيداً أَيُّها القَلبُ واصَطَبِر

فَحِنَّ رُوَيداً أَيُّها القَلبُ واصَطَبِر

فَلا يَدفَعُ الأَقدارَ سُخطٌ وَلا رِضى

فَلا يَدفَعُ الأَقدارَ سُخطٌ وَلا رِضى

So yearn gently, O heart, and be patient;

So patience, O heart, go gently,

For neither resentment nor acceptance can avert fate's decrees.

Since neither discontent nor acquiescence alter destiny.

تَوَلّى الصِّبا وَالمالِكيَّةُ أَعرَضَتْ

تَوَلّى الصِّبا وَالمالِكيَّةُ أَعرَضَتْ

وَزالَ التَّصابي وَالشَّبابُ قَدِ اِنقَضى

وَزالَ التَّصابي وَالشَّبابُ قَدِ اِنقَضى

Youth has departed, and al-Mālikiyya has turned away;

Childhood companions and angels have turned away,

And youthful dalliance has ceased, and youth has already ended.

Youth's pleasures have passed, they are gone.