1. حَمّامُنا هذه حِمامُ

    وإنما صُحِّف الكلامُ

    This bathhouse of ours is death;

    and the word was merely misread.

  2. أقلُّ أوصافِها ثلاثٌ

    البردُ والنَّتْن والظلام

    At the least, it has three qualities:

    cold, stench, and darkness.

  3. يَلْسَع بردُ البلاطِ فيها

    فالناسُ في وسطِها قِيام

    The chill of the tiles inside it stings,

    so people stand in its midst.

  4. وبين جدارنِها شُقوقٌ

    يكُمن في جوفِها الهَوام

    And between its walls are cracks,

    in whose depths vermin lurk.

  5. وللبراغيثِ في نواحي

    بيوتِها عَسْكَرٌ لُهام

    And the fleas have, in the corners

    of its chambers, a vast army.

  6. ما قَصْدُها في دمٍ ولحمٍ

    بالعضِّ بل قَصْدُها العِظام

    Their aim is not blood and flesh

    when they bite; rather, their aim is the bones.

  7. كأنما سقفُها مِدادٌ

    يَقْطُر من دونِه السُّخام

    It is as though its ceiling were ink,

    with soot dripping from beneath it.

  8. والماءُ فيها أقلُّ شيءٍ

    يُدْرَك بالجهدِ أو يُرام

    And water there is the scarcest thing,

    obtained with effort, or sought.

  9. وليس ذا كله عجيبا

    فيها بلِ الأَعجبُ الرخام

    And none of this is astonishing

    there; rather, the marble is the greater marvel.

  10. يخرج عنها اللبيبُ يجري

    عريانَ يَحْتَثَّه الهزام

    The sensible man leaves it running,

    naked, spurred on by panicked flight.

  11. وهْو لَعَمْرِي مما يراه

    من شدةِ الهول لا يُلام

    And he, by my life, for what he sees

    of such intense horror, is not to be blamed.