بِالعَنبَرِيَّةِ دارٌ قَد كَلِفتُ بِها

بِالعَنبَرِيَّةِ دارٌ قَد كَلِفتُ بِها

لَو كانَ يَرجِعُ مَأهولاً لِيَ القَدَرُ

لَو كانَ يَرجِعُ مَأهولاً لِيَ القَدَرُ

At al-ʿAnbariyya stands a dwelling I have grown enamored of;

With ambergris a house wherein I dwelled

If only fate would restore it to me, inhabited.

Had fortune willed that it again be filled

كَم لِلمُلاءَةِ مِن حَولٍ أُجَرِّمُهُ

كَم لِلمُلاءَةِ مِن حَولٍ أُجَرِّمُهُ

عَلى الرَجاءِ وَهادي الخَيلِ تُنتَظَرُ

عَلى الرَجاءِ وَهادي الخَيلِ تُنتَظَرُ

How many a year have I spent for al-Mulāʾa,

How many a night with friends would I have spent

In hope, while the vanguard of the horses is awaited,

In hope and guided by the trotting steed

حَتّى وَقَفتُ بِدارٍ ما بِها أَحَدٌ

حَتّى وَقَفتُ بِدارٍ ما بِها أَحَدٌ

وَلَيسَ يَنطِقُ مِن مَعروفِها حَجَرُ

وَلَيسَ يَنطِقُ مِن مَعروفِها حَجَرُ

Until I stood at a dwelling with no one in it,

Until I came upon an empty place

And not a stone among its familiar remains speaks.

Where not a soul remained, nor stone could speak

وَالعَنبَرِيَّةُ وَحشٌ بَعدَ حِلَّتِها

وَالعَنبَرِيَّةُ وَحشٌ بَعدَ حِلَّتِها

مِنَ المُلاءَةِ أَسقى جَوَّها المَطَرُ

مِنَ المُلاءَةِ أَسقى جَوَّها المَطَرُ

And al-ʿAnbariyya lies desolate, once inhabited

Ambergris now deserted lies forlorn

By al-Mulāʾa—may the rain water its open ground!

With rains the homes of friends are overflowed

كَم لِلمُلاءَةِ مِن أَطلالِ مَنزِلَةٍ

كَم لِلمُلاءَةِ مِن أَطلالِ مَنزِلَةٍ

بِالعَنبَرِيَّةِ لَم يَدرُس لَها أَثَرُ

بِالعَنبَرِيَّةِ لَم يَدرُس لَها أَثَرُ

How many ruins of al-Mulāʾa’s dwellings there are

How many are the ruins of abodes

At al-ʿAnbariyya, their traces still unfaded.

In Ambergris, no trace of them endured