1. عَرِّج عَلى الدارِ الَّتي كُنّا بِها

    تَغَيَّرَت مِن بَعدِ عَهدِنا بِها

    Turn aside to the dwelling where we once stayed.

    It has changed since our time there,

  2. غَيرَ ثَلاثٍ لَم تَزَل تَشقى بِها

    كَنُقَطِ الثاءِ لَدى كُتّابِها

    Save three that still make you suffer,

    Like the dots of thāʾ in its scribes’ hands.

  3. تَنَفَّسَت بَعدَ الكَرى الصَبا بِها

    وَاِنتَقَبَ المُسفِرُ مِن تُرابِها

    After slumber, the east wind breathed through it,

    And the bright-faced one donned a veil of its dust.

  4. وَاِهتَزَّ فيها النَورُ وَالنَقا بِها

    حينَ تَرى الكَمِيَّ إِذ يُعنى بِها

    And the blossoms and sand dunes stirred within it,

    When you see the armored warrior attending to it.

  5. وَالصُدقُ لا يُعرَفُ مِن غُرابِها

    كَغادَةٍ عَزَّت عَلى طُلّابِها

    And truth cannot be learned from its raven.

    Like a graceful maiden beyond her suitors’ reach,

  6. غالِيَةِ الوَصلِ عَلى أَحبابِها

    ساخِطَةٍ قَد رَضِيَ الهَوى بِها

    Whose union costs her lovers dearly,

    Displeased, yet love is pleased with her.

  7. تَلتَهِبُ البيضُ عَلى أَبوابِها

    وَغَمرَةٌ لِلمَوتِ تُتَّقى بِها

    The white blades blaze at her gates,

    And a surge of death is warded off with them.

  8. حَضَّرتُها وَكُنتُ مِن أَصحابِها

    فَطارَتِ الهاماتُ عَن رِقابِها

    I prepared it, and I was among its participants,

    Then heads flew from their necks.

  9. وَناقَةٍ في مَهمَهٍ رَمى بِها

    هَمٌّ إِذا نامَ الوَرى سَرى بِها

    And a she-camel, flung into a trackless waste

    By worry, which journeyed with her by night when humankind slept.

  10. فَهيَ أَمامَ الرَكبِ في ذَهابِها

    كَسَطرِ بِسمِ اللَهِ في كِتابِها

    So she is ahead of the caravan as she goes,

    Like the line ‘In the name of God’ in her book.