كأَنَّنَا لَمْ نَصِلْ تِلْكَ الأَصائِل في

كأَنَّنَا لَمْ نَصِلْ تِلْكَ الأَصائِل في

شَحْذِ القَرَائِحِ بالآدابِ والْفِطَنِ

شَحْذِ القَرَائِحِ بالآدابِ والْفِطَنِ

As though we had never passed those late afternoons in

As if we had not reached those heights in

honing our minds with literature and wit;

Sharpening talents with literature and wit

ولَمْ نَبِتْ وَذُبَالاتُ الشموعِ كَمَا

ولَمْ نَبِتْ وَذُبَالاتُ الشموعِ كَمَا

تَوَقَّدَت شَفَرَاتٌ في فَتىً كَدِنِ

تَوَقَّدَت شَفَرَاتٌ في فَتىً كَدِنِ

nor spent the night, with the candle wicks like

And sprouted, while the wicks of candles

blades blazing in a stout young man;

Ignited blades in an energetic lad

نَرَى الثُّرَيَّا كَشَنْفٍ صِيغَ مِنْ وَرقٍ

نَرَى الثُّرَيَّا كَشَنْفٍ صِيغَ مِنْ وَرقٍ

مُعَلَّقٍ مِنْ هِلالِ الأُفْقِ في أُذُنِ

مُعَلَّقٍ مِنْ هِلالِ الأُفْقِ في أُذُنِ

watching the Pleiades, like an earring fashioned from silver,

We see Pleiades like a brooch made of leaves

hung from the horizon’s crescent, as in an ear,

Suspended from the crescent's ear in the horizon

حَتَّى سَمَا الصُّبْحُ لِلظَّلْماءِ يَصْدَعُها

حَتَّى سَمَا الصُّبْحُ لِلظَّلْماءِ يَصْدَعُها

كالسَّيْلِ فَاضَ عَلَى مُخْضَرَّةِ الدِّمَنِ

كالسَّيْلِ فَاضَ عَلَى مُخْضَرَّةِ الدِّمَنِ

until dawn rose against the darkness, cleaving it,

Until the dawn ascended into the darkness, splitting it

like a torrent overflowing green-covered dung heaps.

Like a torrent flooding the green valley