قِف بِالطَلولِ الدارِساتِ بِلَعلَعِ

قِف بِالطَلولِ الدارِساتِ بِلَعلَعِ

وَاِندُب أَحِبَّتَنا بِذاكَ البَلقَعِ

وَاِندُب أَحِبَّتَنا بِذاكَ البَلقَعِ

Halt by the effaced ruins at Laʿlaʿ,

Stand by the abandoned abodes at Al-Lal'a

and mourn our loved ones in that barren waste.

And mourn our loved ones in that Al-Balqa'

قِف بِالدِيارِ وَناجِها مُتَعَجِّباً

قِف بِالدِيارِ وَناجِها مُتَعَجِّباً

مِنها بِحُسنِ تَلَطُّفٍ بِتَفَجُّعِ

مِنها بِحُسنِ تَلَطُّفٍ بِتَفَجُّعِ

Halt by the abode and commune with her, marveling

Stand by the dwellings and converse with them amazed

at her, with gracious gentleness and grief.

At their elegance and fine tenderness in grief

عَهدي بِمِثلي عِندَ بانِكَ قاطِفاً

عَهدي بِمِثلي عِندَ بانِكَ قاطِفاً

ثَمَرَ الخُدودِ وَوَردَ رَوضٍ أَينَعِ

ثَمَرَ الخُدودِ وَوَردَ رَوضٍ أَينَعِ

I remember one like me beside your bān-tree, plucking

My days with the like of you near your dunes, plucking

the fruit of cheeks and the roses of a garden in full bloom.

The fruits of cheeks and a meadow's choicest roses

كُلَّ الَّذي يَرجو نَوالَكَ أُمطِروا

كُلَّ الَّذي يَرجو نَوالَكَ أُمطِروا

ما كانَ بَرقُكَ خُلَّباً إِلّا مَعي

ما كانَ بَرقُكَ خُلَّباً إِلّا مَعي

All who hope for your bounty were showered with rain;

May those who hope for your rains be watered

your lightning never promised rain in vain, except to me.

Your lightning illuminated none but me

قالَت نَعَم قَد كانَ ذاكَ المُلتَقى

قالَت نَعَم قَد كانَ ذاكَ المُلتَقى

في ظِلِّ أَفناني بِأَخصَبِ مَوضِعِ

في ظِلِّ أَفناني بِأَخصَبِ مَوضِعِ

She said, “Yes, that meeting indeed took place

She said "Yes, that meeting was

in the shade of my boughs, in the most fertile spot,

In the shade of my branches, at the most fertile place"

إِذ كانَ بَرقي مِن بُروقِ مَباسِمٍ

إِذ كانَ بَرقي مِن بُروقِ مَباسِمٍ

وَاليَومَ بَرقي لَمعُ هذا اليَرمَعِ

وَاليَومَ بَرقي لَمعُ هذا اليَرمَعِ

when my lightning came from the flashes of smiling mouths;

For my lightning then was of smiling flashes

and today my lightning is the gleam of this white gravel.

While today my lightning is but a slight glare

فَاِعتُب زَماناً ما لَنا مِن حيلَةٍ

فَاِعتُب زَماناً ما لَنا مِن حيلَةٍ

في دَفعِهِ ما ذَنبُ مَنزِلِ لَعلَعِ

في دَفعِهِ ما ذَنبُ مَنزِلِ لَعلَعِ

So reproach time: we have no means

So blame time, for we've no power

to ward it off. What fault lies with the abode at Laʿlaʿ?”

To stop it - what's the fault of Lal'a's dwellings?

فَعَذَرتُها لَمّا سَمِعتُ كَلامَها

فَعَذَرتُها لَمّا سَمِعتُ كَلامَها

تَشكو كَما أَشكو بِقَلبٍ موجَعِ

تَشكو كَما أَشكو بِقَلبٍ موجَعِ

So I excused her when I heard her words,

I pardoned her when I heard her words

complaining as I complain, with an aching heart.

Lamenting as I lament with an aching heart

وَسَأَلتُها لَمّا رَأَيتُ رُبوعَها

وَسَأَلتُها لَمّا رَأَيتُ رُبوعَها

مَسرى الرِياحِ الذارِياتِ الأَربَعِ

مَسرى الرِياحِ الذارِياتِ الأَربَعِ

And I asked her, when I saw her dwellings

And I asked her when I saw her meadows

were a passageway for the four dust-scattering winds,

The path of the four winds blowing

هَل أَخبَرَتكِ رِياحُهُم بِمَقيلِهِم

هَل أَخبَرَتكِ رِياحُهُم بِمَقيلِهِم

قالَت نِعمَ قالوا بِذاتِ الأَجرَعِ

قالَت نِعمَ قالوا بِذاتِ الأَجرَعِ

“Have their winds told you of their noonday resting-place?”

Did the winds inform you of their resting place?

She said, “Yes; they said, ‘At Dhāt al-Ajraʿ,

She said "Yes, they said it was at Al-Ajra'"

حَيثُ الخِيامُ البيضِ تَشرُقُ لِلَّذي

حَيثُ الخِيامُ البيضِ تَشرُقُ لِلَّذي

تَحويهِ مِن تِلكَ الشُموسِ الطُلَّعِ

تَحويهِ مِن تِلكَ الشُموسِ الطُلَّعِ

where the white tents shine because of what

Where the white tents rise for those

they hold of those rising suns.’”

Who occupy them under those brilliant suns