لَيلَة كادَ يَلتَقي طَرفاها

لَيلَة كادَ يَلتَقي طَرفاها

قِصَراً وَهي لَيلَة الميلاد

قِصَراً وَهي لَيلَة الميلاد

A night whose two ends nearly met,

The night when its edges nearly met

so brief it was, though it was the night of the Nativity.

A palace, on the night of the birth