رَأَيْتُ بِصَحْراءِ الْقَرافَةِ نِسْوَةً

رَأَيْتُ بِصَحْراءِ الْقَرافَةِ نِسْوَةً

نَوَازِعَ لا يَأْوِينَ حُزْنَاً إِلَى بَيْتِ

نَوَازِعَ لا يَأْوِينَ حُزْنَاً إِلَى بَيْتِ

I saw women in the desert of al-Qarafa,

I saw in the desert of Al-Qarafa women

Yearning, they take no shelter in a house, out of grief.

Mourners who do not house sorrow in a home

يَنُحْنَ عَلى مَيْتٍ سَيَتْبَعْنَ إِثْرَهُ

يَنُحْنَ عَلى مَيْتٍ سَيَتْبَعْنَ إِثْرَهُ

وَمِنْ عَجَبٍ مَيْتٌ يَنُوحُ عَلَى مَيْتِ

وَمِنْ عَجَبٍ مَيْتٌ يَنُوحُ عَلَى مَيْتِ

They wail over a dead man whose footsteps they will follow;

They will lean over a dead man and follow in his tracks

And how wondrous: a dead man wails over a dead man.

And strange - a dead man lamenting for the dead