بَنى سُليمانُ سَلسَبيلاً

بَنى سُليمانُ سَلسَبيلاً

بَخٍ لِما قَد بَنى بَخٍ بَخْ

بَخٍ لِما قَد بَنى بَخٍ بَخْ

Sulayman built a sweet-flowing fountain.

Solomon built Salwa,

Bravo for what he has built—bravo, bravo!

so much admired for what he erected, so much admired!

ما رُمتُ تَقييدَه بِوَقتٍ

ما رُمتُ تَقييدَه بِوَقتٍ

لو رُمت تاريخَه لَتأرّخ

لو رُمت تاريخَه لَتأرّخ

I did not seek to assign it a date;

I did not intend to date it,

Had I sought to date it, it would have been dated.

or else its date for dating would have sufficed!