1. إنّي مررتُ على جنا

    دِلَ فوق أَرْماسٍ دُروسِ

    Indeed, I passed by boulders

    above timeworn graves,

  2. مُحِيَتْ على قُرِّ الشّتا

    ءِ وحرِّ هاجرةِ الشُّموسِ

    effaced by winter's cold

    and the suns' scorching noonday heat.

  3. فكأنّهنَّ من البِلى

    آثارُ نِقْسٍ في طُروسِ

    So, through decay, they seemed

    like traces of ink on parchments.

  4. كم ضَمَّنَتْ من ضيغمٍ

    قَرمٍ إلى قنص النّفوسِ

    How many a lion they held,

    eager for the hunting of souls,

  5. ومتوّجٍ سحب الكُما

    ةُ وراءَه ذيلَ الخميسِ

    and a crowned one, whose warriors dragged

    behind him the army's train,

  6. وغزير ماءِ الوَجْنَتي

    ن كريمِ ناحيةِ الجليسِ

    and one whose cheeks brimmed with modesty's moisture,

    gracious toward his companion,

  7. يُعطي الكثيرَ إذا النّفو

    سُ شَحَحْنَ بالنَّزْرِ الخسيسِ

    who gave much when souls

    grudged a paltry pittance.

  8. بَعُدُوا على قُرْبِ المَزا

    رِ عن السَّعادةِ والنُّحُوسِ

    They have grown distant, though their resting place is near,

    from good fortune and ill.

  9. وكأنّهمْ لخُفوتِهمْ

    شَرْبٌ تساقَوْا بالكؤوسِ

    And in their silence they seem

    a company of drinkers who have shared the cups.

  10. تخذوا الثَّرى فَرْشاً لهمْ

    وتوسّدوا قُلَلَ الرُّؤوسِ

    They took the earth as their bed

    and made the crowns of heads their pillows.

  11. يا لَلثَّرى كم فيه مِنْ

    عِلْقٍ يُضَنُّ به نفيسِ

    Ah, the earth! How many lie within it—

    precious treasures, jealously guarded!

  12. حَمَلَتْهُ أيدي المُشفِقي

    نَ إلى قرارِةِ كلِّ بوسِ

    Compassionate hands bore him

    to the depths of every woe;

  13. وتصدّعوا وهْوَ المُنى

    عن قبره صَدْعَ السُّدوسِ

    then they scattered—though he was their heart's desire—

    from his grave, like a mantle torn apart.

  14. تركوه في ذاك الفضا

    ءِ الرّحبِ مُفتَقَدَ الأَنيسِ

    They left him in that open space,

    so vast, bereft of a companion.