1. يالَكَ مِن لَيلِ حِجا

    بٍ جُنحُهُ مُعتَكِرُ

    What a veiling night you are,

    its gloom dense and murky!

  2. ظَلامُهُ لا يَنجَلي

    وَصُبحُهُ لا يَسفِرُ

    Its darkness does not lift,

    and its dawn does not brighten.

  3. لَيسَ لَهُ إِلى المَما

    تِ آخِرٌ يُنتَظَرُ

    Until death, it has no

    end that can be awaited.

  4. مافي حَياةٍ مَعَهُ

    لِذي حَصاةٍ وَطَرُ

    Life with it holds no

    appeal for anyone with sense.

  5. غادَرَني كَأَنَّني

    في كَسرِ بَيتٍ حَجَرُ

    It has left me as though I were

    a stone in the corner of a house.

  6. لا أَهتَدي لِحاجَتي

    وَفي اللَيالي عِبَرُ

    I cannot find my way to what I need,

    and in the nights are lessons.

  7. أَينَ الشَبابُ وَالمِرا

    حُ وَالهَوى وَالأَشَرُ

    Where are youth and merriment,

    and love and exuberance?

  8. أَخنَت عَلى أَيّامِها

    أَيّامُ دَهرٍ غُدُرُ

    Their days were laid waste

    by time’s treacherous days.

  9. لَم يَبقَ لي إِلّا الأَسى

    مِنهُنَّ وَالتَذَكُّرُ

    Nothing is left to me but sorrow

    from them, and remembrance.