بنو منقذ ما أنقذوا من زمانهم

بنو منقذ ما أنقذوا من زمانهم

وكم أنقذوا من مرهق وأسير

وكم أنقذوا من مرهق وأسير

The sons of Munqidh were not saved from their times,

The sons of Munqidh did not save anything from their time

Yet how many a hard-pressed man and captive they saved!

And how much they saved from the exhausted and the captive

أجاروا على الأيام فاضطغنتهم

أجاروا على الأيام فاضطغنتهم

وما استمسكوا من جورها بمجير

وما استمسكوا من جورها بمجير

They gave refuge against Time, so it bore them a grudge,

They gave refuge from the days, so the days overpowered them

Yet they could cling to no protector against its tyranny.

And they did not hold on to any shelter from their tyranny

فلم يبق منهم غير حي كميت

فلم يبق منهم غير حي كميت

أخي حسرة ما تنقضي وزفير

أخي حسرة ما تنقضي وزفير

So none of them remained but a living man like one dead,

So nothing remains of them except the living dead

A brother to sorrow that never ends, and to sighing.

Oh my brother, endless sorrow and sighing

فقد أقفرت منهم ديار عهدتها

فقد أقفرت منهم ديار عهدتها

غياثا لملهوف وذخر فقير

غياثا لملهوف وذخر فقير

For now, desolate without them stand dwellings I once knew

Their homes, which I hoped would give

As succor for the distressed and a treasure for the poor.

Succor to the anguished and store to the destitute, are now deserted

وما أقفرت من ساكن بل من العلى

وما أقفرت من ساكن بل من العلى

ومن نائل هامي السحاب غزير

ومن نائل هامي السحاب غزير

They are not empty of inhabitants, but of nobility,

And they are not deserted of inhabitants, but of the sublime

And of abundant bounty whose clouds pour down.

And of one who reaches up to the rain-laden clouds