The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala, XV

translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani

With tombs and ruined temples groans the land
In which our forbears in the drifting sand
       Arise as dunes upon the track of Time
To mark the cycles of the moving hand

Credit

The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala (James T. White & Co., 1920) by Abū al-‘Alā’ al-Ma‘arrī. Translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani. Copyright © 1920 by Ameen Rihani. This poem is in the public domain.