1. You are blessed by God; do not complain or grumble
Your heart overflows, though your mouth is shut!

2. A man’s tongue overflows if his patience wears thin
And oil spills when the full vessel tips over

3. For long I blamed destiny, until I saw
The vases of musk perfume smashed by the zephyr

4. We blamed fate, calling it unfair
It grants and denies as it desires!

5. By your life, I know not by what logic
I see luck distributed in Egypt

6. So why do more mutes abound in Egypt
And more shake the pillars of minbars, dumbstruck

7. I stayed in ill-fated Egypt, residing
Among its silent pyramids and ruins

8. I stood fixed in my spot, unable to budge,
My feet bleeding from the thorns, swollen.

9. As if I were a spinning wheel, spinning
Endlessly without making any progress!

10. So who here is close kin or in-law to me
When in Egypt I am lonely; no relative or protector

11. It’s not that I’m one whose face is unrecognizable
But people ignore me, or they are blind

12. Does my youth waste between the walls of a village
At whose door silence reigns, brooding?

13. Because of the all-encompassing silence
If the living are counted, I am not one of them

14. I lived among its people for years, yet
My spirit and feelings are alien to them

15. They say: “Green are the meadows, refreshing”
So I said: “Offer it to the sheep to graze!”

16. By your life, I live in desolate wilderness
Where eulogies are apt for the living

17. I grew weary of a monotonous life
So my homeland became my misery and worries

18. A life like stagnant water
Bringing neither joy, nor pain

19. All I want is a profound life
Bringing joy or sorrow, so I’d be content or vengeful

20. A life like the tumultuous sea, the heavy sea
Where storms rumble and thunder defeats

21. A life with: determination and jest, with: pleasure
And rage, two flavors: sweet and bitter

22. So who will inform “Bent al-Ma’z” that
My heart flutters for her like birds fluttering?

23. Where is the lion from the barren valley
Who keeps pacts safe, though the tribe of Ma’ad breached them?

24. If I turn away from Egypt, it suffices that
I make pilgrimage to it every year, dressed in ihram

25. By your life, I have befriended youngsters
I go to them and return every day

26. Young ones we raise to their mental level
And build, though we crumble

27. I’m about to revert to being a child; because of
The long time I’ve played childish games with them

28. We started seasons we will repeat
Like a recurring tune that becomes trite

29. Who deserves sympathy more than one
Whose heart is tortured, other than a teacher!

30. In my youth I never cared for results
But now I dream of them in the still of night

31. I wish I’d gone back to school as a pupil
Carrying a tablet and pencil by my side

32. You see the free soul itself
Lose some rights, while others dominate

33. One attains wishes by cutting corners, wrapped up
Sneaking into people’s homes as they sleep

34. So many matters that embarrass the noble soul
My spacious chest tightens, so I hold my tongue

35. If only I’d closed my eyes to motes
And taught myself things I do not know!

36. If only my soul obeyed me, I’d have reined it
Easily in, not losing while others gain

37. Let he who wishes boast. It suffices me
That I was frugal with my facial expressions when they were generous

38. And I didn’t fawn over them and their favors
While others are infatuated with them

39. Indeed I’d be the loser if I were crowned Caesar
Bestowed favors, with a rewarded neck