1. Yesterday our orator was at the club,
And today his death is the talk of the valley.

2. I used to surround him at the club with his pulpit in the darkness,
And this morning we carry him on the bier.

3. Applause of admiration suddenly turned
To slaps by hands that came with adversaries.

4. In the evening eyes were cheerful with his mirror,
And in the morning they were in mourning under pillows.

5. Between the blossoming of life for Qasim
And its wilting was only like the flint of tinder.

6. You did not complain of pain and you were not an old woman,
So what made your fire turn to ashes?

7. If only death had brought you back to your solitude
Away from those corrupting in Egypt.

8. How many destroyers of its construction are hoping
For its ruin, lurking for executioners.

9. And how many revelers in its entertainment
Are unrestrained in their ignorance, persistent.

10. And how many dissenters in this country
Are set on sedition or have departed.

11. And how many swindlers strive by every means
To hunt money from individuals.

12. And the weary of life have tired of it
Though they were coddled and shy of descendants.

13. Why did they lose their way
And take hold in the land like pegs?

14. You have wisdom, O Lord, the secret of which
Is obscure to observers and critics.