أقول وقد أعيى الورى سدُّ ترعةٍ

أقول وقد أعيى الورى سدُّ ترعةٍ

وكفَّ يداً عن أمرها من لهُ الأمرُ

وكفَّ يداً عن أمرها من لهُ الأمرُ

I say, when damming a canal had baffled all humankind,

I say, when damming a canal has baffled humankind,

and a hand strove against its affair—the hand of him who holds command—

and he who holds command has withheld his hand from dealing with it,

وفاض عباب النيل عن جنباتها

وفاض عباب النيل عن جنباتها

كما فاض باللأواء نائلهُ الغمر

كما فاض باللأواء نائلهُ الغمر

the Nile’s surging flood overflowed its sides,

and the Nile’s surging waters have overflowed its banks,

just as his abundant bounty overflowed with pearls.

as his abundant bounty has overflowed amid hardship:

هو المذنب الجاني وقد رام خذلهُ

هو المذنب الجاني وقد رام خذلهُ

بكفٍّ من سحب أنملها نصر

بكفٍّ من سحب أنملها نصر

It was the guilty offender; he sought to defeat it

It is the guilty offender, and he has sought to thwart it

with a hand of his whose fingertip-clouds are victory.

with a palm from whose fingertip-clouds comes aid.

عجيب لمن يسعى إلى سجر مائه

عجيب لمن يسعى إلى سجر مائه

براحته مع علمهِ أنها البحر

براحته مع علمهِ أنها البحر

How strange that one should strive to swell its waters

How strange that one should seek to dam its water

with his palm, knowing full well that it is the sea.

with his palm, knowing that it is the sea.