Sol 6.1

  1. تركنا أرضَ مِصرَ لكل فدمٍ

    له باعٌ يقصِّرُ عن ذِرَاعي

    We left the land of Egypt to every dullard

    Whose armspan falls short of my forearm.

  2. نفوسٌ لا تليقُ بها الَمَعالي

    وأخلاقٌ تضيقُ عن المسَاعِي

    Souls unworthy of lofty honors,

    And natures too narrow for noble pursuits.

  3. إذا غلطوا بأحسابٍ تلته

    عِدادٌ من إساءات تِبَاع

    If they blunder into deeds of honor, these are followed

    By a host of misdeeds, one after another.

  4. أقمتُ بها ومن مَحِنِ الليالي

    مَقَامُ الأُسدِ في كَنفِ الضبُّاعِ

    I dwelt there; among the ordeals of the nights

    Is the dwelling of lions in the shelter of hyenas.

  5. أقول وقد نأوا بُعداً وسُحقاً

    لِشَرِّ الخَلق في شَرِّ البِقَاعِ

    I say, now they are far away: 'Banishment and ruin

    To the worst of creatures in the worst of lands!'

  6. وكم خلَّفتُ من كَرَمٍ مُهَانٍ

    بِعَرصَتِهِ ومن لُؤم مُطاعِ

    And how much nobility I left behind, dishonored

    In its own courtyard, and how much baseness obeyed!

  7. ومن مالٍ مَصُونِ الثَّغرِ تُحمى

    جوانِبُه ومن عِرضٍ مُضَاع

    And wealth with its frontier guarded, protected

    On its flanks, and honor squandered;

  8. وأجسامٍ مُسَمَّنةٍ شباعٍ

    وأَحسَابٍ مُضَمَّرةٍ جِياعِ

    And bodies fattened and sated,

    And pedigrees emaciated and hungry;

  9. ونقصٍ في أكابرِها خَصيصٍ

    وجهلٍ في أصاغرِها مُشاعِ

    And deficiency peculiar to its grandees,

    And ignorance rife among its lesser folk.

  10. أَإِن باتت سرائركُم وكانت

    مساوئكم تقام على يَفَاعِ

    Is it because your secrets have become exposed, and

    Your misdeeds were displayed upon high ground,

  11. جعلتم ذنبنَا أَنَّا سَمِعنَا

    وما الآذانُ إِلاَّ للسَّمَاعِ

    That you made it our sin that we heard?

    Yet ears are only for hearing.

  12. كأنَّ البينَ مَحتومٌ علينا

    فليس سِوَى التلاقي والوَداعِ

    As though parting were decreed for us,

    So there is nothing but meeting and farewell.