إيدسن ماذا ترى في الكهرباء

أنت في الأرض فمن ذا في السماء

Edison, what do you see in electricity?

You are on earth; who, then, is in heaven?

إن تكن تحكم في أزرارها

إنه في يده زر القضاء

If you control its switches,

Indeed, in His hand is the switch of fate.

كلما حركه في خلقه

ذهب العقل وجنّ العقلاء

Whenever He moves it among His creatures,

Reason departs, and the sane go mad.

فتأمّل هل ترى من حيلة

في سلوك مرسلات من ذكاء

So ponder: do you see any stratagem

In wires sent forth by ingenuity?

قد حكيت الشمس حتى غضبت

من نحاس تجعل الصيف شتاء

You have imitated the sun until she grew angry

At copper: you turn summer into winter.

من رآها قال قد سخّرها

لك من سخرها للأنبياء

Whoever saw it said, 'It has indeed been harnessed

For you by Him who harnessed it for the prophets.'

لُعبة الناظر في غرفته

أم أفاد العلم أم أجدى الثراء

Is it a plaything for the onlooker in his room,

Or has science brought benefit, or wealth proved useful?

يا ملوك المال فيما زعموا

هل ملكتم خطرات من هواء

O kings of wealth, as they claim,

Have you owned passing breaths of air?

ليت لي الريح فسامتكمو

وأخذت الملك بيعا وشراء

If only the wind were mine, so it might bargain with you,

And I would acquire dominion by selling and buying,

أُشرك البائس في نعمائه

وأسوِّى القسم بين الفقراء

I would give the destitute a share in its blessings,

And apportion equal shares among the poor.

صدق الواهم منكم إنها

لهي الدنيا خيال وهباء

The deluded one among you spoke truly: indeed,

This world is surely illusion and dust.

كل ما ساء وما سرّ بها

ينقضى بين صباح ومساء

All that brought sorrow and all that brought joy in it

Passes away between morning and evening.