لَكَ القَلَمُ الجَوّالُ إِذ لا مُثَقَّفٌ

لَكَ القَلَمُ الجَوّالُ إِذ لا مُثَقَّفٌ

يَجولُ وَلا عَضبٌ تُهابُ مَواقِعُه

يَجولُ وَلا عَضبٌ تُهابُ مَواقِعُه

Yours is the roaming pen, when no straightened spear

You have a roaming pen when there is no educated person roaming, and no angry person fears its consequences. It is all the same whether you have covered it in flaws out of fear, or someone with self-destructive tendencies whose restraint has been covered in blood. Its tongue twists noise from the pulpits but its hearings do not convey what it says. And it speaks of secrets until you would think it harbored them, yet its insides that divulge are vacant. When a dark matter arises below it and it is white, it blackens while its prospects whitened upon it.

roams, nor are a keen sword's blows feared.

سَواءٌ إِذا غَشَّيتَهُ النَقسَ رَهبَةً

سَواءٌ إِذا غَشَّيتَهُ النَقسَ رَهبَةً

وَذو لَهذَمٍ غُشّي مِنَ الدَمِّ رادِعُه

وَذو لَهذَمٍ غُشّي مِنَ الدَمِّ رادِعُه

When you cloak it in ink, it is as fearsome

as a broad-pointed spear whose tip is covered in blood.

لَجلِجُ مِن فَوقِ الطُروسِ لِسانُهُ

لَجلِجُ مِن فَوقِ الطُروسِ لِسانُهُ

وَلَيسَ يُؤَدّي ما تَقولُ مَسامِعُه

وَلَيسَ يُؤَدّي ما تَقولُ مَسامِعُه

Its tongue stammers over the pages,

yet its ears do not convey what you say.

وَيَنطِقُ بِالأَسرارِ حَتّى تَظُنُّهُ

وَيَنطِقُ بِالأَسرارِ حَتّى تَظُنُّهُ

حَواها وَصِفرٌ مِن ضَميرٍ أَضالِعُه

حَواها وَصِفرٌ مِن ضَميرٍ أَضالِعُه

And it speaks secrets until you think it

has held them, though its ribs are empty of thought.

إِذا اِسوَدَّ خَطبٌ دونَهُ وَهوَ أَبيَضٌ

إِذا اِسوَدَّ خَطبٌ دونَهُ وَهوَ أَبيَضٌ

يُسَوِّدُ وَاِبيَضَّت عَلَيهِ مَطالِعُه

يُسَوِّدُ وَاِبيَضَّت عَلَيهِ مَطالِعُه

When a crisis darkens before it, though it is white,

it blackens the page, and through it the crisis's horizons brighten.