1. I see each day brings something new,
Full of wonders and surprises too.
١. أرى الأيام يظهرُ كل يوم
لنا من أمرها عجب عجابُ
2. One who could barely speak is now an orator,
Though his eloquent words are but a fraud.
٢. فهذا باقل أمسى خطيبا
و خان لسان سحبان الخطاب
3. The nightingale's been silenced, no longer sings,
While the raven's granted freedom for its caws.
٣. و كًمِّم بلبل كي لا يغني
و أُعْطِي رخصةً عنه الغراب
4. Sense died when the wise one passed away,
And justice lost its balance and its way.
٤. إلى أن مات من كمد لبيب
و ميزان الأمور به اضطرابُ
5. What added fuel to the raging fire,
Was the silence of the virtuous and wise.
٥. و مما زاد في الحطب اشتعالا
سكوت ذوي النهى عما يعاب
6. Ugly became the norm, so now it seems,
If vice calls out, its calls will find a welcome.
٦. فصار القبح قاعدة و أمسى
إذا نادى فدعوته تُجابُ
7. This is counted as poetry despite its faults,
Though in prose it would not merit any thought.
٧. فهذا رغم أنف الشعر شعر
و لو في النثر كان له انتساب
8. That poem though no answer can it bring,
To poetry's deepest questioning.
٨. و تلك قصيدة مع أنها عن
سؤال الشعر ليس لها جواب
9. In us logic is offended and aggrieved,
And meaning is upended and perceived.
٩. تأذّى منطق الأشياء فينا
فأودى بالمفاهيم انقلاب
10. Ugliness in our society prevails,
Beauty languishes, exile it curtails.
١٠. يسود القبحُ مجتمعاويطغى
إذا ناب الجمالَ به اغترابُ