1. Abu Qir, yesterday does not return
The four seasons have passed since we left

2. The summer tents were folded, so no more
Shadows in their corners one hopes for

3. Autumn has driven people away from you
So the companion bids farewell in sorrow

4. Our departure angered your sea
So waves surged in agitation

5. Your fortress, the mighty, was frightened
So the bravest hero was wary

6. No longer did the tall flag flutter
Over you, though guards kept vigil

7. You became home to beasts of wilderness
Seeking shade in your trees at night

8. Palm leaves drape your face like shrouds
Cloaks of grief spread in mourning

9. Abu Qir nights, where are the nights?
Where are the stars that shone bright?

10. Where is the crescent that once formed
The charming night’s elated delight?

11. Gazelles frolicked on the beach sands
Pursued by does with strong forelegs

12. Eyes flirting with eyes, slender branches
Embracing sturdy trunks at their edge

13. Rising suns the young ladies resemble
With stars trailing as followers

14. Wavy hair above mounts at nightfall
When darkness overwhelms and confounds

15. Maidens sitting atop rocks like branches
Whose blossoms the boulders adorn

16. Unveilers, exposing what’s within homes
With smiles like pearls arranged and aligned

17. Enchantresses, even tempered, wise
Passionate lovers, ardently inclined

18. Captivating with beauty galore
Immortalized, legends designed

19. Nights I spent reclining on sand
While my eyes refused to close

20. Stars wandered above confused, as tears Do
In swollen eyes with sadness imposed

21. The evening breeze strokes my face
As huts gaze on me, humble posed

22. Lamps hanging on their doors glow bright
With intense light strongly disclosed

23. The mighty fortress stands guard so well
Relieving my fearful, faint heart

24. Silence prevailed, as if the ruins
Were holding their breath, firmly frozen

25. The rock narrated all it had seen
The water made my ears its host

26. Events the times had independently judged
Inscribed on the sea as time elapsed

27. Scripted in blood, lineages etched
Which no compliant onlooker accepts

28. Eyes recite them in the darkness
And hearts memorize every debt

29. Armies, envied by anchored ships
Sailed by the winds from every edge

30. Frightening the seas if they sailed
For even whales were scared and upset

31. Transporting death battalions, aroused and alert
While Egypt readied its spear and its wedge

32. Scattering the Mamluks till their unity was torn
Unlike he who gathers and does not forget

33. Envoys from every land came to him successively
Submitting to his rule, total and absolute

34. But the great men saw with their own troops
Determined stubbornness, refusing to let

35. The sea leader defied the elder’s command
He cared not for the foe nor fret

36. O day the British suddenly attacked
With sails unfurled above his head

37. Bullets thundered in your horizon
And cannons roared in your waters, upset

38. Smoke enveloped your coasts
As if elephants, enraged, trumpet

39. Terrifying your seas if they sailed
For even whales were scared and upset

40. Feeding the thousands to the waves’ greed
Yet the endless thirst was still unmet

41. A coward delayed coming to their aid
Fear caused his guts to churn and twist

42. So destruction befell them, as mountains collapse
And massive boulders split

43. Avenging you was consolation for their souls
For death cannot be satiated nor lulled, nor pacified

44. The Turks came after years to restore the land
And take it back from the grasp of its thief

45. Bonaparte met them with troops as numerous as the sands
With blazing fires lit in his heart unleashed

46. He threw them an iron surge to finish them off
Against whom no defense could be unleashed

47. Ask Mustafa about their heroism
When he came pleading for mercy, a refugee

48. Mustafa threw his axe at the brave Moor
Who was not one to panic or flee

49. Severing his fingers with the sword, the Moor
Returned to take his vengeance, enraged and seething

50. He sent his horsemen swooping like falcons
And the friend in its orbit scattered, torn and beaten

51. Shattering the soldiers till no trace remained
No path for them thereafter to follow or lead

52. You were their food in both instances
For them your Locale of Death indeed

53. They left while you kept speaking of what
Befell you, your spring flowed without deplete

54. Tell me, will the departed return?
Tell me, will the suckling infant be weaned?

55. They say you will become a ruin tomorrow
Though their lives are the most brief

56. I see the inanimate outliving
The rational, so what can be gleaned?

57. In speech they lied and fabricated
Envying what they vilified and demeaned

58. A radiant star pleased them
A bountiful full moon brought them delight

59. But they left while their poet twisted the facts
And their preacher ranted day and night

60. What good amid life did they gain?
While fate hastened without respite

61. For all are doomed to ruin
And memory clouds soon take flight

62. Abu Qir, you are the best company
Your sermon most eloquent in my plight

63. Despite time’s injustice, you are still gardens
Where the gentle breeze spreads its flight

64. Your skies are clear, your air restores youth
Your sea, most beautiful in my sight

65. Your water, sweetest to drink
Your fortress towers in might

66. Does leap in you while gazelles frolic
And the round moon shines so bright

67. Doves coo, enjoying your shade
And pearls glisten atop branches upright

68. They claim you will be ruins tomorrow
Though their lives are the most brief

69. I see the inanimate outliving
The rational, so what can be gleaned?