1. The sword is not true unless falsehood whets it,
And the sword is false unless wrath makes it true.

2. When white blades are carried by hands,
They guide better than when triumph takes them high.

3. How ugly is the victory of the strong without
Understanding, save the understanding of "How much did we sell? How much did we gain?"

4. More ignorant than ignorance is the knowledge that is reassured
By half-people who tyrannized with knowledge and seized.

5. They said: they are the most gentle of people, and they did not
Eat anything as they ate people or drank them.

6. What happened, oh Abu Tammam? You ask me!
Sorry, I will tell and do not ask, and why the reason?

7. Questioning embarrasses me when we ask it:
How did you celebrate Acre or Nob?

8. Who would respond? But the persistence of Mu'tasim
No, and more disgraceful than what they crucified in Afishin.

9. Today the banners of the Romans have returned victorious
And the abode of the despoiled and plundered Arabs.

10. What did we do? We were angry like men but did not
Believe though astrology and books told the truth.

11. So our stars were extinguished,
Our sun, and their fire challenged the firewood.

12. And the bugles fought for us steadfast
As for the men, they died or fled.

13. Our rulers, if they confronted the zeal, plunged in,
And if the colonizer confronted it, they retreated.

14. They pave the way for the army of invasion with their eyes
And they call it a garment before they wear it.

15. The rulers and their Washington government,
The shining ones - what glory or west did they head for?

16. The killers of the people's genius appeasing
The aggressors - how near did they find them?

17. To them is the pride of Muthanna outwardly and to them
Is the passion for Bab Al-Kharmi they claim descent from.

18. What do you see, oh Abu Tammam, did I lie
About our accounts, or forget its golden sweat?

19. The Arabism of today is another, no name sleeps on
Its existence, no color, no title.

20. Ninety thousand ignited for Ummuriya
And for the minaret they said: We are the meteors.

21. It was said: Waiting to pick the grapes, they did not wait
For the ripening of the clusters, but before it they flared up.

22. And today ninety million, and they did not reach
Ripeness, and the olives and grapes have been pressed.

23. The heads forget the fire of their pride
When sin towards their masters rides them.

24. Habib, I came from Sanaa carried by
An eagle, and behind my ribs the Arabs pant.

25. What shall I say about Sanaa, my father?
Beautiful, beloved by her: pox and scabies.

26. She died in Wadah's box without price
And in her lap desire and passion did not die.

27. She was watching the dawn of resurrection, so she rose
In a dream, then fell asleep awaiting and observing.

28. But despite the rain's stinginess, she did not stop
Pregnant, and in her womb Qahtan or Karb.

29. And in the pain of her eyelids Yemen
Weaves a second like the dream of youth, it recedes and comes near.

30. Habib, you ask about my state and how I am?
Youth on the lips of the wind laments.

31. Your countries were (travel) camels, the back of Najiya appeared,
As for my countries, no back or hump appeared.

32. I pastured every alkaline soil, flesh of a riding beast
Was its pasture, and the meadow’s water flows.

33. And I went from a tiring journey to a
More tiresome journey...because the road to comfort was aflame.

34. But I am a camel rider, so if I mount
Intentions for resolve, I inside... mount my fire and become a stranger.

35. My grave and the tragedy of my birth are on my shoulder,
And around me swollen nothingness and racket.

36. Habib, this is your reverberation today, I chant it
But why do you see my face and become gloomy?

37. What? Are you surprised at my gray hair in my youth?
I was born an old man, how can you be surprised?

38. And today I melt, and the madness of art plays me
And forty on my cheek flare up.

39. Thus, when the whiteness of life's springs appears on
The face of the writer, thought and literature shine.

40. While you grew youthful before forty on
The fire of zeal, clarifying it and choosing it.

41. And you create every cocky parasite's gift
While you give him poetry above what he gifts.

42. You wandered east and west, from Wali to King
Poverty hurries you or livelihood leads you.

43. You roamed until you reached Mosul, hopes are extinguished
In you, and their hunger was not satiated.

44. But the death of the excellent, gifted one begins
With the birth of one whose youth suckles the eras.

45. Habib, there are still questions in your eyes
Appearing and forgetting their tales, peeking out.

46. And there are still a thousand elegies in my throat
From the awe of confessing, shy and restless.

47. It suffices you that our enemies wasted our blood
While we from our blood perceive and milk.

48. The clouds of invasion scorch us and screen us
One day, our thunderclouds will be impregnated from our clouds.

49. Do you not see, oh Abu Tammam, our lightning?
“The sky is hoped for when it is screened.”