1. My soul burns with yearning, and death's fires blaze,
No respite for death's embers that glow and raise,

2. Melted by tears, like the dew's morning haze,
The Sa'id's children in grief's flame ablaze,

3. A clan who once bloomed like the meadow's flowers,
Suckled on generosity's milk in life's hours,

4. Death swooped down on them in fury and power,
An obstinate tyrant with pitiless glower,

5. The sickle was raised and cut down each flower,
Destroying the harvest in that evil hour,

6. How many a maiden's hopes were dashed,
How many youths from sweet dreams were lashed,

7. How many brides in their gowns were cached,
How many grooms to the grave were dispatched,

8. Death had set up his traps far and wide,
No difference between old man and child bride,

9. Between the starving, death-seeking ill,
And the naked wanderer, lost and chilled,

10. And wished him promises, dreams beguiled,
Whenever his eyes were heavy with sleep,

11. She feared his journey into the abyss deep,
And when he sought her breast, she would bend

12. And plead to God, the Mighty Friend,
Fever makes his cheeks quiver and seep,

13. No cradle is near, though the babe doth weep,
She witnesses his pain throughout the night

14. And the earth is watered with tears moonlit,
But when dawn comes with hope in its light,

15. For the weary refugee, a hint of respite,
Death comes, and with its coming blight,

16. Hopes for life are shattered in sad defeat,
In her shock, she collapses like dead meat,

17. Bearing her child to his final retreat,
On her, the demons of grief swirl and sweep,

18. Dancing on shards of ice that make her freeze,
Her steps are shackled, a prisoner with no keys,

19. On the hillsides, death plays his masterpiece,
A drunken melody's destructive unease,

20. No pleadings deter his arrows' release,
My brothers in God, faith and nation,

21. Who've suffered the worst tribulation,
In God lies richness of spirit and mind,

22. Beyond my words, efforts, or any mankind,
If my soul itself I don't surrender,

23. As price for protecting kith and kin tender,
Egypt's hope in my heart will always burn,

24. Despite time's hardships and life's blunt spurn.