1. المنطقُ يبدو مَوروب

    والباطلُ أصبحَ مَرغوبا

    Logic seems askew.

    And falsehood has become sought after.

  2. والعَدْلُ اختلَّ توازنهُ

    والحقُّ تَبَدَّدَ مَسْلوبا

    And justice's balance has been upset.

    And truth has been scattered, despoiled.

  3. ميزانُ النَّحْوِ بهِ خَلَلٌ

    فالرَّفْعُ أتانا مَنصوبا

    The balance of grammar has a flaw,

    So the nominative came to us in the accusative.

  4. قد كانَ لإنَّ شقيقاتٌ

    هاجَرْنَ شَمالاً وجَنوبا

    Inna once had sisters,

    Who migrated north and south.

  5. فغدَتْ من ضَعفٍ عاجِزَةً

    أن تأخُذَ في النَّحوِ نَصيبا

    So, weakened, it became unable

    To take a share in grammar.

  6. والممنوعاتُ مِنَ الصَّرف ِ

    انصرفت لا تخشى تأنيبا

    And the words barred from full declension

    Were fully declined, fearing no rebuke.

  7. المشرِقُ تغشاهُ دَياجٍ

    تمتدُّ قرونًا وَحُقوبا

    The East is shrouded in darkness

    Stretching through centuries and ages.

  8. والمغرِبُ قد أمسى شرقً

    يتوَهَّجُ نورًا ولهيبا

    And the West has become an East,

    Glowing with light and flame.

  9. والأرنَبُ يَتَبَوّءُ عرْشً

    والأسَدُ تبَدّى مَركوبا

    And the rabbit occupies a throne,

    And the lion has appeared as a mount.

  10. والنَّعجَةُ تقتاتُ لحومً

    والذِّئبُ حَشائشَ وعُشُوبا

    And the ewe feeds on meat,

    And the wolf on grasses and herbs.

  11. وتَطلُّ عَلَينا أَحكامٌ

    تُسمِعُنا في الحُكمِ عَجيبا

    And rulings loom over us,

    Telling us something strange about governance:

  12. أن تبقى أنتَ بلا وَطَنٍ

    أو تحيا في الوَطَنِ غَريبا

    That you remain without a homeland,

    Or live in the homeland as a stranger.

  13. في زَمَنٍ أصْْبَحَ مَعكوسً

    مَفهومُ العَدْلِ ومَقلوبا

    In an age when what has been reversed

    Is the concept of justice, turned upside down,

  14. سِر مُنقَلِبًا حتى تَبقى

    في نَظَرِ العالَمِ محبوبا

    Walk upside down, so that you remain

    Beloved in the eyes of the world.