1. إزيّ حال صدقي وحال بور سعيدْ

    وقعدِتُه فيها لوحده فريدْ

    How are Sidqi and Port Said faring?

    And his stay there, all alone and solitary?

  2. لا يوم يفوت طيب ولا نهار سعيد

    ولا أمور تفرِح ولا شيء مفيدْ

    No day passes pleasantly, and no day is happy,

    No affairs bring joy, and nothing is useful.

  3. فاتكَ جميل تصطاد سمك م القنال

    وتلمّ من وسْط البحيرهْ ودعء

    Jamil has outpaced you, while you catch fish from the canal,

    And gather cowries from the middle of the lake,

  4. وتبيع فراخ رومي وتخطف عيال

    وتشيل فحوم بعد العشا في القصعْ

    And sell turkeys and snatch children,

    And carry coal in bowls after supper.

  5. وتجيب زحالف لَجْلْ جَرّ اللبان

    من بر آسيا في زكايب قزايز

    And fetch turtles to tow the milkman,

    From the Asian shore, in sacks of bottles,

  6. وتقيد فنار البلط بعد الأدان

    وتبيع سنانير للسمك في البوغاز

    And light the Balt lighthouse after the call to prayer,

    And sell fishhooks at the channel mouth.

  7. عمل جميل غرفان في شهرِ العسل

    يسرح ويمرح في التباتِ والنبات

    Jamil is immersed in his honeymoon,

    Roaming and frolicking in settled, flourishing bliss,

  8. وإنت في شهرِ الوخمِ والكسل

    وإللي فيه تصبح كمان يه تِبات

    While you are in a month of lethargy and laziness,

    Going to bed in the same state you wake in.

  9. يمكن يطيب لك يم تكون في السويسِ

    إنك تروح مكه في مركبٍ شراع

    Perhaps, when you're in Suez, it would suit you

    To go to Mecca in a sailing boat,

  10. وتلبّ لما تنفلق في قُبيسِ

    وتحط لك في قعرِ زمزم صباع

    And chant 'Here I am!' on Qubays until you burst,

    And put a finger of yours into the bottom of Zamzam.

  11. وإن فاض معك فكه تجيب جوز سَبح

    وجلْد حنّه معْ صفيحة مياه

    And if you have spare change, get two sets of prayer beads,

    And a skin-bag of henna, with a tin of water.

  12. وتجيب معاك في الخرج حبلين بلح

    وإنْ كرنَكُوكْ في البحرِ تبلع نواه

    And bring along two strings of dates in your saddlebag,

    And if they quarantine you at sea, swallow a date stone.

  13. وبعد ما ترجع تقيم الفرح

    وتحط راسك في جراب الجواز

    And after you return, hold the wedding feast,

    And put your head into the sack of marriage.

  14. وإن شاء الله ما جا الزرع بعدين قدح

    أسم الأفا أجوّز وراح الحجاز

    And even if, God willing, the crop later yields not a qadah,

    At least the fool gets the title: 'He married and went to the Hijaz.'

  15. سمعت من طلعتِ نهار ما حضر

    إنك صحيح قربت تكتب كتابْ

    I heard from Talaat, the day he came,

    That you're truly about to sign a marriage contract,

  16. وتبطل التضحيك وشغل السهر

    وتعمر الكون بعد ما كان خرابْ

    And give up the joking and the late-night antics,

    And bring life to the world after it lay in ruins.

  17. هوّا جرا لعقلك خلل يا عبيط

    حتى تسلم لحيتك للمره

    Has your mind gone wrong, you fool,

    That you'd hand your beard over to a woman?

  18. حدِّش يكون سايب ويرجع ربيط

    ويقول يا ريت اللي حصل ما جرى

    Would anyone go from being loose to being tethered,

    Then say, 'If only what happened had never happened'?

  19. يعني رأيت مين في الجواز اتنصف

    اللي انكسر ضهرُه وإللي اتوحس

    I mean, whom have you seen get a fair deal in marriage?

    One has his back broken; another gets mired in trouble,

  20. وكل ساعه في بلاوي وقرف

    وغلب أزرق والنكد والفلسْ

    And every hour brings calamities and disgust,

    And blue misery, vexation, and pennilessness.

  21. يمكن ما حدش بس قال لك صريح

    ذنبك على جنبكِ أدينْ قلت لك

    Maybe no one has told you plainly, that's all.

    Your fault is yours to bear—there, I've told you.

  22. من قبل قالوا يا فصيح لا تصيح

    عشان كده ما لقيتش مين عقّلك

    They said before, 'O eloquent one, don't cry out,'

    That's why you found no one to talk sense into you.

  23. أدينِ نصحتك وإنت إعمل هواك

    وإن كان في راسِ الجحشِ صوت ينْهقُه

    There, I've advised you; now do as you please.

    And if there's a sound in the donkey colt's head, he'll bray it out.

  24. وادخل جهنم صرف وابلغ مناك

    وهات على الضبه الوسخ والزقُه

    Enter hell pure and simple, and attain your desire,

    And put the filth on the latch and stick it there.

  25. إجوّز احسن لأجل ما تتلخمْ

    وتفضّ مسخ الشعر يا شيخ ثمود

    Better get married, so you'll be bogged down,

    And stop mangling poetry, you elder of Thamud,

  26. وتخُش من قبل العشا تنتخم

    والشعر يسلم من أيادي اليهود

    And go inside before supper to gorge yourself,

    And poetry will be safe from the hands of the Jews.

  27. خسّرت شعر الخلق يا ابن الحلال

    واللي عمل له بيت هدّمتُه عليه

    You've devalued people's poetry, my good fellow,

    And whoever built himself a house of verse, you demolished it on him.

  28. كانت قصيده تِسْوي أردب مال

    تلفت وشوقي بس راح يعمل أيه

    A poem was worth an ardeb of money,

    Now it's ruined—but what can Shawqi do?

  29. راحت على عينه قصيدةْ طرب

    ما فيش كده رقه وحسن انسجام

    A poem of rapture was lost before his eyes.

    Never was there such delicacy and such lovely harmony!

  30. تَلَفْتْ حالْها بعد ما كان عجب

    الله يجازي شغل إبن الحرام

    Its condition was ruined after it had been a marvel.

    May God repay that bastard for his handiwork!