أَجاعَ بَطني حَتّى

أَجاعَ بَطني حَتّى

شَمَمتُ ريح المَنية

شَمَمتُ ريح المَنية

He starved my belly until

Hunger plagued my stomach until

I smelled the scent of death.

I smelled the scent of death

وَجاءَني برَغيف

وَجاءَني برَغيف

قَد أَدرَك الجاهلية

قَد أَدرَك الجاهلية

And he brought me a loaf

And a loaf came to me

That had witnessed the pre-Islamic age.

That had known the Age of Ignorance

فَقُمت بِالفَأس حَتّى

فَقُمت بِالفَأس حَتّى

أَدَقُ مِنهُ شَظية

أَدَقُ مِنهُ شَظية

So I took up the axe to

So I stood with the axe until

Chip a splinter off it.

I hacked a fragment from it

تثلَّم الفَأس وَاِنصاعَ

تثلَّم الفَأس وَاِنصاعَ

مثل سَهم الرميِّة

مثل سَهم الرميِّة

The axe was notched, and it shot away

The axe split and bent

Like an arrow shot at its quarry.

Like an arrow for shooting

فَشَجَّ رَأسي ثلاثاً

فَشَجَّ رَأسي ثلاثاً

وَدَقَّ مني الثَنية

وَدَقَّ مني الثَنية

Then it gashed my head three times

Then it cracked my head thrice

And shattered my front tooth.

And crushed my molar teeth