1. لمّا تَعَرَّضَ نَجْمُك المنحوسُ

    وترنَّحت بِعُرى الحِبالِ رؤوسُ

    When your ill-fated star appeared,

    and heads swayed in the ropes' nooses,

  2. ناح الأّذانُ وأعولَ الناقوسُ

    فالليل أكدرُ والنَّهارُ عَبوسُ

    the call to prayer lamented, and the church bell wailed;

    so the night was gloomier, and the day scowled.

  3. طَفِقَتْ تثورُ عواصفُ

    وعواطفُ

    Storms began to rage,

    and passions;

  4. والموت حينا طائف

    أو خاطفُ

    and death, at times, was roaming,

    or snatching away.

  5. والمعْولُ الأَبديّ يُمْعِن في الثرى

    لِيردَّهمْ في قلبِها المتحجِّرِ

    And the eternal pickaxe digs deep into the earth,

    to return them to its petrified heart.

  6. يومٌ أطلَّ على العصور الخاليَهْ

    ودعا أمرَّ على الورى أمثاليَهْ

    A day looked out upon the ages past,

    and cried: “Have days like me passed over humankind?”

  7. فأجاَبهُ يومٌ أجلْ أنا راويُهْ

    لمحاكم التَّفتيش تلكَ الباغِيَهْ

    A day answered him: “Yes, I am a chronicler

    of those tyrannical courts of the Inquisition.

  8. ولقد شهدتُ عجائبا

    وغرائبا

    And indeed I have witnessed marvels

    and strange things;

  9. لكنَّ فيكَ مصائبا

    ونوائبا

    yet in you are calamities

    and misfortunes

  10. لم ألْقَ أشباهاً لها في جورِها

    فاسأل سوايَ وكم بها مِنْ منكَرِ

    whose injustice I have never seen equaled.

    So ask someone else—how many outrages they contain!”

  11. وإذا بيومٍ راسفٍ بقيودِهِ

    فأجابَ والتاريخُ بعضُ شهودهِ

    And behold, a day shuffling in its chains;

    it answered, with history among its witnesses:

  12. أُنظرْ إلى بيضِ الرَّقيقِ وسودِهِ

    مَنْ شاءَ كانوا مُلكَهُ بنقودِهِ

    “Look at the slaves, white and black:

    whoever wished could own them with his money.

  13. بشرٌ يُباعُ ويُشترى

    فتحرَّرا

    Human beings were bought and sold,

    then became free.

  14. ومشى الزَّمانُ القهقرى

    فيما أرى

    And time has walked backward,

    as I see it:

  15. فسمعتُ منْ منعَ الرَّقيقَ وبَيْعهُ

    نادى على الأَحرارِ يا مَنْ يشتري

    for I heard the one who banned slavery and the sale of slaves

    call out over the free: ‘Who will buy?’”

  16. وإذا بيومٍ حالكِ الجِلْبابِ

    مُتَرنّحٍ من نَشْوةِ الأوصْابِ

    And behold, a day in a pitch-black cloak,

    reeling from the intoxication of suffering;

  17. فأجابَ كلاّ دون ما بكَ ما بي

    أنا في رُبى عاليه ضاع شبابي

    it answered: “No! My suffering falls short of yours.

    I lost my youth on the hills of Aley,

  18. وشهدتُ للسفَّاح ما

    أبكى دما

    and saw the butcher do what

    made me weep blood.

  19. ويل له ما أظلما

    لكنما

    Woe to him—how tyrannical he was!

    And yet,

  20. لم ألْقَ مِثْلَكَ طالعاً في روعةٍ

    فاذهبْ لعلَّكَ أنتَ يَومُ المحشرِ

    I have never seen your like dawn in such terror;

    go, then—perhaps you are the Day of Judgment.”

  21. اليومُ تُنكرهُ اللَّيالي الغابرهْ

    وتظلّ تَرْمقُه بعينٍ حائره

    The bygone nights disown this day,

    and keep gazing at it with a bewildered eye.

  22. عجباً لأحكام القضاءِ الجائرهْ

    فأخفُّها أمثالُ ظُلمٍ سائره

    How astonishing are fate's unjust decrees!

    For even their mildest are proverbial examples of injustice.

  23. وطن يسيرُ إلى الفناءْ

    بلا رجاءْ

    A homeland moves toward annihilation,

    without hope;

  24. والداءُ ليس له دواءْ

    إلا الإباءْ

    and the malady has no cure

    except defiance.

  25. إن الإباءَ مَناعةٌ إن تَشْتَمِلْ

    نفسٌ عليه تَمُتْ ولَّما تُقهرِ

    Defiance is protection: if embraced

    by a soul, that soul dies before being conquered.

  26. الكلُّ يرجو أن يُبكِّرَ عَفْوُهُ

    نَدْعو له ألاّ يُكّدَّرَ صفُوهُ

    Everyone hopes his pardon will come early;

    we pray for him that his serenity not be disturbed.

  27. إنْ كان هذا عطفُهُ وحُنُوُّهُ

    عاشتْ جلاَلتُهُ وعاشَ سُموّهُ

    If this is his kindness and compassion,

    long live His Majesty, and long live His Highness!

  28. حَمَلَ البريدُ مُفصِّلاً

    ما أجملا

    The mail brought in detail

    what it had summarized.

  29. هَلا اكتَفَيتَ تَوَسُّلا

    وَتَسَوُّلا

    Have you not had enough of pleading

    and begging?

  30. والموتُ في أخذِ الكلامِ وردَّهِ

    فخذِ الحياةَ عن الطرَّيقِ الأقصرِ

    And death lies in the give-and-take of words,

    so seize life by the shortest road.

  31. ضاق البريدُ وما تغيَّرَ حالُ

    والذّلّ بين سطورِنا أشكالُ

    The post was overwhelmed, yet nothing changed;

    and between our lines, humiliation takes many forms.

  32. خُسْرانُنا الأَّرواح والأموالُ

    وكرامةٌ يا حسرتا أسمالُ

    Our losses are lives and wealth,

    and dignity—alas!—is in tatters.

  33. أوَتُبصرونَ وتسألونْ

    ماذا يكونْ

    Do you see, yet still ask

    what will happen?

  34. إنَّ الخداعَ له فنونْ

    مثْلَ الجنونْ

    Indeed, deception has its arts,

    like madness.

  35. هيهات فالنفس الذليلة لو غدت

    مخلوقةً من أعينٍ لم تُبْصرِ

    Impossible! For even if a servile soul were

    made of eyes, it would not see.

  36. أَّنى لشاكٍ صوتُه أنْ يُسُمَعا

    أَنَّى لباكٍ دمعهُ أنْ يَنفعا

    How can the voice of one who complains be heard?

    How can a weeper's tears be of use?

  37. صخرٌ أحسَّ رجاءَنا فتصدَّعا

    وأتى الرجاءُ قلوبَهم فتقطَّعا

    Rock felt our plea and split apart,

    and the plea reached their hearts—and was itself torn apart.

  38. لا تعجبوا فمن الصخورْ

    نبعٌ يفورْ

    Do not marvel, for from the rocks

    a spring gushes forth;

  39. ولهم قلوبٌ كالقبورْ

    بلا شعورْ

    while they have hearts like graves,

    without feeling.

  40. لا تلتمسْ يوماً رجاءً عندَ مَنْ

    جرَّبْتَهُ فوجدتَهُ لم يَشْعُرِ

    Never seek hope from one

    whom you have tested and found unfeeling.