1. وقفتُ أسائلها: ما لَها؟

    وأبكى على البُعد أطلالَها!

    I stood asking her: what ails her?

    And from afar I weep over her ruins!

  2. سألتُ الرُّسومَ، كأن الرُّسومَ

    تجيبُ على البعد سُؤَّالهَا

    I questioned the traces, as though the traces

    could answer their questioners from afar.

  3. ودونَ «أجاديرُ»، خطبٌ يُصِمُّ

    وَيشْغَلُ طارقُهُ بالَها

    But before Agadir stands a calamity that deafens,

    and its sudden onset preoccupies her mind.

  4. «أجاديرُ»، هل حان يومُ النَّشورِ

    وزُلزِلَت الأَرضُ زِلزالَها؟

    Agadir, has the Day of Resurrection come,

    and has the earth been shaken by its quake?

  5. وهل بعثَ اللهُ مَنْ في القبورِ

    وأخرجت الأَرضُ أثقالَها؟

    And has God raised those in the graves,

    and has the earth brought forth its burdens?

  6. عروسُ المدائنِ ماذا دهاها

    بليلٍ فمزَّق أوصالها؟

    The bride of cities—what befell her

    by night and tore her limbs apart?

  7. وأرَّق بالهمِّ أسْحارها

    وجلَّلَ بالغيم آصالَها؟

    And made her predawn hours sleepless with sorrow,

    and shrouded her evenings in cloud?

  8. تفزَّعَت الشُّهْبُ في الأفق حينَ

    رأتْ في «أجادير» ما هالَها

    The shooting stars took fright on the horizon when

    they saw in Agadir what appalled them.

  9. تهاوَتْ منازلُها مُعولاتٍ

    فرَدَّدتُ البيدُ إعوالَها

    Her houses collapsed, wailing,

    and the deserts echoed their wailing.

  10. ولم يُفلتِ الموتُ شُبَّانَها

    ولم يُعتق الموتُ كُهَّالَها

    And death did not let her young men escape,

    nor did death set her middle-aged men free.

  11. ولم يرْهبُ الموْتُ شُبَّانَها

    ولم يُعتق الموتُ كُهَّالَها

    And death did not fear her young men,

    nor did death set her middle-aged men free.

  12. ولم يرْهبُ الموْتُ أسْدَ الشَّرَى

    فغال الأسودَ وأشبالَها

    And death did not fear the lions of al-Shara,

    so it slew the lions and their cubs.

  13. ولم يرحمِ الموتُ ذاتَ سُوارٍ

    قضتْ وهْيَ تحضنُ أطفالَها

    And death showed no mercy to a woman wearing a bracelet;

    she died while embracing her children,

  14. تَوَدُّ لوَ أنَّ رسولَ المنايا

    ترفَّقَ بالطفل واغتالَها

    wishing that the messenger of death

    would treat the child gently and take her life.

  15. تباركتَ ربِّي! بَرأتَ النفوسَ

    وقدَّرتَ في الغيبَ آجالَها

    Blessed are You, my Lord! You created souls,

    and decreed their appointed lifespans in the unseen.

  16. وكم لك في الكون من حكمةٍ

    عن العقل أحكمْتَ أقفالَها

    And how much wisdom is Yours in the universe,

    whose locks You have secured against reason.

  17. حنانيكَ ربِّي! تفَشَّي الدَّمارُ

    على الأرض واجتاحَ نُزَّالَها!

    Your mercy, my Lord! Destruction has spread

    across the earth and swept away its inhabitants!

  18. تشقَّقَتْ الأرضُ عن جِنِّها

    وساقتْ إلى الإنس أغوالَها

    The earth split open, revealing its jinn,

    and drove its ghouls toward humankind.

  19. وصبَّتْ عليها السَّماءُ شواظًا

    من النَّار تطلُبَ إشعالَها

    And the sky poured upon it a flame

    of fire, seeking to set it ablaze.

  20. «أجاديرُ» راع الوجودَ أساها

    ونالَ العروبةَ ما نالَها!

    Agadir—her grief horrified the world,

    and the Arab world suffered what she suffered!

  21. إلاَ في سبيل العروبةِ بانٍ

    يُقوِّمُ بالفنِّ ميَّالَها!

    O for a builder in the service of the Arab world,

    who, with skill, rights her leaning structures!

  22. وكفُّ طبيبٍ تكُفُّ دماءَ

    بنيها، وتحِقنُ سيَّالَها!

    And a physician's hand to staunch the blood

    of her children and stem its flow!

  23. ومالٌ يجودُ به أريَحيٌّ

    على أسرة فقَدَتْ مالَها!

    And wealth that a generous soul bestows

    on a family that has lost its wealth!

  24. فآلُ «أجادير» إخوانُنا

    بأرواحِنا نفتدِي آلهًا

    For Agadir's people are our brothers;

    with our lives we ransom her people.

  25. يقينُ بنيها على حالِهِ

    وإنْ غيَّر الدهرُ أحوالها

    Her children's faith remains unchanged,

    even though time has changed her circumstances.

  26. لنا كاهلٌ حينَ تُلقى الخطوبُ

    عليه ترَى فيه حمَّالَها

    We have a shoulder: when calamities are cast

    upon it, you see how stoutly it bears them.

  27. إذا الشرقُ طافَتْ به محنةٌ

    فكم عَرَكَ الشرقُ أمثالَها

    If an ordeal circles round the East,

    the East has wrestled with so many like it!

  28. شعوبٌ صحَت بعد طول الكرى

    تُعبِّئُ للمجد أبطالها

    Peoples, awakened after long slumber,

    mobilize their heroes for glory,

  29. وتَنزعُ عن جيدِها طوقَها

    وتقذِفُ في البحرِ أغْلالَها

    and strip the collar from their necks,

    and cast their shackles into the sea.

  30. ومِنْ مقْتِها للقيود تكاد ال

    فتاةُ تحطِّمُ خَلخَالَها

    And, in her loathing of chains, almost does the

    maiden shatter her anklet.

  31. لقد أقسَمَتْ أمَمُ الشرق ألاَّ

    تهادِنَ من رام إذلالَها

    The nations of the East have indeed sworn not

    to make a truce with anyone seeking to humiliate them.

  32. فصار السلاحُ سوارَ الفتاةِ

    ولَهوَ الضَّبيِّ إذا ما لَها

    So weapons have become the maiden's bracelet,

    and the boy's plaything whenever he plays.

  33. وكم أمَّةٍ ظنَّتْ الشرقَ مَرْعًى

    خصيبًا فخيَّبَ آمالَها

    And how many a nation thought the East a pasture

    fertile—but it dashed her hopes!

  34. حَدتْها إليه أمانٍ عراضٌ

    فعادتْ تُلَمْلِمُ أذيَالَها

    Vast hopes drove her toward it,

    but she returned, gathering up her skirts.