1. قالوا حبستَ فقلت ليس بضائري

    حبسي وفوق الرأس تاج مفاخر

    They said, 'You have been imprisoned.' I said, 'I am not harmed

    by my imprisonment, with a crown of glories above my head.'

  2. زعموا بأن لدي خطة ضابط

    ونسوا بأن لديّ خطة شاعر

    They claimed that I held an officer's post,

    and forgot that I held a poet's post.

  3. جعلوا الوظيف وسيلة لعقوبتي

    فسجنت ترضية لذاك الخاسر

    They made my office a means of punishing me,

    so I was imprisoned to appease that loser.

  4. حكموا ولم أسأل وقالوا ضابط

    فأجبت لست مع الزمان بساخر

    They passed judgment without questioning me, and said, 'An officer.'

    I answered, 'I do not jest with the times.'

  5. لم أدر منعي عن قريضي إنما

    أدري بأني في بلاط الناصر

    I did not know I was barred from my verse; I only

    knew that I was at al-Nasir's court.

  6. ها إنني بالرغم عني قائد

    ما بينهم لكن بدون عساكر

    Here I am, against my will, a commander

    among them, but without soldiers.

  7. سبحت جيوشي تحت أعلامي نعم

    لكنها في بحر شعري الزاخر

    My armies swam beneath my banners, yes,

    but in the surging sea of my poetry.

  8. ما كنت أجهل مثل غيري منصبي

    غلطا وأعرف عاذلي من عاذري

    I was not, like others, ignorant of my post

    through error, and I distinguish my reproacher from one who excuses me.

  9. ما لي بها إلا الحسام علامة

    وتحية جبراً أجل بالخاطر

    All I have in it is the sword as an insignia,

    and a salute—yes, to soothe the heart.

  10. دون المرتب وهو دون وظيفتي

    ما لي حقوق ترتجي من آمر

    apart from the salary, itself below my post;

    I have no rights to expect from a commander.

  11. لو بت تسالني على أحوالها

    لشفيت قلبك بالجواب الحاضر

    If you spent the night asking me about its conditions,

    I would heal your heart with a ready answer.

  12. قد كنت أحمل ذلة لا خطة

    حتى تراني خاجلا من ناظري

    I bore humiliation, not an office,

    until you saw me ashamed before anyone looking at me.

  13. تلك النجوم حقيقة في نفسها

    كبرى وتصغر في عيون الباصر

    Those stars are truly, in themselves,

    great, yet grow small in a discerning observer's eyes.

  14. قد كنت أرضى لا علي بها ولا

    لي راضخا فيها رضوخ الصابر

    I had been content, with nothing due from me in it, nor

    to me, submitting to it as a patient man submits.

  15. فإذا بي الموقوف جنديا على

    رغمي وسموها عقوبة ناشر

    Then there I was, detained as a soldier, against

    my will; they called it a publisher's punishment.

  16. صحف البلاد شهيدة بقصائدي

    فيها وكانت أبحراً لبواخري

    The country's newspapers bear witness to my poems

    within them; they were seas for my steamships.

  17. ولي المواقف في الجموع شهيدة

    أيضا بوقفة شاعر ومسامر

    And my stands before the crowds bear witness

    also to my stance as a poet and an evening companion.

  18. مالي وللإشهاد فهي ظلامة

    سيضمها التاريخ ضمن دفاتر

    What need have I of witnesses? This is an injustice;

    history will include it among its records.

  19. كم من مثيلات لها في قُطرنا

    قد جاوزت في الحد عد قناطر

    How many wrongs like it in our land

    have exceeded all bounds, outnumbering bridges.

  20. يجري بها التيار جري سفينة

    مشحونة طباقتها بمتاجر

    The current carries them along like a ship

    whose decks are laden with merchandise.

  21. واليمّ طاغ مطلق في نفسه

    ما قيّدت يده قيود دساتر

    And the sea is raging, unrestrained in itself;

    no constitutional fetters have bound its hand.

  22. كم كان حالي في الوظيف مكدرا

    تنشق مما قد أراه مرائري

    How troubled my condition was in office,

    my gall splitting at what I might see!

  23. لولا الأمير ولطفه ما كنت في

    ذاك البلاط من الظلام بظاهر

    But for the prince and his kindness, I would not, in

    that court, have emerged from the darkness.

  24. كالليل فيه البدر بين نجومه

    وهم البنون رعيتُهم بمحاجري

    Like night, with the full moon among its stars,

    and they are the sons, whom I guarded with my own eyes.

  25. لولا سناهم ما اهتديت لقصرهم

    حاشا أكون لفضلهم بالناكر

    Without their radiance, I would not have found my way to their palace.

    Far be it from me to be ungrateful for their bounty.

  26. لكن خرجت ولي عليهم حرة

    إذ لم يفز في القصر غير الغادر

    Yet I departed with a burning resentment against them,

    for none but the traitor prevailed in the palace.

  27. وسأكتفي بوظيف شعري عائشا

    ما بين أقلامي وبين محابري

    And I shall be content with poetry as my office, living

    among my pens and my inkwells.

  28. هذي الحياة شريفة وتلذّلي

    ولها خلقت وطار فيها طائري

    This life is honorable and delights me;

    and for it I was created, and in it my bird took flight.

  29. إن شئت كان الشعر سيفا قاطعا

    أو كان إن أحببت كنز جواهر

    If I wish, poetry becomes a cutting sword,

    or, if I like, it becomes a treasure of jewels.

  30. أحمي به وطني وأنظر أمتي

    قل هكذا والله فخر الظاهر

    With it I protect my homeland and watch over my nation.

    Say: such, by God, is outward pride.

  31. هذا وسامي والفخار بمثله

    إياه ألبسني صفاء سرائري

    This is my decoration; pride lies in its like;

    the purity of my innermost thoughts clothed me in it.

  32. قد اشرق الدين القويم بصيرتي

    فغدوت بين الناس نور بصائر

    The upright faith has illumined my insight,

    so I became a light of insight among the people.

  33. فإذا رفعت عقيرتي ما بينهم

    سارت بصحبتها جيوش عقائر

    And whenever I raised my voice among them,

    armies of voices marched alongside it.

  34. وإذا سلكت طريقة سلكوا معي

    إذ لم أكن لسوى الصلاح بسائر

    And whenever I followed a path, they followed with me,

    for I journeyed toward nothing but righteousness.

  35. فأنا اللسان وهم فمي لولا همو

    ما كنت منتضيا لسيفي الباتر

    I am the tongue, and they are my mouth; without them,

    I would not have unsheathed my severing sword.

  36. هم لي عيون قد سقيت بمائها

    من سلسبيلي فاح عرف أزاهري

    They are springs for me; I have been watered by their waters.

    From my Salsabil wafted the fragrance of my flowers.

  37. طابت مغارس روضتي مذ اينعت

    أفنان دوحتها لطيب عناصري

    The plantings of my garden grew sweet when

    its great tree's boughs ripened, thanks to my wholesome nature.

  38. في حب تونس قد اصبت ولم يزل

    قلبي غريقا في الغرام الطاهر

    I have been stricken with love for Tunisia, and still

    my heart remains drowned in pure love.

  39. أسفت لسجني واشتكت لشكيتي

    سكانها حتى كرام حرائر

    They grieved at my imprisonment and bewailed my plight—

    her inhabitants, even noble free women.

  40. ها قد تمحّض خادم الخضرا لهم

    ليحوطها من شعره بعشائر

    Now the servant of Green Tunisia has devoted himself wholly to them,

    to guard her with clans drawn from his poetry.

  41. ونضوت من غمد الوظيف حسامكم

    فخذوه منطقا بقوة قادر

    And I have drawn your sword from the scabbard of office;

    so take it, given voice by a capable man's strength.

  42. رغم الحضور لقد رجعت لحيّكم

    وأنا أمانتكم رجوع مسافر

    Though I was present, I have returned to your quarter,

    and I am your entrusted charge, returning as a traveler returns.

  43. وحللت بالوطن العزيز مبجّلا

    لأقيم بالتوفيق فيه شعائري

    And I have settled in the beloved homeland, honored,

    to perform my rites there, with success.

  44. نادي لتحي تونس وأميرها

    فيها وحيّا بالسلام العاطر

    Call out: 'Long live Tunisia, and her prince

    within her!' And salute them with fragrant peace.