سألوني لم ارتحلتَ كأني

لم أجبهم بسيرتي نصفَ قرنِ

They asked me why I left

As if I had not told them half a century of my life story

شادياً بالطليقِ من شعريَ الباكي

أغنى لمجدِهم ما أغنى

Exalting the freedom in my weeping poetry

I sang praise of their glory as much as I sang

وحياتي لعِّزهم في كفاحٍ

ككفاحِ الشُّعاعِ في وسطِ دَجن

And my life for their dignity in such a struggle

Like the struggle of light amidst gloom

مُثل لن تُحدَّ نَوعاً وعداً

كنجومِ السماءِ في كل فنِ

I have been an example never to be limited to one type or promise

Like the stars of the sky in every art

وتَبَّلغتُ بالعذابِ وبالبؤسِ

مراراً وكل حظى التجَّنى

And I have suffered torment and misery

Bitterly though each was mean to me

وكأني وَحدِي المسئُ بإحسا

ني لعصري أو أنه لم يَسعني

As if I alone was to blame for my sadness

For my time or that it did not accommodate me

ما كَفاهُم أنِّى أعاني وجودي

في وُجودٍ بقاؤه مَحضُ غَبنِ

It was not enough for them that I suffer my existence

In an existence whose survival is pure loss

ما كَفاهُم أني أواصلُ ليلى

بنهاري لأجلهم وسطَ من

It was not enough for them that I continue my night

For their sake in the midst of people

ما كفاهم أني أضحى بروحي

حينما عزَّ من يُضحَّى ويُغنى

It was not enough for them that I sacrificed my soul

When one makes sacrifice and is denied

ما كفاهم أني تناسيتُ نفسي

فوق نسيانهمُ حقوقي وأينى

It was not enough for them that I forgot myself

Above their forgetting my rights and where I lived

ما كفاهم أنى لهم ذلك الرا

ئدُ يشقى كالراحِ في أسرِدنِّ

It was not enough for them that I was that leader

Who suffers like ghosts in coffins

ما كفاهُم أني ارتضيتُ شقائي

لي جزاءً ويهدمون وأبنى

It was not enough for them that I accepted my misery

As a reward while they destroy and I rebuild

ما كفاهُم هذا وهذا فنادوا

بعقوقي وما رَعَوا حق سنِّى

It was not enough for them so they called

To my filial impiety not heeding my old age

ثم حالوا بين المثاليِّةِ العل

يا لفكري وبين سعيى وبيني

Then they hindered between my idealism

Of thought and between my quest and me

فترَّحلتُ حيثُ يحُترمُ الاحرا

رُ وحيثُ الهواءُ طلقٌ لذهني

So I traveled where dignity is respected

And where the air is free for my mind

وأظل الوفي رغمَ اغترابي

لبلادٍ ما غُيبِّت قطَّ عنِّي

And I remain loyal despite my exile

To a homeland that has never been absent from me