اسالَ منَ الأجفانِ عَن صَدرِه نَهرا

ليُطفِئَ ما بالقَلبِ مُشتَعِلاً جَمرا

Ask the eyelids about his breast, a river

To extinguish what is inflamed in the heart, embers

ومِن أدمُعِ الباكي الغَزِيرَةِ ما به

تُخَفَّفُ أحزانٌ قد أقلَقَتِ الصَّدرا

And from the plentiful tears of the crying eyes what it contains

Alleviates sorrows that have disturbed the chest

دَعُوا قَطَراتِ الدَّمعِ تَنزِلُ فوقَهُ

فإنِّي بما في مُهجَتي مِنكُم أدرى

Leave the drops of tears fall upon it

For I, with what is in my mind from you, know best

فما نَكَدٌ مِثلُ الرُّعاةِ تَراهُمُ

غداً نَهيُهم نَهياَ وأمرُهمُ أمرا

So no sadness is like the shepherds you see

Tomorrow guiding them, and their command is a command

وذا الأرعَنُ المَشدودُ بالحَبلِ نِصفُه

متى ساسَ غيرَ الضَّنِ جَاز به وَعرا

And this deafening roped camel, half of it

When it was driven, it crossed over the rugged terrain

فأصبحَ والشَّكوى إلى اللهِ وحدَه

وما المُرتَجى إلاَّهُ أن يَكشِفَ الضُرَّا

So it became in the morning, complaining to God alone

And what is hoped for except Him to relieve affliction

يَسوسُ بِفاسٍ مِن بَنيه كِرامَهُم

فَيقلِبُهُم بَطناً ويَجلِدُهُم ظَهرا

Biting with a sword from his honorable sons

To overturn them on their stomachs and whip their backs

مُصابٌ نَشَدَت الصبرَ عندَ هُجومِه

فَفَارَقَني صَبري يُرَدِّدُ لا صَبرا

Affected, I called for patience at its onslaught

But my patience left me repeating, no patience

مَصابٌ جَسيمٌ يا كرامُ بِحَقِّكُم

خُذوا شَطرَه إنِّي اغتَصَبتُ لكم شَطرا

Great affliction, O honorable ones, by your right

Take a share of it, I have seized a share for you

وإن كنتُ أدري أنَّ بين ضُلوعِكُم

كُبوداً حِراراً دونَها كَبِدي الحَرَّى

And if I know that in your chests

Are embers, below them my burning liver

وزادكَمُ هَولَ المُصابِ سَماعُكُم

نِداءَ بَنيكم تَستغيثًُ بِكُم جَهرا

And your increase of the horror of affliction is your hearing

The screams of your children crying out loudly for you

وأربعُة أسرى بُطونَهمُ جَثَوا

بأطرافِهم تبَّت يَداهمُ مِن أسرى

And four prisoners, their stomachs fell

With their limbs spread, their hands chained from prisoners

مُصابٌ كذا التاريخُ شاءَ فظاعةً

يُحَدِّثُ عنه الغَيرُ من أُمَمٍ أخرى

An affliction, thus history willed its atrociousness

That foreigners from other nations speak of it

أسجنٌ وضَربٌ مُؤلِمٌ وإهَانَةٌ

وزَجرٌ وتَعزير وما اقترَفوا وِزرا

Prisons, painful beating, and humiliation

Reprimand, punishment, though they committed no sin

وما ذَنبُهم إلا الشُّعورُ بأنَّهم

أثصيبوا فَصاحُوا من تأَلُّمِهِم جَهرا

And their crime is only the feeling that they

Were harmed, so they screamed from their pain loudly

فَقُل لكثيفِ الرُّوح هاتيكَ ضَربةٌ

ملايينَ قد أضنَت بِمَغرِبنَا عَشرا

So say to the dense of spirit, this is a blow

Millions sighed in our Maghreb from it

أحَسُّوا جميعاً بالتَأَلُّمِ والضَّنى

وهل يَجهَلُ المَضرُورُ أنَّ ضُرًّا

They all felt the pain and grief

Does the afflicted not know that it is an affliction?

فمِن صامتٍ لم يَستَطِع وصفَ سُقمِه

ومِن ناطقٍ مِن نُطقِه لم يَجِد صَبرا

So from the silent, who could not describe his illness

And from the speaking, from his speech he found no patience

سَواكَ الذي صيغَت منَ الرِّجسِ روحُهُ

وقلبُه من صَخرٍ وما أليَنَ الصَّخرا

Except you, who was created with a pure spirit

And a heart of stone, and the rock was not softened

ستَلقَى منَ الدَّهرِ النَّؤومِ انتباهَةً

إليك فتَدري منه ما حَقه يُدرى

It will receive from the gloomy fate a rousing

To you, so you know from it what should be known

هو الدَّهرُ يَحكي البَحرُ حالَ سُكونِه

إذا طالَ مَدُّ البَحرِ فانتَظِر الجَزرا

It is fate relating the sea’s state of calm

When the sea’s tide is long, then expect the ebb

وهَبهُم جُناةً أينَ منكَ جَزاؤُهُم

جزاءً وِفاقثا لا خصاصاً ولا وَفرا

And grant them pardon, where is their punishment from you?

A punishment exceeding, not deficient or abundant

فلو ساسَهُم أهلُ السِّياسَةِ والنُّهى

رجالُ فَرنسا ساسةُ العالَمِ الكُبرى

If the politicians and prohibitors took them

France's leading statesmen of the great world

لَمَا ظَفِرُوا مِنهُم بِغَيرِ عَدالةٍ

تُخَوِّلُهُم صَفحاً إذا استَوجَبُوا زَجرا

They would not gain from them except with justice

That entitles them to pardon when they deserve reprimand

أيَا زَائِرَي فآسٍ إذا ما مَررتُما

بِسِجنٍ حوَى أبنَاءَهُ خُضَّعاً مُرَّا

O visitors of Fez, when you pass

A prison that confined its oppressed children

فإنَّ بِذاكَ الخِيسِ أُسداً تَذَوَّقوا

طُعومَ حياةِ احُرِّ فاستَعذبوا المُرَّا

For in that despicable place they tasted

The flavors of a free life, so they found bitterness sweet

وشَقُّوا على عِلمٍ طريقَ زُباهُمُ

فما حُبِسوا قَهراً وإن حُبِسوا قَهرا

And paved, with knowledge, the path of their glory

So they were not imprisoned by compulsion though imprisoned by compulsion

حياةُ الفَتى إدراكُ سِرِّ حَياتِه

وما المَوتُ إلا جَهلُه ذلِكَ السِّرَّا

A youth's life is comprehending the secret of his life

And death is nothing but ignorance of that secret

فيُبصِرُ في الظَّلماءِ نورَ بصَيرةٍ

وفي الشهدِ والحلَواءِ يَستَطعِمُ الصَّبرا

So he sees in the darkness the light of insight

And in honey and sweetness, he tastes patience

وكم من طَليقٍ عاشَ في السِّجنِ عُمرَهُ

وساكنِ سِجنٍ باتَ في عَينِه قَصرا

And how many free men lived their lives in prison

While a prisoner's resident slept seeing it as a palace

فَقُل لِصُحاةٍ طالَ بالجَاهِ سُكرُهُم

هُوَ الغَدُ لا يُبقي بِرَأسِكُم سُكرا

So say to the conscious whose intoxication with glory was long

Tomorrow does not leave intoxication in your heads

أحَقًّا بني فاسِ بأنَّ بَنيكُمُ

لَقَوا من صُروفِ الدَّهرِ ما أغضَبَ الدَّهرا

The people of Fez truly, that your children

Met from the turns of fate what enraged fate

مُصابٌ كما شاءَت شَقَاوَةُ أهلِهِ

وخَطبٌ كما شاءت جسامَتُهُ الكُبرى

An affliction as its people's wretchedness willed

And an incident as its great enormity willed

فما اكتََنَز الوادي جَواهِرَهُ عَدا

لِيَنظِمَها دَمعاً فَيَنثُرُها نَثرا

For the valley did not hoard its gems

To string them as tears and scatter them as scattering

وقَبلاً خَريرُ الماءُ ما تَسمَعونَه

والآنَ اسمَعوا صارَ الخَريرُ بُكاً مُرَّا

Previously, the water's burble, what you hear of it

And now listen, the burble has become bitter crying

فًَصَبراً جميلاً يا ابنَ فاسٍ عَنِ الرَّدى

فحَقُّكَ في الدنياءِ يُقضى وفِي الأخرُى

So beautiful patience, O son of Fez, from accepting fate

For your right in the lower life will be fulfilled, and in the next

سَيلقَى مِنَ الدَّيَّانِ ما هو أهلُه

وبالخِزي في الدُّنيا سَتبقى له الذِّكرى

Will meet from the Judge what He is worthy of

And with disgrace in the lower life, the remembrance will remain for Him

ويدفَعُ للأيَّامِ جُلَّ حِسابِها

إذا رَنَتِ الأيّام يَوماً له شَزرَا

And will hand over to the days all their account

When the days ring out a day for Him with a spark