يا خليلي ومُعِينِي

كلّما رُمت النُّهوضا

O my companion and helper

Whenever I attempt to get up

داوِ دائي أوْ فعُدْني

مَعَ عُوّادي مريضا

Heal my illness, O David

Or make me one of the healed

فَقَبيحٌ بك أن تَرْ

فُضَ من ليس رَفوضا

It is ugly of you to neglect

One who is not neglectful

قد أتى من يوم عاشو

راءَ ما كان بغيضا

The day has come when he lived

Seeing what was hateful

دَعْ نشيجي فيه يعلو

ودموعي أنْ تَفيضا

Let my wailing in it rise

And my tears overflow

وبَنانِي قد خُضِبْنَ ال

دَم من سِنِّي عَضيضا

My tusks have been dyed with the

Blood of my worn out teeth

وكن النّاهضَ للحَرْ

بِ متى كنتَ نَهوضا

And be the supporter in the

War whenever you were a supporter

واِجعلِ الجيبَ لدمعٍ

من مآقيك مَغيضا

And make room for the tears

From your painful tragedies

إنّه يومٌ سقينا

من نواحيه مضيضا

It is a day we were given

A bitter drink from its misfortunes

هَزَل الدّينُ ومَن في

هِ وقد كان نَحيضا

Religion has become shaky and whoever

Was in it has become frail

ورمتْ مُجْهَضَةٌ مَنْ

كان في البطن جهيضا

And the miscarried one has been thrown

Who was a fetus in the womb

ودعِ الأطرابَ واِسمعْ

مِن مراثيهِ القريضا

Leave your troubles and listen

To its heartfelt elegies

لا تُرِدْ فيه وقد أدْ

نَسَنا ثوباً رَحيضا

Do not refuse, as we have worn

A tattered garment

قلْ لقومٍ لم يزالوا

في الجهالاتِ رُبوضا

Tell a people who have always been

Deeply rooted in ignorance

غرّهمْ أنّهُمُ سا

دوا وما شادوا بعوضا

It deluded them that they

Built while they built nothing

في غدٍ بالرَّغم منكمْ

سترُدُّون القُروضا

Tomorrow, in spite of you

You will repay the debts

سوف تلقون بناءً

لكُمُ طال نقيضا

You will find a building

For you, very contrary

والّذي يحلو بأفوا

هِكُمُ اليومَ حميضا

And what is pleasant to your

Mouths today is menses

وقِباباً أنتُمُ في

ها وهاداً وحضيضا

While you are domes in it

And a court and yard

وَأراها عن قريبٍ

كالدّبى سوداً وبيضا

And I soon see them

As insects, black and white

وترى للبِيض والبي

ضُ عليهنّ وميضا

And you see the white and the

White over them flickering

وعلى أكتادها كل

لُ فتىً يُلفى جَريضا

And on their shoulders every

Young man wrapped in bandages

فبِهِمْ يطمَعُ طَرْفٌ

كان بالأمسِ غضيضا

With them a glance hopes

Which yesterday was frowning

وبهمْ يبرأُ من كا

ن وقد ضيموا المريضا

With them one who was sick is cured

Who was not obscure gloominess

وبهمْ يرقد طَرْفٌ

لم يكنْ وَجْداً غموضا

With them a glance rests

Who was not obscure gloominess

لأُباةٍ دَمُهُمْ سا

لَ على الأرض غريضا

For the stubbornness of their blood

Poured on the ground boiling

رُفِعَ الرّأسُ على عا

لي القنا يَحكي الوميضا

The head was raised to the

Long spear narrating the flickering

واِنثنى الجسمُ لجُرْدِ ال

خيلِ بالعَدْوِ رضيضا

And the body bowed to the bare

Horses galloping furiously

حاشَ لي أَنْ أَتخلَّى

منهُمُ أو أستعيضا

Far be it from me to

Abandon them or seek a substitute

فَسقى اللَّهُ قبوراً

لهمُ العذْبَ الغضيضا

So may God water graves

For them with the sweet bitter

وَأبَتْ إلّا ثَرى الأَخْ

ضرِ والرَّوضَ الأريضا

But they refused except the land of the green

And the small garden plot

وَإِليهنَّ يَشُدُّ ال

قومُ هاتيك الغُروضا

And to them those spirits

Make those cherished visits

ما نحَوْهُنَّ لنَدْبٍ

إنّما قضّوا فُروضا

Not because of elegy for them

Rather, they fulfilled their duties

وحَبْوهُنَّ اِستِلاماً

يَتركُ الأفواهَ فوضى

And loved them as a receipt

That leaves the mouths in chaos