هَل غَيرُ سَيلٍ مِن دَمٍ دافِقِ
يَروي غَليلَ الساخِطِ الحانِقِ
Is there naught but a torrent of spilling blood
To quench the burning thirst of the wrathful?
أَم غَيرَ لَألاءِ الظِبا وَالقَنا
يُزيلُ مِن قَلبي دُجى الغاسِقِِ
Or naught but the saliva of vipers and snakes
To dispel the gloom from my heart?
كَرِهتُ ذا العالِمَ هَل مَأبَقٌ
في عالَمٍ آخَرَ لِلآبِقِ
I’ve come to hate this world. Is there no refuge
In another world for the fleeing?
ضاقَت بِيَ الدُنيا وَإِنّي بِها
أَضيَقُ يا لي مِن فَتىً ضائِقِ
Life has grown narrow for me, and I
Am narrower in it than a squeezed lad.
روحِيَ عِبءٌ مُثقِلٌ عاتِقي
أَيّانَ أَلقِى العِبءَ عَن عاتِقي
My soul is a burden heavy on my shoulders.
When will I cast off the burden from my shoulders?
تَغلو عَلى الناسِ وَلكِنَّني
أَبيعُها لِلنّاسِ بِالدافِقِ
They wrong people, but I sell to people with honesty.
When will I be under the soil's dust
مَتى أَراني بِتُّ طَيَّ الثَرى
يَسحَقُني بِالكَلكَلِ الساحِقِ
Grinding me with merciless shackles?
And close my eyes to a world
وَأَغمِضُ العَينَينِ عَن عالَمٍ
لا يَعتَلى فيهِ سِوى الفاسِقِ
Where none prospers except the wicked;
Where the liar gains his wishes
يَحظى بِهِ الكَذّابُ بِالمُشتَهى
وَالتَعسُ لِلمُخلِصِ وَالصادِقِ
While misery is reserved for the truthful and honest;
Where welfare and bread have become
الخَيرُ وَالخُبزُ غَدا حِكرَةً
لِبَعضِهِم وَالوَيلُ لِلسّارِقِ
A monopoly for some, while woe to the thief;
They have created the thief out of need,
هُم أَوجَدوا السارِقَ مِن حاجَةٍ
وَقيلَ هذي قِسمَةُ الخالِقِ
Yet it is said this is the Just Almighty's portioning.
O logic that has not been watered from a mind -
يا مَنطِقاً لَم يُروَ عَن عاقِلٍ
العَيُّ خَيرٌ مِنهُ لِلنّاطِقِ
Dumbness is better than speaking to the idiot.
Justice has been erased, so there is no justice;
قَد مُحِقَ العَدلُ فَلا عادِلٌ
أَما لِأَهلِ الأَرضِ مِن ماحِقِ
Is there no destroyer for the people of the earth?
When will I see right and its people
مَتى أَرى الحَقَّ وَأَصحابَهُ
يَعلونَ مِن أَدنى إِلى شاهِقِ
Ascending from the lowest to the highest places?
And see wrong and its people
وَأُبصِرُ الشَرَّ وَأَربابَهُ
يَهوونَ مِن أَعلى إِلى ساحِقِ
Plunging from the highest to the grinding.
