فيمَ اِنفِرادُكَ لا أَنيـ

ـسَ تَراهُ في القَفرِ المُخيفْ

In your solitude, I do not console myself

Seeing you in the frightening desert grave

في رِبقَةِ الوَهجِ الحَرو

رِ وَغَلِّ عاصِفَةٍ عَصوفْ

In the glow of burning sands

And raging sandy storms

وَصَبَرتَ لِلهوجِ اللَوا

فِحِ في الضُحى صَبرُ الأَنوفْ

You endured the ferocity of winds

With patience of rocks at dawn

أَرَضيتَ بِالصَحراءِ عَن

ظِلِّ المُنَمَّقَةِ الغَريفْ

You settled for the desert

Instead of the shaded grove

وَطَلَبتَ وَحدَةَ راهِبٍ

فيها وَعُزلَةَ فَيلَسوفْ

You sought the loneliness of a hermit there

And isolation of a philosopher

هَل كُنتَ يَوماً في القُصور

وَعِفتَ ضافِيَةَ القُصورِ

Were you once in palaces

And rejected the hospitality of palaces?

وَأَبيتَ أَن تُبنى عَلَيـ

ـكَ صُروحَ بُهتانٍ وَزورِ

You refused to build over you

Edifices of disgrace and falsehood

فَنَجَوتَ لِلصَّحراءِ مِن

صَخَبِ المَزاهِرِ وَالزُمورِ

So you escaped to the desert

From the clamor of flowers and lutes

تَعلو عَلى نَغَمِ الأَنيـ

ـنِ وَنَشجَةِ القَلبِ الكَسيرِ

Rising above the melody of lyres

And the lament of the broken heart

أَم كُنتَ شاهِدَ مَصرَعِ الـ

أَخلاقِ في البَيتِ الكَبيرِ

Or were you a witness to the death of morals

In the great house

فَهَرَبتَ إِنَّكَ في الجَما

دِ إِذَن لَذو أَسمى شُعورِ

So you fled; you indeed

Have the highest feelings

هَل كُنتَ قَطُّ مُجَنَّةً

مِن كيدِ باغٍ ظالِمِ

Were you an avenger

Of the plots of an unjust attacker

وَحَميتَ هامَةَ مُبتَلي

وَفَلَقتَ هامَةَ غاشِمِ

And you protected the zeal of the afflicted

And split the zeal of the oppressor

وَجَثُمتَ فَوقَ عِظامَهِ

فَصَرَخنَ تَحتَ الجاثِمِ

And you crouched over his bones

So he screamed under the croucher

هَل كُنتَ سَدّاً فَوقَهُ

تَكبو مَطايا القاحِمِ

Were you a dam over which

The floods of the mighty break

وَعَلى المَهامَةِ صُوَّة

تَهتَدي ضَلالَ الهائِمِ

And over zeal a voice

That guides the lost wanderer

إِن كُنتَ ذاكَ بَذَذتَ في الـ

إِحسانِ خِلقَةَ آدَمِ

If you were that, you sowed

In benevolence, the nature of man

أَنتَ الوَحيدُ هُنا وما

لي لا أَقولُ أَنا الوَحيدْ

You are alone here, and I have

No one. I cannot say I am alone

هَيمانُ لا أَدري الغُدا

ةَ طَريقَ مَنجاتي طَريدْ

Perplexed, I know not tomorrow's

Path for my escape, an outcast

وَإِذا قَعَدتُ كَما قَعَد

تَ أَضَرَّ بِالروحِ القُعودْ

When I sit still as you sat

Sitting harms the soul

وَالروحُ يا بَعضَ الجَما

دِ عَنىً وَمَحمَلُها بُؤودْ

The soul, O part of eternity

Is restless, and its burden is heaviness

تَأبى الجُمودَ حَصافَةً

مِنها وَيَأباها الجُمود

It refuses immobility in its purity

And immobility refuses it

قُل لي إِذا لَكَ مَسلَكٌ

جَدَدُ وَمُطَّرَقٌ سَديدْ

Tell me, if you have

A new path, right and paved