بَحْرُ القريضِ تلاطَمَتْ أَمْواجُهُ

وطَمَتْ فَمَا لِخِضَمِّها عِبْران

The sea of poetry, its waves crashing,

Tumultuous, yet nothing to show for the foaming tumult.

وأَرى الفصاحَةَ جانَبَتْ أَعْرَابَنَا

حَدًّا فكيفَ تصِحُّ من عِبْراني

I see eloquence has abandoned our Bedouins,

So how can any eloquence come from a Hebrew?