قُل لِلرِجالِ طَغى الأَسير
طَيرُ الحِجالِ مَتى يَطير
Tell the men tyranny has gone too far
When will this caged bird take flight?
أَوهى جَناحَيهِ الحَدي
دُ وَحَزَّ ساقَيهِ الحَرير
Are these shackles binding his wings?
Have silken threads tied his legs?
ذَهَبَ الحِجابُ بِصَبرِهِ
وَأَطالَ حَيرَتَهُ السُفور
His patience is fraying, slipping away
As the horizon of freedom stretches on
هَل هُيِّئَت دَرَجُ السَما
ءِ لَهُ وَهَل نُصَّ الأَثير
Will heaven's gate open for him?
Will the noble winds lift him high?
وَهَل اِستَمَرَّ بِهِ الجَنا
حُ وَهَمَّ بِالنَهضِ الشَكير
Will he continue his journey
Eager to soar swiftly skyward?
وَسَما لِمَنزِلِهِ مِنَ الدُن
يا وَمَنزِلُهُ خَطير
He left his earthly home behind
Though his destiny remains unknown
وَمَتى تُساسُ بِهِ الرِيا
ضُ كَما تُساسُ بِهِ الوُكور
When will he walk the earth unbound
Like the wild horses roaming free?
أَوَ كُلُّ ما عِندَ الرِجا
لِ لَهُ الخَواطِبُ وَالمُهور
Or must he accept that the lot
Of all men is suitors and crowds?
وَالسِجنُ في الأَكواخِ أَو
سِجنٌ يُقالُ لَهُ القُصور
A prisoner in shacks or caged
In palaces called castles?
تَاللَهِ لَو أَنَّ الأَدي
مَ جَميعُهُ رَوضٌ وَنور
By God! If this life were but
Gardens and light, pure and bright-
في كُلِّ ظِلٍّ رَبوَةٌ
وَبِكُلِّ وارِفَةٍ غَدير
With shadows for resting in groves
And springs flowing under the trees-
وَعَلَيهِ مِن ذَهَبٍ سِيا
جٌ أَو مِنَ الياقوتِ سور
Gilded tents or ruby lustrous walls-
All joys found outside of the heavens
ما تَمَّ مِن دونِ السَما
ءِ لَهُ عَلى الأَرضِ الحُبور
Are fleeting prizes on earth.
The sky is meant for the birds!
إِنَّ السَماءَ جَديرَةٌ
بِالطَيرِ وَهوَ بِها جَدير
It fits them well and they it.
The saddle cinched, reins held fast,
هِيَ سَرجُهُ المَشدودُ وَه
وَ عَلى أَعِنَّتِها أَمير
A master atop its mighty back.
Freedom is innate in Man-
حُرِّيَّةٌ خُلِقَ الإِنا
ثُ لَها كَما خُلِقَ الذُكور
Male and female created equal!
My dark-eyed muses are moons
هاجَت بَناتَ الشِعرِ عَي
نٌ مِن بَناتِ النيلِ حور
Among the Nile's radiant stars.
They visit me, moonlights aglow,
لي بَينَهُنَّ وَلائِدٌ
هُم مِن سَوادِ العَينِ نور
As precious to me as jewels.
No verse can match their glory
لا الشِعرُ يَأتي في الجُما
نِ بِمِثلِهِنَّ وَلا البُحور
Nor any sea their depths sublime.
For their sake I befriend the ghosts
مِن أَجلِهِنَّ أَنا الشَفي
قُ عَلى الدُمى وَأَنا الغَيور
And in their honor rage with jealousy.
I hope, I wish, I pray-
أَرجو وَآمَلُ أَن سَتَج
ري بِالَّذي شِئنَ الأُمور
Events will unfold as desired.
See, my friend, how thoughts meander,
يا قاسِمُ اُنظُر كَيفَ سا
رَ الفِكرُ وَاِنتَقلَ الشُعور
Feelings flow like water poured.
Your country's fate is resolved
جابَت قَضَيَّتُكَ البِلا
دَ كَأَنَّها مَثَلٌ يَسير
As if it were a trivial matter.
Mortals pass, one then the next,
ما الناسُ إِلّا أَوَّلٌ
يَمضي فَيَخلِفُهُ الأَخير
Ideas the envoys between.
This imposing edifice
الفِكرُ بَينَهُما عَلى
بُعدِ المَزارِ هُوَ السَفير
Is built on foundations dug deep.
She whom you left behind
هَذا البِناءُ الفَخمُ لَي
سَ أَساسُهُ إِلّا الحَفير
Has no ally but the Truth.
Justice rose up for her cause,
إِنَّ الَّتي خَلَّفتَ أَم
سِ وَما سِواكَ لَها نَصير
The young and old rallied to her aid.
Seeking from civilization
نَهَضَ الحَقُّ بِشَأنِها
وَسَعى لِخِدمَتِها الظَهِر
What harms and what benefits.
No path is clear, not one guide Seeing
في ذِمَّةِ الفُضلى هُدى
جيلٌ إِلى هادٍ فَقير
Sees through to the roads ahead.
Your book holds no lies for you,
أَقبَلنَ يَسأَلنَ الحَضا
رَةَ ما يُفيدُ وَما يُضير
No false pride to repent therein.
You refined it until the lines
ما السُبلُ بَيِّنَةٌ وَلا
كُلُّ الهُداةِ بِها بَصير
Were formed in your noble image.
You placed it high, aware
ما في كِتابِكَ طَفرَةٌ
تُنعى عَلَيكَ وَلا غُرور
The reckoning for writers is hard.
In its breadth is room for doubt
هَذَّبتَهُ حَتّى اِستَقامَت
مِن خَلائِقِكَ السُطور
And discourse, considerate and wise.
Eloquence flows from your speech,
وَوَضَعتَهُ وَعَلِمتَ أَن
نَ حِسابَ واضِعِهِ عَسير
Knowledge pours forth in abundance.
It treads rugged roads with care,
لَكَ في مَسائِلِهِ الكَلا
مُ العَفُّ وَالجَدَلُ الوَقور
Steadfast among all uncertainties.
None reject book or tradition
وَلَكَ البَيانُ الجَذلُ في
أَثنائِهِ العِلمُ الغَزير
When you speak of them favorably.
We wonder, do you push boundaries?
في مَطلَبٍ خَشِنٍ كَثي
رٌ في مَزالِقِهِ العُثور
Or confirm doctrine, leaving it be?
Twenty years since you left, yet
ما بِالكِتابِ وَلا الحَدي
ثِ إِذا ذَكَرتَهُما نَكير
Such a brief time, like months alone.
Women are weak, yet compassion
حَتّى لَنَسأَلُ هَل تَغا
رُ عَلى العَقائِدِ أَم تُغير
In the noble soul comes easy.
You forget that you are the full moon,
عُشرونَ عاماً مِن زَوا
لِكَ ما هِيَ الشَيءُ الكَثير
The crescent but an orb in your glow.
Years pass fleeting as moments,
رُعنَ النِساءَ وَقَد يَرو
عُ المُشفِقَ الجَلَلُ اليَسير
Their terms no longer than months.
In life we disagreed, as friends can,
فَنَسينَ أَنَّكَ كَالبُدو
رِ وَدونَ رِفعَتِكَ البُدور
Then fondness returned at night's embrace.
Affection healed our hearts
تَفنى السِنونُ بِها وَما
آجالُها إِلّا شُهور
Of errors committed in our youth.
Opinions divide our minds, but not
لَقَد اِختَلَفنا وَالمُعا
شِرُ قَد يُخالِفُهُ العَشير
Our spirits, which remain entwined.
Tell me, where are you now, friend?
في الرَأيِ ثُمَّ أَهابَ بي
وَبِكَ المُنادِمُ وَالسَمير
And where is your venerable guide?
Where is the Imam? And where
وَمَحا الرَواحُ إِلى مَغا
ني الوُدِّ ما اِقتَرَفَ البُكور
Ismail and the luminous council?
Since you entered the earth
في الرَأيِ تَضطَغِنُ العُقو
لُ وَلَيسَ تَضطَغِنُ الصُدور
Only graves and tombstones remain.
The era of brilliant stars
قُل لي بِعَيشِكَ أَينَ أَن
تَ وَأَينَ صاحِبُكَ الكَبير
Lives on, lighting the passage of time.
أَينَ الإِمامُ وَأَينَ إِس
ماعيلُ وَالمَلَأُ المُنير
لَمّا نَزَلتُم في الثَرى
تاهَت عَلى الشُهُبِ القُبور
عَصرُ العَباقِرَةِ النُجو
مِ بِنورِهِ تَمشي العُصور
