ذكر الحداثة جهلها وغرامها

وأعاد في خطراته أحلامها

He recalled the ignorance of modernity and his passion for it

And repeated in his writings its dreams

وتلمَّس الدنيا الكعاب فلم تجد

يده لياليها ولا أيامها

And he felt around the deceitful world but did not find

Its nights or days in his hands

ما زال يُتلف وردها ويذيله

حتى تولى فاشتهى قُلاَّمها

He continued to coddle its roses and cherish them

Until he took over and then lusted for its pens

فأدار في العواد مقلة باحث

تزن الوجوه سكوتها وكلامها

So he turned the returning pilgrims into an inquisitor

Weighing their silence and speech

كبت الشبيبة في اللجام وطالما

ظن الأعنة لا ترد لجامها

He held back the youth in reins and for so long

He thought the helpless would not resist their bridles

كانت عليه من المآلف زحمة

واليوم قد فض السقام زحامها

There used to be a crowd of flatterers around him

And today sickness has scattered its crowds

وتأخر الأتراب عنه وطالما

كانوا لبانة روحه وجَمالها

His comrades grew distant from him though for so long

They had been the soul and beauty of his being

لهفي عليه قشيب جلباب الصبا

لم يلبس الدنيا ولا هندامها

A companion of his youthful cloak grieves for him

One who did not wear the garb and costume of the world

لفظ الحياة نُفاثة فنفاثة

مثل الزجاجة قد قلبتَ فدامها

He casts out life in bursts and gasps

Like a flask whose seal was broken

لا تنبذوه فما علمتم بالذي

تزجى الحياة من الغيوب أمامها

Do not reject him for you do not know what

Life pours out from the unseen before it

إن الذي جعل الحياة بكفه

والموت صرّف كيف شاء زمامها

Indeed He who made life in His grasp

And death He steered however He wished

يا رب متروك يموت بدائه

لو عاش أقعد أمة وأقامها

O Lord a neglected one dies of his sickness

If he lived he would establish a nation and raise it

ومضيَّع لشقائه لو لم يِضع

بلغت على يده البلاد مرامها

And one lost to his misery if he did not lose hope

The country would achieve its purpose by his hand

الصدر من غرف الحياة دعامها

فإذا ألح السل هدّ دِعامها

The chest is a pillar of life's chambers

So when tuberculosis persists it collapses its pillars

لص الشباب إذا سرى في مهجة

وردت على شط الحياة حمامها

Consumption steals away when it creeps into the mind

And returns at the bank of life like a dove

يغتر حرصَ الشيخ نحو وليده

ويسل من خدر الرؤوم غلامها

Old age deceives in its greed for its child

And the drowsiness of sleep soils its youth

ويدب في ذيل العروس إذا مشت

وينال قبل فم الحليل لثامها

And it creeps into the train of the bride when she walks

And reaches her lips before the groom's veil

يا من لإنسانية مهضومة

قطع البنون بظلمهم أرحامها

O you whose humanity is oppressed

The estrangement of children has severed its wombs

زادوا بنسيان الشقى شقاءها

وبجفوة الدنف السقيم سقامها

They increased the wretchedness of the miserable with neglect

And the coldness of the feeble body with sickness

قالوا هي الزاد الحرام وأخرجوا

من أكلهم مال اليتيم حرامها

They said it is forbidden sustenance and took out

From their food the orphan's forbidden money

ومشى على المتحطمين بصخرها

من جدّ يجمع باليدين حطامها

And he who seriously gathered its rubble with his hands

Walked over the crushed ones with its boulders

كمعادن الذهب استقل بتبرها

قوم وزوّد آخرون رغامها

As gold mines it claimed its dust

While others provided its coal

ألا ملائكة بزىّ أوادم

ندعوهم لخشوعهم خدّامها

Lo, angels in human attire

We call them servants for their humility

يَسَعون في أكنافهم فقراءها

ويظللون بعطفهم أيتامها

They strive in its folds for its poor

And shade its orphans with their kindness

قد أنفقوا الساعات من أعمارهم

يتعهدون دموعها وكِلامها

They spent hours from their lifetimes

Tending to its tears and sorrows

هجموا على الأمراض لما أعضلت

فسعوا عسى أن يكسروا آلامها

They rushed upon the diseases when they became complex

Hoping to alleviate its pain

بالظهر من حمدون أو رمّانه

بيت تمل النفس فيها مقامها

With their backs bent like praise or tossing

A home where the soul settles comfortably

لا تملك المرضى به أرواحها

سأما وإن ملكت به أجسامها

The patients do not tire of it though their bodies do

I forgot a piece of the Emigrant's land

نسيت قوارين المهاجر بقعة

ذَرَع السباب وهادها وأكامها

Which hosted insults and settled them

A home it is the generous cradle and residence

دار هي المهد الكريم ومنزل

حضن الأصولَ رفاتها وعظامها

That embraced its relics and bones

Say to the Emigrant give charity from her wealth

قل للمَهَاجر تعط فضلة مالها

وتؤدّ واجبها وتقض ذمامها

And fulfill her duty and settle her debts

And it is said the Emigrant's wealth cannot be counted

ويقال لا تحِصى المهاجر ثروة

وأقول لا يحصى الرجاء كرامها

And I say the hopes of her generosity cannot be counted