ظَلَمَ الرِجالُ نِساءَهُم وَتَعَسَّفوا
هَل لِلنِساءِ بِمِصرَ مِن أَنصارِ
Men oppressed their wives and were tyrannical
Do Egyptian women have any supporters?
يا مَعشَرَ الكُتّابِ أَينَ بَلاؤُكُم
أَينَ البَيانُ وَصائِبُ الأَفكارِ
O community of writers! Where is your affliction?
Where is eloquence and wisdom of thought?
أَيَهُمُّكُم عَبَثٌ وَلَيسَ يَهُمُّكُم
بُنيانُ أَخلاقٍ بِغَيرِ جِدارِ
Is it nonsense to you, you don't care
About building morals without foundation?
عِندي عَلى ضَيمِ الحَرائِرِ بَينَكُم
نَبَأٌ يُثيرُ ضَمائِرَ الأَحرارِ
I have news for you about the injustice to women
That stirs the conscience of the virtuous
مِمّا رَأَيتُ وَما عَلِمتُ مُسافِراً
وَالعِلمُ بَعضُ فَوائِدِ الأَسفارِ
Of what I saw and learned while traveling
And knowledge is some benefits of journeys
فيهِ مَجالٌ لِلكَلامِ وَمَذهَبٌ
لِيَراعِ باحِثَةٍ وَسِتِّ الدارِ
It's an opportunity to speak and a doctrine
For a researcher and lady of the house
كَثُرَت عَلى دارِ السَعادَةِ زُمرَةٌ
مِن مِصرَ أَهلُ مَزارِعٍ وَيَسارِ
Many groups came to Dar Al Saadah
Egyptian farmers and people of wealth
يَتَزَوَّجونَ عَلى نِساءٍ تَحتَهُم
لا صاحِباتِ بُغىً وَلا بِشَرارِ
Marrying women under them
Who are neither immoral nor wicked
شاطَرنَهُم نِعَمَ الصِبا وَسَقَينَهُم
دَهراً بِكَأسٍ لِلسُرورِ عُقارُ
Who shared their prime youth and gave them
For ages a cup of joyful wine
الوالِداتُ بَنيهُمُ وَبَناتِهِم
الحائِطاتُ العِرضَ كَالأَسوارِ
Mothers, their sons and daughters
Modesty itself like walls
الصابِراتُ لِضَرَّةٍ وَمَضَرَّةٍ
المُحيِياتُ اللَيلَ بِالأَذكارِ
Patient with adversity and affliction
Spending the night with prayers
مِن كُلِّ ذي سَبعينَ يَكتُمُ شَيبَهُ
وَالشَيبُ في فَودَيهِ ضَوءُ نَهارِ
Everyone past seventy hides their grey hair
Though it shines on their cheeks like daylight
يَأبى لَهُ في الشَيبِ غَيرَ سَفاهَةٍ
قَلبٌ صَغيرُ الهَمِّ وَالأَوطارِ
Except for frivolity, their hearts admit no grey hair
Small in concerns and dignity
ما حَلَّهُ عَطفٌ وَلا رِفقٌ وَلا
بِرٌّ بِأَهلٍ أَو هَوىً لِدِيارِ
No tenderness restrains them, or kindness
No righteousness towards family or longing for home
كَم ناهِدٍ في اللّاعِباتِ صَغيرَةٍ
أَلهَتهُ عَن حَفَدٍ بِمِصرَ صِغارِ
How many playboys are distracted from grandchildren
By flirting with juvenile girls
مَهما غَدا أَو راحَ في جَولاتِهِ
دَفَعَتهُ خاطِبَةٌ إِلى سِمسارِ
Wherever he goes out on his ramble
A matchmaker pushes him to a broker
شُغِلَ المَشايِخُ بِالمَتابِ وَشُغلُهُ
بِتَبَدُّلِ الأَزواجِ وَالأَصهارِ
Elders are busy with contracts and he with
Changing spouses and in-laws
في كُلِّ عامٍ هَمُّهُ في طَفلَةٍ
كَالشَمسِ إِن خُطِبَت فَلِلأَقمارِ
Every year his mind is on a child
Like the sun, if proposed to, it's for the moons
يَرشو عَلَيها الوالِدينَ ثَلاثَةً
لَم أَدرِ أَيُّهُمُ الغَليظُ الضاري
The parents shower three on her
I don't know which is harshest
المالُ حَلَّلَ كُلَّ غَيرِ مُحَلَّلِ
حَتّى زَواجَ الشيبِ بِالأَبكارِ
Money made the unlawful lawful
Even old men marrying young brides
سَحَرَ القُلوبَ فَرُبَّ أُمٍّ قَلبُها
مِن سِحرِهِ حَجَرٌ مِنَ الأَحجارِ
It has bewitched hearts, so many a mother
Her heart for it became stone
دَفَعَت بُنَيَّتَها لِأَشأَمَ مَضجَعٍ
وَرَمَت بِها في غُربَةٍ وَإِسارِ
She handed her daughter to a decrepit bed
And threw her into isolation and captivity
وَتَعَلَّلَت بِالشَرعِ قُلتُ كَذِبتِهِ
ما كانَ شَرعُ اللَهِ بِالجَزّارِ
Justifying it by law, I said she lied
God's law isn't by the butcher's knife
ما زُوِّجَت تِلكَ الفَتاةُ وَإِنَّما
بيعَ الصِبا وَالحُسنُ بِالدينارِ
The girl wasn't married but her youth and beauty
Were sold for dinars
بَعضُ الزَواجِ مُذَمَّمٌ ما بِالزِنا
وَالرِقِّ إِن قيسا بِهِ مِن عارِ
Some marriages are as vile as adultery
And slavery, if compared for dishonor
فَتَّشتُ لَم أَرَ في الزَواجِ كَفاءَةً
كَكَفاءَةِ الأَزواجِ في الأَعمارِ
I searched but found no aptness in marriage
Like aptness of spouses in age
أَسَفي عَلى تِلكَ المَحاسِنِ كُلَّما
نُقِلَت مِنَ البالي إِلى الدَوّارِ
I lament for those beauties whenever
Taken from decline to the vortex
إِنَّ الحِجابَ عَلى فُروقٍ جَنَّةٌ
وَحِجابُ مِصرَ وَريفِها مِن نارِ
Indeed, the veil over classes is a paradise
While Egypt's veil is of fire
وَعَلى وُجوهٍ كَالأَهِلَّةِ رُوِّعَت
بَعدَ السُفورِ بِبُرقُعٍ وَخِمارِ
And over faces like moons were terrified
After unveiling with hood and veil
وَعَلى الذَوائِبِ وَهيَ مِسكٌ خولِطَت
عِندَ العِناقِ بِمِثلِ ذَوبِ القارِ
And over locks that are musk were mixed
When embracing like melting tar
وَعَلى الشِفاهِ المُحيِياتِ أَماتَها
ريحُ الشُيوخِ تَهُبُّ في الأَسحارِ
And over lively lips, the winds
Of old men blew at dawn and killed them
وَعَلى المَجالِسِ فَوقَ كُلِّ خَميلَةٍ
بَينَ الجِبالِ وَشاطِئٍ مِحبارِ
And over gatherings atop every flirt
Between mountains and a lustrous shore
تَدنو الزَوارِقُ مِنهُ تُنزِلُ جُؤذَراً
بِقِلادَةٍ أَو شادِناً بِسِوارِ
Boats approach unloading filth
With a necklace or bracelet
يَرفُلنَ في أُزُرِ الحَريرِ تَنَوَّعَت
أَلوانُهُ كَالزَهرِ في آذارِ
They strut in silk robes of varied
Colors like flowers in March
الطاهِراتُ اللَحظِ أَمثالَ المَها
الناطِقاتُ الجَرسِ كَالأَوتارِ
The virtuous glances like deer
Melodious voices like strings
الدَهرُ فَرَّقَ شَملَهُنَّ فَمُر بِهِ
يا رَبِّ تَجمَعُهُ يَدُ المِقدارِ
Time separated them, so pass by it
Oh Lord, let fate reunite them
