يا صاحبَ القصرِ الذي شادَهُ
فاستنفد المذخورَ من وُجدِه
O builder of the palace raised with all your might
Exhausting your hoarded wealth to such height
أقمته كالطودِ في هَضبةٍ
تَردُّ عادي الدهرِ عن قَصدِه
You built it like a towering mountain peak
To turn away the blows of fate so bleak
أزرتَهُ الأَبراجَ في جَوِّها
فانتظمَ الأنجمَ في عِقدِهِ
You fortified it with towers in the sky
Arranging stars in a glittering necklace on high
أطلعتَ فيه كَوكباً دانِياً
أغنى عن الشاسِع في بُعده
You made a planet shine so near and bright
It spared you the vastness owing to its light
قَلَّصتَ ظلَّ اللَّيلِ عنه وَمَا
رعيتَ حقَّ اللَهِ في مَدّه
You shortened the shade of night around its walls
Yet forgot the due right of God overalls
أنشأتَ روضاً زاهراً حَولَهُ
يُعطِّرُ الكونَ شَذا رَندِه
You made a blossoming garden around it spread
With scent suffusing the world and pleasure widespread
ورُحتَ بالرتبةِ في صَدرِهِ
تُدِلُّ دَلَّ المَلكِ في جُندِه
You assumed highest station in its core
Like the stars connote the glory of night's store
كأَنَّما الرُتبةُ كلُّ الذي
يُنِيلهُ الكوكبُ مِن سَعدِهِ
As if the highest rank was all that the star attained
From the fortune it secured and glory it gained
هَب أنَّه اللوفَر في حسنه
أو قصر يوكنهامَ في جده
Be it Louvre in all its beauty or simply grand
Or Blenheim Palace in its nobleness stand
وهبكَ روكفيلر تحوى الذي
يُضلِّلُ الحاسبَ في عَدِّه
Or even Rockefeller defying all count
Bewildering the minds in their financial account
فالمالُ إن أجهده ربه
فالفقرُ والعُدمُ مدى جَهدِه
For if wealth is constrained by its Lord
Poverty and oblivion become its hoard
والمالُ كالطائِر إن هومت
حُراسه طار إلى فنده
Wealth is like a bird, if guardians nod
It flies away to some far corner abroad
والمجدُ للمالِ وكلُّ الذي
تراهُ من مَجدٍ فَمِن مَجدِه
Glory belongs to wealth; all glory seen
Stems from wealth, whether or not it has been
هذا شِهابٌ ساطِعٌ مُشرِقٌ
والليلةُ الليلاءُ من بَعدِه
A shining brilliant star it was no doubt
The darkest night follows thereafter throughout
بنيتَ للبنك فأغنيته
بجدك المبذول عن جَده
You built the bank and enabled its worth
By your own toil not relying on its birth
بنيت ما لو قدروا قدره
لقيل هذا الميتُ في لَحدهِ
You built what if appraised for its due
Would be a dead man in his grave anew!
وأدتَ فيه الأمل المرتجى
حيا ولم تأس على وأدِه
You harbored hopes not yet realized
Fulfilled while living before their demise
أغمدت فيه صارماً طالما
تثلم الدهرُ على حده
You sheathed a sword long witness to your might
As time wounded itself on its sharp bite
واريت فيه ولداً ليته
قضى قرير العينِ في مهدِه
You harbored a son whose death was so sore
To happily live his youthful days no more
وليته ما شبَّ في زُخرِفٍ
يبكي يد الدهرِ على رَغده
Would that he had not grown in luxury
Whose loss makes time itself now cry
فليسَ من يأسى على مطلبٍ
ناءٍ كمن يأسى على فقدِه
For there is no sorrow like something missed
Unlike grief for what has never existed
غدرت بالبيت الذي بثك ال
وُدَّ فلم تُبقِ على وُدِّه
You betrayed the home that cherished you
No affection left for its love so true
هدمته والمجد ظلٌ لَهُ
فما بَقاءُ الظلِ من بَعدِه
You ruined it though glory was its shade
With passing shade what hope for it to fade?
قد كنتَ مِن كُوخِكَ في نِعمةٍ
تُذيبُ قَلب الدهرِ من حِقدِه
Once you lived in cozy happiness within
Melting the heart of time of bottled chagrin
وكانَ يَنتابُكَ مُستَرفِداً
مِن بِتَّ مُحتاجاً إلى رِفده
Visited by the needy begging for alms
At your doorstep awaiting your goodwill charms
فاليوم لا القصرُ كما تَرتجى
منه ولا الكوخُ على عَهدِه
Today is the palace nor the hut the same
Gone are those days with time to blame
واليومَ رَبُّ القصرِ يُذرِي دَماً
مِن جَفنِهِ آناً ومِن كِبدِه
The palace lord bleeds from his eyes by turn
And from his liver for which they burn
يَدعو إليه الموتَ مِن بَعدِ مَا
نَالت يَدُ الأيامِ مِن أَيدِه
His cheeks once rosy are blackened with plight
His complexion faded from former white
واسوَدَّ ذاكَ الجونُ من جِلده
وابيضَ ذاك الجَونُ من فَودِه
Could the East now fathom that decay
Is a secret in time which may not display
هل يعلمُ الشرقيّ أَنَّ الردَى
سِرٌّ بصدر الدهرِ لم يُبده
That sorrow may strike without advance notice
The day the sword leaves protection of its host
وأنه يفجؤنا بالأَسى
يوماً خروجَ السيف مِن غمدِه
For time jokes with promises oft said
Yet its jokes sharper than words instead
وأَنَّ هذا الدهرَ في هَزله
يَغُرُّ بالكاذِبِ من وَعدِه
Its whims swifter than its inspiration
Woe to Egypt and its population!
فهزلُه أَنفذُ مِن جَدِّه
ورَهوُه أَسرَعُ مِن وَخده
We live with worries satisfied therein
Spending our lives sipping that cup to the brim
ويحٌ لمصرٍ ولأَبنائِها
مما يَريغُ الدهرُ مِن كيدِه
Like one who seems to frown at his drink
Yet cannot quite force himself not to drink
نعيشُ بالهمِّ ونرضى به
عيشاً ونقضى العمرَ في نقده
If we notice a passing fleeting light
Not hearing the thunder say her might
كشَارِب الكَأسِ يُرَى عابِساً
مِنه ولا يَقوى على رَدِّه
We rush into seas without knowing the tides
The tides foretell the danger besides
فإِن لَمحنا بارقاً خاطفا
لا نسمعُ القاصفَ من رَعدِه
While thirsty groups seem to be exponents
Without fulfilling their real needs from the elements
نُسرِعُ خوضَ البحر في جَزرِه
وجزرُهُ يُنبئ عَن مَدِّه
Like a cup half empty all seems so hollow
With no will or way out for us to follow
والكلُّ ظمآنُ يُرَى صادِراً
وما قضى الإِربةَ من وِردهِ
