رَأَتْ أُمُّ عَمْروٍ ما أُعاني فعَرَّضَتْ

بِشَكْوَى وفي فَيْضِ الدُّموعِ بَيانُها

Amr's mother saw my troubles, so she appealed

With a complaint and in a flood of tears, her case was clear

وَقَدْ كُنْتُ أَهْوَى مَبْسِماً وَجُمانَهُ

فَقَدْ شَغَفَتْني مُقْلَةٌ وَجُمانُها

Once I loved a smiling rosebud and its thorns

But now I'm smitten by a gazelle and her horns

وَمَنْ يَبْغِ ما أَبْغِي مِنَ المَجْدِ لَمْ يُبَلْ

نَوائِبَ تَتْلُو البِكْرَ مِنْها عَوانُها

He who seeks what I seek, glory, will not care

For the calamities that befall the young or their woes

رَعى اللهُ نَفْساً بَيْنَ بُرْدَيَّ مُرَّةً

على أَيِّ خَطْبٍ لَيْسَ يُلْقَى جِرانُها

May God protect a soul between two cold nights

From whatever misfortune whose trials are not light

يُفِيءُ إِلَيْها الدَّهْرُ كُلَّ عَظيمَةٍ

وَلا يَزْدَهيها فَهْيَ ثَبْتٌ جَنانُها

Time comes to her with every greatness

And no glory makes her arrogant, her soul is steadfast

وَيَعْلَمُ أَنّي أَستَنيمُ إِلى الرَّدى

بِها حِينَ يَسْتَشْري عَلَيْها هَوانُها

And she knows that I yearn for ruin

When her disgrace creeps upon her, that's her time

وَأَبْرَحُ ما أَلْقَى رِئاسَةُ عُصْبَةٍ

أَخَسُّ زَمانٍ نالَ مِنِّي زَمانُها

And I flee whatever supremacy a gang attains

A vile age that seized me, such was its time

يَحومُ عَلَيْها صَارِمِي وَغِرارُهُ

وَتَصْبو إِلَيْها صَعْدَتي وَسِنانُها

My swords and their sharp blades hover over her

And my climbing and my teeth aim at her

وَكُلُّ امْرِئٍ مِنْها يَمُدُّ إِلى العُلا

يَداً نَشَأَتْ في الفَقْرِ شُلَّ بَنانُها

And everyone reaching out to supremacy through her

A hand raised in poverty, crippled are its fingers

وَيَأْمَلُ مِنّي أَنْ أُسِفَّ بِهِمَّتِي

إِليهِ وَما شَأْنُ اللِئامِ وَشَانُها

And hopes that I despair with my resolve

To him, but the ways of villains are not her ways

وَلَوْ أَمْكَنَتْنِي وَثْبَةٌ أُمَوِيَّةٌ

لأَلْجَمْتُهُ سَيْفِي فَهذا أَوانُها

And if I were granted a Umayyad leap

I would silence him with my sword, such is its time