هَجَرَ الأرضَ حين مَلَّ مقامَهْ

وطوى العمرَ حيرةً وسآمَهْ

He left the land when he grew weary of staying,

And folded up his life confused and bored.

هَيْكَلٌ من حقيقةٍ وخيالٍ

مَلَكَ الحبُّ والجمالُ زمامَهْ

A being of reality and imagination,

Love and beauty held his reins.

ألْهَمَ الشعرُ أصغريهِ فرفَّا

في فَمِ الدهرِ كوثرًا ومُدامَهْ

Poetry inspired him in his youth, so he fluttered

In the mouth of time like a fountain and a wine cup.

سلسبيلٌ من حكمةٍ وبيانٍ

فَجَّرَ اللهُ منهما إلهَامَهْ

A smooth flow of wisdom and eloquence

God made gush from them inspiration.

تأخذُ القلبَ هَزَّةٌ من تساقيـ

ـهِ وينسى بسحره آلامَهْ

The heart is gripped by a shudder of his outpouring

And forgets its pains through his magic.

غَمَرَ الأرضَ رحمةً وسلامًا

وجلَا الكونَ فتنةً ووسامَهْ

He flooded the earth with mercy and peace

And illuminated the universe, its ordeal and its beauty.

مالئًا مِسْمَعَ الوجودِ نشيدًا

عَلَّمَ الطيرَ لحنَه وانسجامَهْ

Filling the hearing of existence with song,

He taught the birds its melody and harmony.

ما لَهُ والزمانُ مصغٍ إليه

رَدَّ أوتارَه وحَطَّمَ جامَهْ؟

Why did he - when the times turned a deaf ear -

Break his strings and smash his cup?

رُوِّعَ الطيرُ يوم غاب عن الأيـ

ـكِ وسالتْ جراحُها الملتامَهْ

The birds were terrified the day he disappeared from sight

And their hidden wounds poured forth.

ما الذي شاقه إلى عالم الرو

حِ؟ أَجَلْ تلك روحه المستهامَهْ!

What made him long for the world of the soul?

Yes, it was his aspiring soul!

راعها النورُ وهيَ في ظلمة الكو

نِ فخفَّتْ إليهِ تطوي ظلامَهْ

It was dazzled by the light while in the darkness of the world

So it hastened to it, folding up its darkness.

هي بنتُ السماءِ وهو من الأر

ضِ سليلٌ نما الترابُ عظامَهْ

She is the daughter of the sky while he is

Of the earth, a creature the dust nurtured his bones.

فاهتفوا باسمه فما مات، لكنْ

آثرَ اليومَ في السماءِ مُقامَهْ!

So celebrate his name, for he did not die,

But chose today to live in the sky!

حدَّثتني الرياضُ عنه صباحًا

ما لصدَّاحِها جفا أنغامَهْ؟

The meadows spoke to me of him one morning -

Why did their warbler not sing his melodies?

وشكا لي النسيمُ أولَ يومٍ

لم يُحَمِّلْهُ للحبيبِ سلامَهْ

The breeze complained to me the first day

It did not carry his greeting to his beloved.

وتسمعتُ للغدير يُنَادِي

ما الذي عاق طيرَه وحيامَهْ؟

And I heard the stream crying out -

What had silenced its birds and doves?

أتُراهُ ترشَّفَ الفجرَ نورًا

أم شفي من ندى الصباح أُوامَهْ

Did he sip the dawn's light as a drink

Or was he cured by the dew of morning of his pains?

ورأيتُ الجمالَ في شُعَبِ الوا

دِي ينادي بطاحه وأكامَهْ

And I saw beauty in the valleys of the stream

Calling for her poet, her artist.

صارخًا يستجيرُ شاعرَه الشَّا

دي، ويدعو لفنِّه رسَّامَهْ

Crying out, seeking her ardent poet

And praying for his art and his painter.

فَتَلَفَّتُّ باكيًا وبعيني

شَبَحٌ تخطرُ المنون أمامَهْ

So I looked around me, weeping, and before my eyes

A specter crossed, death preceding it.

هتفَ القلبُ بالمنادينَ حولي:

لَقِيَ الصادحُ الطروبُ حِمامَهْ

The heart called out to those mourning around me:

The warbler has met his doom!

فاذكروا شدوَهُ بكل صباحٍ

وارقُبُوا من خياله إلمامَهْ

So remember his song every morning

And expect from his imagination guidance.

واملأوا الأرضَ والسماءَ هُتَافًا

عَلَّهُ لم يَرَ الصباحَ فنامَهْ

Fill the earth and sky with a clamor -

Perhaps he did not see the dawn but slept!

لم يرُعْني من جانبِ النيل إلَّا

كرمةٌ فوقها ترفُّ غمامَهْ

Nothing called to me from the Nile's bank

Except a vine with a cloud fluttering over it.

تحت ساجي ظلالها زهرةٌ تبـ

ـكِي، وفي فرعها تنوحُ حَمامَهْ

Under the shade of its branches a flower weeps

And a dove laments in its boughs.

عرفتها عيني، وما أنكرتها

من ظلامٍ ووحشةٍ وجهامَهْ

My eyes recognized it, and I did not mistake

The darkness, desolation, and confusion.

قلتُ: يا كرمةَ ابن هاني سلامًا

ليس للمرءِ في الحياة سلامَهْ

I said: O vine of Ibn Hani, greetings!

In life, man has no peace.

نحن لو تعلمينَ أشباحُ ليلٍ

عابرٍ ينسخ الضياءُ ظلامَهْ

If we shadows of a passing night knew

That the light would erase its darkness;

والذي تلمحين من لَهبِ الشمـ

ـسِ غدا يُطفئُ الزمانُ ضرامَهْ

And what you glimpse of the sun's flame

Tomorrow time would extinguish its embers;

والذي تبصرينه من نجومٍ

فَلَكٌ يرصدُ القضاءُ نظامَهْ

And what you see of stars

A sky that fate maps its system;

والمرَادُ المُدِلُّ بالورد زهوًا

كالذي أذبلَ الردى أكمامَهْ

And the beloved, alluring with roses in bloom

Like one faded by time, his sleeves withered -

عبثًا ننشدُ الحياةَ خلودًا

ونرجِّي الصِّبا، ونبغي دوامَهْ

In vain we seek in life eternity

And hope for youth and aspire to its permanence!

إنما الأرضُ قبرُنا الواسعُ الرحـ

ـبُ وفي جوفِهِ تطيبُ الإقامَهْ

The earth is just our spacious grave

In its depths dwells pleasantness.

أودع القلبُ فيه آلامَه الكبـ

ـرَى، وألقى ببابه أحلامَهْ

The heart deposited in it deep sorrows

And threw at its door its dreams.

نَسِيَ الناعمون فيه صباهم

وسلا المغرمُ المشوق غرامَهْ

The gentle ones forgot in it their youth

And the enamored ardent lover his passion.

فامسحي الدمعَ وابسمي للمنايا

إنَّ دنياكِ دمعةٌ وابتسامَهْ!!

So wipe away your tears and smile at death -

Your life is but a tear and a smile!

أيُّها المسرحُ الحزين عزاءً

قد فقدتَ الغداةَ أقوى دِعامَهْ

O sorrowful theater, condolences!

You have lost this morning your strongest pillar.

ذهب الشاعرُ الذي كنتَ تستو

حي وتستلهمُ الخلودَ كلامَهْ

The poet is gone, whom you used to inspire

And from whose words you drew immortality.

واهبُ الفن قلبَه وقواه

والمصافيه وُدَّه وهيامَهْ

He who gave his heart, his strength,

His sincerity, his love, and his passion to art.

رُبَّ ليلٍ بجانبيكَ شهدنا

قصة الدهرِ روعةً وفخامَهْ

Many a night at your side we witnessed

The story of time, its awe and its glory.

أسفَرَ الشعرُ عن روائعه فيها

وألقى عن الخفاء لثامَهْ

Poetry unveiled through it its masterpieces

And cast off its veils.

فأعِدْ عهدَه وأحي لياليـ

ـهِ وجدِّدْ، على المدى، أيَّامَهْ

Restore his covenant, revive his nights

And renew across time his days!

وَلَكَ اليومَ همةٌ في شبابٍ

ملأوا العصرَ قوةً وهُمامَهْ

For you today there is a will in the youth

Who filled the age with strength and ambition.

نزلوا ساحه يشيدون للمجـ

ـدِ وشَقُّوا إلى الحياةِ زحامَهْ

They descended into the field, building glory

And competed in life, pushing and shoving,

فاذكروا نهضةَ البيان بأرضٍ

أطلعتْ في سمائِهَا أعلامَهْ

So remember the rise of eloquence in a land

That raised its flags in its skies!

إنَّهَا أمةٌ تغارُ على الفنِّ

وترعى عهودَه وذمامَهْ

It is a nation jealous of art

And loyal to its covenants and high principles.

لم تَزَلْ مصرُ كعبةَ الشعر في الشر

قِ، وفي كفِّها لواءُ الزعامَهْ

Egypt remains the Kaaba of poetry in the East

And in its grip is the banner of leadership.

إنَّ يومًا يفوتها السبقُ فيه

لهوَ يومُ المعادِ يومُ القيامَهْ!!

A day in which it lags behind in precedence

Is a day of reckoning, a day of judgment!