حاشَيتُ غَيري وَنَفسي ما أُحاشيها

خَشيَّتُها وَحَليفُ اللُبِّ خاشيها

I blamed others while myself I did not blame,

Fearing it while the heart's ally was fearing it.

وَاِستَجهَلَتني رِجالٌ لَم تَزَل جُهلاً

إِنَّ الأَوابِيَ هاجَتها عَواشيها

And I was considered ignorant by men who have never ceased being ignorant,

The calamities have surely stirred them up and their landmarks.

أَما العِراقُ فَعَمَّت أَرضَهُ فِتَنٌ

مِثلُ القِيامَةِ غَشَتها غَواشيها

As for Iraq, seditions have spread over its land,

Like the Resurrection, covering it and its surroundings.

وَالشامُ أَصلَحُ إِلّا أَنَّ هامَتَهُ

فُضَّت وَأَسرى عَلى النيرانِ عاشيها

And Syria is the most proper, except that its protector

Is weakened and the prisoners are living on firewood.

وَالقَومُ يَردونَ مَن لاقَوا بِأَردِيَةٍ

أَعلامُها الدَمُ لَم تُكفَف حَواشيها

And the people repel whoever they meet with spears

Whose standards are blood; its margins are not restrained.

ذَواتُ قَرٍّ يَظُنّوا دارِجاتِ قِرىً

مَضَت عَلَيها وَلَم تَقفُل مَواشيها

Those who have settlements think they are visiting settlements

Which have gone and their livestock enclosures are not locked.

أَنَسَتكَ هِنداً سُيوفُ الهِندِ ماحِيَةً

ما قالَ عاذِلُها أَو قالَ واشيها

The swords of India have made you forget India,

Neither its critic spoke nor its praiser.

وَلِلزَمانِ عَلى أَبنائِهِ أَبَداً

حُكومَةٌ لا يَرُدُّ الحُكمَ راشيها

And time has eternally over its children

An authority which does not refuse the judgment of its executor.