أَتَيتُ سوقَ عُكاظٍ

أَسعى بِأَمرِ الرَئيسِ

I came to the market of Okaz

Seeking by order of the president

أُزجي إِلَيهِ قَوافٍ

مُنَكَّساتِ الرُؤوسِ

I presented to him deserts

With heads hanging low

لَيسَت بِذاتِ رُواءٍ

تُزهى بِهِ في الطُروسِ

They are not of pleasant company

To be adorned with in rituals

وَلا بِذاتِ جَمالٍ

يَسري بِها في النُفوسِ

Nor of any beauty

That flows into souls

لَم يَحبُها فَضلُ شَوقي

بَقِيَّةً مِن نَسيسِ

The excess of Shawqi's passion did not love them

A remnant from the intimate

فَهُنَّ قَفرٌ خَوالٍ

مِن كُلِّ مَعنىً نَفيسِ

So they are barren emptinesses

Of any precious meaning

وَهُنَّ جُهدُ مُقِلٍّ

حَليفَ هَمٍّ وَبوسِ

And they are the effort of a weakling

Ally of worry and affliction

قالَ الرَئيسُ وَمَن ذا

يَقولُ بَعدَ الرَئيسِ

The president said, and who else

Speaks after the president?

سَقى الحُضورَ شَراباً

يُنسى شَرابَ القُسوسِ

He served the attendants a drink

To forget the drink of sorrows

مُعَتَّقاً قَبلَ عادٍ

في مُظلِماتِ الحُبوسِ

Fermented before Aad

In the darkness of prisons

تُذكي الدِياراتُ مِنهُ

ناراً كَنارِ المَجوسِ

It ignites countries with a fire

Like the fire of the Magi

يُريكَ وَاللَيلُ داجٍ

شُموسَهُ في الكُؤوسِ

Showing you while the night is still dark

Its suns in the cups

بَناتُ أَفكارِ شَوقي

في جَلوَةٍ كَالعَروسِ

Daughters of Shawqi's thoughts

In revelation like the bride

تُزهى بِمَعنىً سَرِيٍّ

أَتى بِمَعنىً شَموسِ

Adorned with a hidden meaning

That came with the meaning of suns

وَلَيلَةٍ مِن عُكاظٍ

ضَمَّت حُماةَ الوَطيسِ

And a night of Okaz

Which gathered the protectors of the quagmire

أَحيا بِها ذِكرَ عَهدٍ

آثارُهُ في الطُروسِ

He brought to life through it the memory of an era

Whose relics are in the rituals

عَهدٌ سَما الشِعرُ فيهِ

إِلى مَجالي الشُموسِ

An era where poetry flowed

To the horizons of the suns

وَوِردُهُ كانَ أَصفى

مِن مَورِدِ القاموسِ

And its meadow was more pure

Than the source of the dictionary

فَجِئتُها بِحَديثٍ

أَسوقُهُ لِلجُلوسِ

So I came to it with a tale

I drive to the sitting

قَد زُرتُ مُتحَفَ مِصرٍ

في ظُهرِ يَومِ الخَميسِ

I had visited the museum of Egypt

On the back of Thursday

في زُمرَةٍ مِن رِفاقٍ

غُرِّ الشَمائِلِ شوسِ

Amongst a group of companions

Young men of good traits

فَضِقتُ ذَرعاً بِأَمرٍ

عَلى النُفوسِ بَئيسِ

So I was extremely bothered by something

Grievous to the souls

وَكِدتُ أُصرَعُ غَمّاً

لِحَظِّها المَعكوسِ

And I almost collapsed in sorrow

For its reversed fortune

وَصَرعَةُ الغَمِّ أَدهى

مِن صَرعَةِ الخَندَريسِ

And the collapse of grief is more catastrophic

Than the collapse of the hyena

رَأَيتُ جُثَّةَ خوفو

بِقُربِ سيزوستَريسِ

I saw the corpse of Khufu

Near Sesostris

فَقُلتُ يا قَومُ هَذا

صُنعُ العَقوقِ الخَسيسِ

So I said, O people, this is

The making of despicable ingratitude

أَجسادُ أَملاكِ مِصرٍ

وَشائِدي مَنفيسِ

The bodies of Egypt's kings

And its honored dead

مِن بَعدِ خَمسينَ قَرناً

لَم تَستَرِح في الرُموسِ

After fifty centuries

Did not rest in burials

أَرى فَراعينَ مِصرٍ

في ذِلَّةٍ وَنُحوسِ

I see Egypt's pharaohs

In misery and ill fate

مَعروضَةً لِلبَرايا

أَجسادُهُم بِالفُلوسِ

Their bodies exposed

To the commons for money

عَنهُم نَبَشنا زَماناً

في مُظلِماتِ الدُروسِ

We dug up from them an era

In the darkness of lessons

فَديسَ ظُلماً حِماهُم

وَكانَ غَيرَ مَدوسِ

So vilely wronging their protection

And it was not trampled

لَعَلَّهُم حَصَّنوهُم

مِن هادِماتِ الفُؤوسِ

Perhaps they fortified themselves

From the damagers of graves

عِلماً بِأَن سَوفَ يُمنى

بِيَومِ شَرٍّ عَبوسِ

Knowing that one day

An angry day would be wished

لَو أَنَّ أَمثالَ مينا

في الغَربِ أَو رَمسيسِ

If the likes of Menes

In the West or Ramses

بَنوا عَلَيهِم وَخَطّوا

حَظائِرَ التَقديسِ

Built upon them and outlined

Precincts of sanctity