عرضتُ على ذات الدلال صبابتي

لتقدرُني قدري وتُقْصِر عن هجري

I presented my love to one with meaning glances,

That she may value me at my full worth and cease from abandoning me,

وحدثتها عما أقاسي من الأسى

وعما يوارِي في جوانحهُ صدري

And I told her of the sorrows that I suffer,

And of what my heart conceals within its depths,

فأصغت إلى شكواي وافترّ ثغرها

وكلّ شفائي من لمى ذلك الثغر

So she listened to my complaints while her mouth smiled,

And all my healing was in the dew of that mouth,

فعنّ لنا من جانب الحيّ فتيةٌ

يلوح عليهم أن أمرهمُ أمري

When there appeared to us from the side of the valley some young men,

On whom it was evident that their purpose was my own,

فقالت من العشاق قالوا غطارفِ

ميامينُ أمجادٌ من النفر الغر

She said, “Of lovers they used to say, ‘Knights,

Brave glories of a select band of men,’”

وقلت لها إني سليلُ مَعاشرٍ

بنوا للعلا صرحاً على البيضِ والسمرِ

And I said to her, “I am of a race

Who built for knowledge a palace of whites and blacks,”

سلي عن أيادينا الزمانَ فإنه

بما فعلتْ آباؤنا خير من يدري

“Ask the time about our hands, for it

Knows better than any what my fathers did,”

فقالت وصكت وجهها بيمينها

وعبرتها من فوق وجنتها تجري

Then she turned her face aside with her right hand

As tears flowed down her cheek,

علامَ التباهي بالقديم وبينكم

تلاميذُ كادوا يهلكون من الفقر

“Why do you boast of old times when amongst you

Are students who nearly died of poverty?”

أليس عجباً أن يعضّهم الطوى

وهُم في بقاعِ النيل بين بني مصرِ

“Is it not strange that some of them bite the dust

While they are in the regions of the Nile amongst the Egyptians?”

أتَوا من ديار الشام يغترفون من

مناهل علمْ الأزهر الفائضِ القَدْرِ

“They came from the lands of Syria sipping

From the overflowing cups of Azhar’s knowledge,”

وكان ذووهم يبعثون لهم بما

يموّنهم في كل شهرين أو شهرِ

“And their kinsmen used to send them enough

To sustain them every two or three months,”

فمدّت إليهم هذه الحرب بأسها

وسدّت عليهم مهيعَ البرّ والبحرِ

“Then this war unleashed its afflictions on them

And closed off to them the land and sea,”

فلا يستطيعون الرجوعَ لدارهم

ولا يستطيعون المُقامُ على الضرِ

“So they cannot go back to their country

Nor remain suffering privation,”

فإن يقضِ نحباً ساغبٌ في دياركم

فوا لعصر إنّ القُطر هذا لفي خُسرِ

“If one of them should die yearning in your lands,

Alas for the age! That drop is in utter loss,”

فقلت لها مهلاً كفى اللومَ إننا

كما حدّثوا عنّا مياسير في العسر

Then I said to her, “Stop blaming! We are,

As they have told of us, lords in hardship,”

ورثنا عن الأسلاف إيثار جارنا

وإنّ وفور العرض خيرٌ من الوفرِ

“We have inherited from our forebears preferring our neighbor,

And surplus of wealth is better than abundance,”

فلا تجزعي إنا سنُقري ضيوفنا

ونكرم مثواهم ولا بدع أن نُقري

“So do not worry! We will host our guests

And honor their dwelling, for we must host them,”

فقالت رعاك الله فادْنُ بفيها تقول لي

تجنبَ قرى الأضياف بالكرمِ الشعري

Then she said, “God watch over you! Come nearer to me, saying:

Avoid the abodes of guests with poetic generosity,”

فقد صار خُلف الوعدِ بدعةَ معشرٍ

فإن كنتَ منهم فأخرَجنّ من الخدْرِ

“Breaking a promise has become the practice of a people,

So if you are one of them, then get me out of the enclosure,”

فقلت معاذ الله ما أنا منهمو

فإن تصبري أحمدت والخير في الصبرِ

Then I said, “God forbid that I be one of them!

But if you are patient I will praise you, for good lies in patience,”