أمَّا سماسرةُ البلاد فعصبة

عارٌ على أهل البلاد بقاؤها

The brokers of the country are a gang,

A disgrace to the people of the land is their stay.

إبليسُ أعلن صاغراً إفلاَسه

لمَّا تحقَّق عنده إغراؤها

Iblis has confessed bankrupt and broken,

When their seduction was clear to him.

يتنعَّمون مُكرَّمين كأنَّما

لنعيمهم عمَّ البلاد شقاؤها

They enjoy delights honored as if

Their bliss has relieved the country’s misery.

همْ أهلُ نجدتها وإن أنكرتَهم

وهمو وأنفك راغم زعماؤها

They are the people of its salvation though you deny them,

And they, despite your dislike, lead its chieftains.

وحماتُها وبهم يتم خرابُها

وعلى يديهمْ بَيْعُها وشراؤها

They are its guardians, and through them its ruin comes about,

Its sale and purchase are done by their hands.

ومن العجائب إنْ كشفتَ قدورهم

أنَّ الجرائد بعضَهنًّ غطاؤها

And of the wonders, if you unveil their pots,

Is that some newspapers are their covers.

كيف الخلاص إذا النفوس تزاحمت

أطماعُها وتدافعتْ أهواؤها

How can there be deliverance when desires jostle,

Their greed and whims conflict?