لم يَعْدُ عامَيْنِ وكانتْ له

من ثقةٍ بالنفس أعوامُ

Two years have not yet passed, and she had

Years of self-confidence

يمشِي الهُوَينى يستشفُّ الرؤى

كما أَتَى المرسَمَ رسّام

The toddler walks examining visions

As the artist entered the studio

على " الرصيفِ " لم يَعُقْ سيرَه

خَلْفٌ، ولم يزْحَمْه قُدّام

On the "sidewalk" his walk did not fail

No one behind, no one pushed him forward

وأمُّه ترعاهُ قَوّامةً

وهو غداً راعٍ وقوّام

While his mother supervised him constantly

And he tomorrow will be supervisor and supporter

بينا ابنُ ستينَ وفي زَعْمِه

من عبقرٍ يأتيهِ إلهام

While the sixty year old in his opinion

Had inspiration coming to him from genius

يَختَبِطُ " الشارع " مِنْ حولِه

تنهالُ للأخطارِ أكوام

He intermingles in the "street" around him

Dangers amass in heaps

حَيَّيْتُهُ فردَّها لي فمٌ

مثلُ فَمِ البُلْبلِ تَمْتام

I greeted him, so a mouth replied to me

Like the mouth of a warbling nightingale

وافترَّ وَجْهٌ ما به غَيْمةٌ

ويشجُبُ البَدْرَ ويَغْتام

And a face smiled that had no clouds

Illuminating the full moon and covering it

لم يعدُ عامَيْنِ، وفي عَينِه

مَلْيونُ عامٍ لمَّها عام

Two years have not passed, yet in his eyes

A million years have passed collecting years

يابنَ الحَضاراتِ أباً عن أبٍ

شَدَّتْكَ أخوالٌ وأعمام

O son of civilizations fathered from father

Surrounded by uncles and paternal uncles

باقٍ على الأنطافِ من لُطْفِها

وَشْمٌ، وفي الأصلابِ أختام

Remaining gentle from its gentleness

And a mark, and in the loins a seal

في كل حَقْل من مَيادينها

عِطْرٌ من التاريخ نَمّام

In every field of its fields

A scent spreads from talkative history

غَذَتْكَ أمٌّ ثَدْيُها نِعمةٌ

ودَرُّه فَهْمٌٌ وإفهام

A mother fed you her breast milk a blessing

And her lessons understanding and explanation

حَنَتْ على وجهِك أنفاسُها

فهو كلَوْحِ الزَهْر بَسّام

Her breaths caressed your face

Making it like a branch full of flowers

وراوَحَتْه بَسَماتُ الصِبا

وداعَبَتْ روحَك أنسام

The breezes of youth hovered over it

And its melodies touched your soul

وغَنَّتِ الحُبَّ وأنغامَه

فأرهفَتْ سَمْعَك أنغام

And it sang love and its tunes

So it made your hearing tunes more keen

يابنَ الحضاراتِ: وكم قِسمةٍ

ضِيزَى، وكَمْ أجْحَفَ قَسّام

O son of civilizations, and how many injustices

Stingy, and how many unjust dividers

أوَسْوَساتٌ هنَّ ؟ أم حكمة ؟

أم هُنَّ أقداحٌ، وأزلامُ ؟

Are they whims? Or wisdom?

Or are they goblets and blamers?

كم لكَ في هذي الدنى من أخٍ

حُلْوٍ بسُوقِ الذُّل يُستام

How many good brothers you have in this lowly life

Who would be subjugated in the market of humiliation

وهامَةٍ مثلِك جَبّارةٍ

تُحنى لها لو سَلِمَت هام

And aspirations like yours great

That bow down if they are safe from harm

خَلاّقةٍ كانتْ ومن خَلْقِها

قد كانَ " خَلاّقٌ " وعَلاّم

Ingenious that were created and from their makeup

"Ingenious" and most learned came about

أقعدَه أَنْ لم يكنْ عندَه

أهلٌ كأهليكَ، وأقوام

Who stopped because they did not have

A people like your people, and groups

هزَّتْه في المهد يَدٌ هَزَّها

جُوعٌ، وإذلالٌ، وأسقام

Shaking them in the cradle a hand shook from

Hunger, and humiliation, and illnesses

دِيفَتْ أغانيها بها وارْتَمَتْ

سوداءَ أطيافٌ وأحلام

Their songs confused them and they slept

Black shadows and dreams

وامتصّ ضَرْعاً سَمَّمت لحمَه

وأدْغَلَتْ في الدَّمِ آلام

And they sucked poisoned milk that made their flesh rot

And made pains seep into their blood

رَعَى مُحيطاً مُجدِباً فانضَوَى

كما انْضَوَتْ في القَفْرِ أغنام

They shepherded an infertile ocean so they huddled

As sheep huddled in the desert

يابنَ الحضارات: وأُسطورةٌ

المثلُ العليا، وأوهام

O son of civilizations: And myths

Are ideal examples, and fantasies

يُخدِّرُ الجَوْعَى بها، والرُؤَى

سُودٌ، ولَمْحُ النورِ إيهام

That sedate the hungry, and visions

Are black, and the glimpse of light an illusion

والجَهْلُ كُفْرانٌ بما في الوَرَى

من رَوْعةٍ .. والعُدْمُ إعدامُ

And ignorance is ungrateful for what is in existence

Of splendor...and nonexistence is termination

يابنَ الحضاراتِ: وهل بُدِّلَت

بُؤْساً، دَساتيرٌ وأحكام

O son of civilizations: Have constitutions and laws

Been substituted with misery and tents?

خَدّاعةُ الوجْهِ وفي جَوْفِها

أسوأُ ما ضَمَّتْه أرحام

The deception of faces and inside them

The worst that abdomens contained

يُضحِكُكَ المُبكِي بها لا تَرَى

كيفَ يُمازُ الحَمْدُ والذّام

It makes you laugh, the lamented, you do not see

How praise and blame are weighed

كواكِبٌ دِيسَتْ .. سِوَى كوكبٍ

لم يكتَشِفْهُ بَعدُ مِقدام

Stars have been trampled...except one star

That a leader has not discovered yet

فيه أعاجيبٌ، ومن تُرْبِه

صِيغت عَماليقٌ .. وأقزام

In it are wonders, and from its soil

Were created Amalekites and dwarves

يسحَقُ بَعْضاً هارِساً لحمَه

بعضٌ .. ولا تُسْأَلُ أَقدام !

Some crushing others boldly eating their flesh

While feet are not asked!

ويَسرِق الناسَ .. وأوطانَهم

لِصٌّ، ولا يُقطَع إبهام

And people are stolen...and their homelands

By a thief, whose thumb is not cut off

وشِرْعةٌ ذَبْح الفَتَى جارَه

وأن يُجادَ الذَّبحُ إلزام

And a law of slaughtering your neighbor

And that slaughter be made mandatory

وتُعبَدُ الأعرافُ فيهِ كما

تُعْبَدُ أحجارٌ، وأصنام

And customs in it are worshipped

Like rocks and idols are worshipped

لكلِّ عُرفٍ قدرُه، مِثْلَما

تُوزَنُ أقدارٌ، وأحجام

For every custom there is its value, just as

Values and sizes are weighed

ويلكِزُ الفِكرَ وأربابَه

ما شاء سرّاجٌ، ولجّام

And it hobbles thought and its people

However a lamp wishes, and a bridle

جِرمٌ بحَجْمِ الكَفِّ .. في عالَمٍ

عَدَّ الحَصَى غَطَّتْه أجرام

A crime the size of a palm...in a world

Whose pebbles sins have covered

نَزَّتْ مَلايينُ قُروحٍ به

كانَتْ بعَهدِ الغابِ تَلتام

Millions of wounds descended upon it

That were healing in the forest

والأرضُ غابٌ فيهِ من خَيْرِها

وشَرِّها .. نُورٌ وإظلام

And the earth is a forest in it of its good

And evil...light and darkness

ويَخلُفُ الوَحْشَ بها مِثلَه

ذئبٌ، وثُعْبانٌ، وضِرْغام

And beasts roam it like them

Wolves, snakes, and hyenas

ومن دَمٍ طُلَّ بها ساربٍ

تفَتَّحتْ للزَّهْر أكمام

And from blood that was shed in it healing

The flowers' buds bloomed

قد يأكُلُ المحكومُ من لَحْمِه

فيه، وقد تُؤْكَل حُكّام

The ruled may eat from the flesh in it

And rulers may be eaten

أَيَعْمَرُ المِرِّيخُ من هِمّةٍ

في الأرض أن تُزرَعَ ألغامُ ؟

Will Mars be inhabited with an ambition

That mines be planted in the land?