دَعاءُ هَذا الكَرَوانِ الَّذِي
خلَّدْتَهُ فِي مَسْمَعِ الدَّهْرِ
This caravan's prayer that you immortalized
To the hearing of time
لَهُ صَدىً فِي القَلْبِ وَالفِكْرِ مِن
أَشْهَى مَتاعِ القَلبِ والفِكْرِ
Has an echo in the heart and mind
Of the most delicious delights of heart and mind
لَكِنَّه مُشْجٍ بِترْجِيعِهِ
لِمَا جَرَى فِي ذِلكَ القَفْرِ
But it is saddening in its repetition
Of what happened in that wasteland
إِذْ تَسْكُنُ البَيْدَاءُ وَهْناً فمَا
يَنبِضُ إِلاِّ مُهَجُ السَّفرِ
When the desert rests languidly and nothing throbs
Except the ardour of the journey
واللَّيْلُ فِي التِّيهِ السَّحِيقِ المَدى
يُطبِقُ جَفنَيْهِ عَلى وِزْرِ
And the night in its boundless aberration
Closes its eyelids over responsibility
وَالطَّائِرُ المرتاع فِي جَوِّهِ
يُنْذِر بِالمَأْسَاةِ فِي ذُعرِ
And the terrified bird in its expanse
Warns of the tragedy in panic
يُرِنُّ إِرْنانَ سِهَامٍ رَمَتْ
حَيْثُ رَمَتْ بِالشُّعلِ الحمْرِ
It twitters like the arrows that were shot
Where they were shot with red flames
أَسالَ دَمْعِي خَطبُ مَطلُولَةٍ
مَقْتولَةٍ فِي زَهْرَةِ العُمْرِ
My tears flowed for the misfortunes of a slain woman
Murdered in the prime of her life
جَنى عَليْهَا وَاهِمٌ أَنَّهُ
يَثْأَرُ لِلِعرْضِ وَلِلطُّهرِ
A deluded man attacked her thinking
He was avenging honour and purity
وخامَرتنِي حَسْرةٌ خامَرَتْ
شهودَ ذاك المَصْرعِ النُّكرِ
And a regret that gripped me gripped
The witnesses of that heinous murder
أَليْسَ لِلأَرواحِ فِي بَثِّها
أَوَاصِرٌ مِنْ حَيْثُ لاَ تدْرِي
Do not souls have in their diffusion
Bonds beyond what we know?
جوْهرُها فَرْدٌ وإِحْسَاسُهَا
مشْترَكٌ فِي النَّفعِ وَالضُّرِّ
Their essence is individual and their feelings
Are shared in harm and benefit
حادِثة فِي رِيفِ مِصْرٍ جَرَتْ
وَمِثْلها فِي الرِّيفِ كم يَجْرِي
An incident occurred in the Egyptian countryside
And many like it happen in the countryside
قُصتْ عَليْنا قَصَصاً شائِقاً
فِي كَلِمٍ أَنقَى مِنَ القطْرِ
Wonderful stories were told to us
In words purer than drops of rain
مَسْرودَةً سَرْداً عَلى صفوِهِ
أَفعلَ فِي النفْسِ مِنَ الْخَمْرِ
Told in a way that was more effective on the soul
Than wine
يَا لُغَةَ العُرْب الَّتِي كاشَفَتْ
طهَ بِمَا صَانَت مِن السرِّ
Oh Arabic tongue that revealed
Its secrets and preserved its mysteries
مِنْ أَيِّ رَوضٍ يجنى مِثلُ مَا
جناه مِن أَزْهَارِكِ النُّضرِ
From which garden can the likes of what
It harvested from your fresh flowers be gathered
مِن أَي بَحْرٍ وَالمُنى دُرُّهُ
يُصَادُ مَا صَاد مِن الدُّرِّ
From which sea hunting for its pearls
Can what it hunted of pearls be hunted
مِن أَي تِبْرٍ فِي غوَالِي الحِلى
يصَاغُ مَا صَاغَ مِن التِّبرِ
From which ingots in the thick of jewelry
Can what it forged of ingots be forged?
آيَات طهَ نُزلتْ بِالهُدَى
فِيمَ اسْتعَارَتْ فِتنةَ السِّحرِ
Verses of Taha were revealed with guidance
Borrowing the sorcery of magic
أَحْدَثُ مَا جَاءَتْ بِهِ طُرفَة
بَدِيعَةٌ فِي أَدَبِ العَصْرِ
The newest thing Turafa brought
A wonder in the literature of the age
جَلتْ خَيَالَ الشعْرِ فِي صُورَةٍ
أَغارَتِ الشِّعرَ مِن النَّثرِ
It stirred the imagination of poetry in an image
That made prose jealous of poetry
