سَلِ الْجِيزَةَ الْفَيْحَاءَ عَنْ هَرَمَيْ مِصْرِ

لَعَلَّكَ تَدْرِي غَيْبَ مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ تَدْرِي

Ask Giza, the splendid place, about Egypt's pyramids,

You may know the unseen, of what you did not know before.

بِنَاءانِ رَدَّا صَوْلَةَ الدَّهْرِ عَنْهُمَا

وَمِنْ عَجَبٍ أَنْ يَغْلِبَا صَوْلَةَ الدَّهْرِ

Two edifices that repelled the vicissitudes of time from them,

And from wonder that they overcome the vicissitudes of time.

أَقَامَا عَلَى رَغْمِ الْخُطُوبِ لِيَشْهَدَا

لِبَانِيهِمَا بَيْنَ الْبَرِيَّةِ بِالْفَخْرِ

They stood, despite calamities, to witness for their builders

Between wilderness and pride.

فَكَمْ أُمَمٍ فِي الْدَّهْرِ بَادَتْ وَأَعْصُرٍ

خَلَتْ وَهُمَا أُعْجُوبَةُ الْعَينِ وَالْفِكْرِ

So how many nations in time have perished and centuries

Passed while they are wonders to the eye and mind.

تَلُوحُ لآِثَارِ العُقُولِ عَلَيْهِمَا

أَسَاطِيرُ لا تَنْفَكُّ تُتْلَى إِلَى الْحَشْرِ

Legends of them that don't cease being recited until the Day of Judgment,

Symbols - if you uncovered their secrets,

رُمُوزٌ لَوْ اسْتَطْلَعْتَ مَكْنُونَ سِرِّها

لأَبْصَرْتَ مَجْمُوعَ الْخَلائِقِ فِي سَطْرِ

You would see all of creation in one line.

So no structure was or is, that competes with them

فَمَا مِنْ بِنَاءٍ كَانَ أَوْ هُوَ كَائِنٌ

يُدَانِيهِمَا عِنْدَ التَأَمُّلِ وَالْخُبْرِ

In contemplation and experience.

Babylon's castle is deficient in beauty compared to them

يُقَصِّرُ حُسْنَاً عَنْهُما صَرْحُ بَابِلٍ

وَيَعْتَرِفُ الإِيوَانُ بِالْعَجْزِ وَالْبَهْرِ

And the hall admits inadequacy and bewilderment.

If Harut took his observatory from them,

فَلَوْ أَنَّ هَارُوتَ انْتَحَى مَرْصَدَيْهِما

لأَلْقَى مَقَالِيدَ الْكَهَانَةِ وَالسِّحْرِ

He would cast away the keys of sorcery and magic.

As if they were two breasts pouring forth with a pearl

كَأَنَّهُمَا ثَدْيَانِ فَاضَا بِدِرَّةٍ

مِنَ النِّيلِ تُرْوِي غُلَّةَ الأَرْضِ إِذْ تَجْرِي

From the Nile, watering the crop of the land as it flows.

And between them a flame in a firm garment

وَبَيْنَهُمَا بَلْهِيبُ فِي زِيِّ رَابِضٍ

أَكَبَّ عَلَى الْكَفَّيْنِ مِنْهُ إِلَى الصَّدْرِ

Bowed over both hands to the chest.

Turning an attentive look eastward

يُقَلِّبُ نَحْوَ الشَّرْقِ نَظْرَةَ وَامِقٍ

كَأَنَّ لَهُ شَوْقاً إِلَى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ

As if he has a longing for the rise of dawn.

In them are mysterious sciences,

مَصَانِعُ فِيهَا لِلْعُلُومِ غَوَامِضٌ

تَدُلُّ عَلَى أَنَّ ابْنَ آَدَمَ ذُو قَدْرِ

Indicating that the son of Adam has power.

Its roots spread and its branches extended in the air,

رَسَا أَصْلُهَا وَامْتَدَّ فِي الْجَوِّ فَرْعُها

فَأَصْبَحَ وَكْرَاً لِلسِّماكَيْنِ وَالنَّسْرِ

So it became a den for eagles and hawks.

So arise, let us draw the wine of guidance from its vines,

فَقُمْ نَغْتَرِفْ خَمْرَ النُّهَى مِنْ دِنَانِها

وَنَجْنِي بِأَيدِي الْجِدِّ رَيْحَانَةَ الْعُمْرِ

And with the hands of diligence we pick youth’s basil.

There are sciences there whose wraps are not opened,

فَثَمَّ عُلُومٌ لَمْ تُفَتَّقْ كِمَامُهَا

وَثَمَّ رُمُوزٌ وَحْيُهَا غامِضُ السِّرِّ

And there are symbols whose secrets are obscure.

I stayed a month and attained all that

أَقَمْتُ بِهَا شَهْرَاً فَأَدْرَكْتُ كُلَّ مَا

تَمَنَّيْتُهُ مِنْ نِعْمَةِ الدَّهْرِ فِي شَهْرِ

I wished of life's bounty in a month.

We go and come every day to pick

نَرُوحُ وَنَغْدُو كُلَّ يَوْمٍ لِنَجْتَنِي

أَزَاهِيرَ عِلْمٍ لا تَجِفُّ مَعَ الزَّهْرِ

Flowers of knowledge that don't wither with blossoms.

When we opened the lock of a symbol, equations appeared to us

إِذَا مَا فَتَحْنَا قُفْلَ رَمْزٍ بَدَتْ لَنَا

مَعَارِيضُ لَمْ تَفْتَحْ بِزِيجٍ وَلا جَبْرِ

That were not opened with algebra or math.

So many subtleties like magic in their motion

فَكَمْ نُكَتٍ كَالسِّحْرِ فِي حَرَكَاتِهِ

تُرِيكَ مَدَبَّ الرُّوحِ في مُهْجَةِ الذَّرِّ

Show you the creeping of the soul in particles of dust.

We were intoxicated by what it presented to us of its essence,

سَكِرْنَا بِمَا أَهْدَتْ لَنَا مِنْ لُبَابِها

فَيَا لَكَ مِنْ سُكْرٍ أُتِيحَ بِلا خَمْرِ

So what an intoxication offered without wine!

And I disliked only the actions of a group

وَمَا سَاءَنِي إِلَّا صَنِيعُ مَعَاشِرٍ

أَلَحُّوا عَلَيْهَا بِالْخِيَانَةِ وَالْغَدْرِ

Who insisted on betraying and deceiving it.

They destroyed the unity of science and distorted

أَبَادُوا بِهَا شَمْلَ الْعُلُومِ وَشَوَّهُوا

مَحَاسِنَ كَانَتْ زِينَةَ الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ

Beauties that were the adornment of land and sea.

So they blinded an eye that sees the sublime through it,

فَكَمْ سَمَلُوا عَيْنَاً بِهَا تُبْصَرُ الْعُلا

وَشَلُّوا يَداً كَانَتْ بِهَا رَايَةُ النَّصْرِ

And crippled a hand that through it the banner of victory was raised.

They wished for the scraps of pearls to be ignorance, and they did not realize

تَمَنَّوْا لِقَاطَ الدُّرِّ جَهْلاً وَمَا دَرَوْا

بِأَنَّ حَصَاهَا لا يُقَوَّمُ بِالدُّرِّ

That its pebbles cannot be weighed with pearls.

And they failed to gather priceless gems, the deaf rocks,

وَفَلُّوا لِجَمْعِ التِّبْرِ صُمَّ صُخُورِهَا

وَأَيْسَرُ مَا فَلُّوهُ أَغْلَى مِنَ التِّبْرِ

And the easiest thing they failed was more precious than gems.

But they failed and did not attain

وَلَكِنَّهُمْ خَابُوا فَلَمْ يَصِلُوا إِلَى

مُنَاهُم وَلا أَبْقَوْا عَلَيْهَا مِنَ الْخَتْرِ

Their goal, nor did they leave any ruins.

Woe to them, a group whose morals

فَتَبَّاً لَهُمْ مِنْ مَعْشَرٍ نَزَعَتْ بِهِمْ

إِلَى الْغَيِّ أَخْلاقٌ نَبَتْنَ عَلَى غِمْرِ

Took them to ruin and grew on coal.

May God disfigure ignorance, it is

أَلا قَبَّحَ اللَّهُ الْجَهَالَةَ إِنَّهَا

عَدُوَّةُ مَا شَادَتْهُ فِينَا يَدُ الْفِكْرِ

An enemy of what the hand of thought built up in us.

If time brought back the mind of Hermes,

فَلَوْ رَدَّتِ الأَيَّامُ مُهْجَةَ هُرْمُسٍ

لأَعْوَلَ مِنْ حُزْنٍ عَلَى نُوَبِ الدَّهْرِ

I would wail in sorrow for the sins of time.

O morning breezes, convey my greetings

فَيَا نَسَماتِ الْفَجْرِ أَدِّي تَحِيَّتِي

إِلَى ذَلِكَ الْبُرْجِ الْمُطِلِّ عَلَى النَّهْرِ

To that tower overlooking the Nile.

And O flashes of lightning, if you pass by the sanctuary,

وَيَا لَمَعَاتِ الْبَرْقِ إِنْ جُزْتِ بِالْحِمَى

فَصُوبِي عَلَيهَا بِالنِّثَارِ مِنَ الْقَطْرِ

Direct your pouring upon it from the rain.

Upon it peace from a passionate heart,

عَلَيْهَا سَلامٌ مِنْ فُؤَادٍ مُتَيَّمٍ

بِهَا لا بِرَبَّاتِ الْقَلائِدِ وَالشَّذْرِ

Not for the lords of necklaces and poetry.

It never ceased to be immortal in time,

وَلا بَرِحَتْ فِي الدَّهْرِ وَهْيَ خَوَالِدٌ

خُلُودَ الدَّرَارِي وَالأَوَابِدِ مِنْ شِعْرِي

Immortal like monasteries and hermits in my poetry.