قالوا هي الخضراء أرض فلاحة

فأجبتهم وأبو الأنام فلاحي

They said, “The Green Land is a land of farming.”

I answered them, “The father of humankind, too, was a farmer.”

ولذاك قام الاقتصاد بنهضة

ما بيننا فادعوا لها بفلاح

And for that reason the economy has risen in renewal

among us—so pray that it may prosper.

يسعى ورا الفلاح في استنهاضه

حسب الظروف وخطة الإصلاح

It strives to rouse the farmer

as circumstances and the plan of reform require.

فأنى بآلات الحراثة ينتقي

منها الكفيل لحارث بنجاح

So it selects from among the implements of tillage

the one that guarantees the plowman success.

فرأت بها سيارة حراثة

تخطو فيزدان الثرا بوشاح

Then a motorized plow appeared,

striding through the arena of the soil, wearing a sash.

ودعا سراة الحي تنظر صنعها

وضيعها نظر الفتى المرقاح

It invited the district’s notables to behold its handiwork,

and its humble attendant was a handsome, high-spirited youth.

خطت سطورا بالتراب كأنها

خط ابن مقلة يا لها من واح

It traced lines in the soil as though they were

the script of Ibn Muqla—what splendid tablets!

وتقلبت كتقلب الحرباء في

جوف الثرا ومشت كمشي رداح

It twisted like a chameleon across

the soil’s expanse, and walked like a stately, swaying woman.

فترى الخطوط وراءها مصطفة

كالموج حول سفينة الملاح

Behind it you could see the lines arrayed in ranks,

like waves around a sailor’s ship.

وتخطرت بين الصفوف تشقها

وتجرها ببراثن التمساح

It swaggered between the rows, cleaving them,

and dragging them with crocodile claws.

وسطت معاولها على أحشائها

دون اكتراث سطرة السفاح

Its mattocks swept across the earth’s entrails

heedlessly, with a slaughterer’s violence.

فألانها وهو الشديد صلابة

وغدا يداعبها بوخز رماح

It softened her, though it itself was exceedingly hard,

and began caressing her with spear-pricks.

فعجبت غذ هشت ولان فؤادها

وهي الشخينة منه بالأجراح

I marveled: she welcomed it, and her heart grew tender,

though her wounds from it still burned.

فكأنها قلب المحب يشقه

سهم الصبابة من جفون ملاح

She was like a lover’s heart, split

by passion’s arrow from the eyelids of a beauty.

بسطت لقوته جناح خضوعها

فاختال بين غدوه ورواح

Beneath its power she spread the wing of submission,

while it strutted in its comings and goings.

مد الجناح مزغزغا أوتاره

ما بين جعجعة وبين صياح

It stretched its wing, setting its strings ululating,

amid grinding rumble and clamor.

وقضى الليانة فاكتست وجناتها

لون الأصيل وفض ختم الراح

When it had finished making her pliant, her cheeks donned

the hue of sunset, and the wine’s seal was broken.

وتلا على الزراع فأتوا حرثكم

إني قضيت مهمة الإلقاح

Then it recited to the farmers: “Come unto your tilth—

I have completed the work of fertilization.”

ودعت له الأنعام إذ وضعت به

أثقالها ودعته للأفراح

The beasts prayed for it, since through it they laid

down their burdens, and invited it to their festivities.

وحضرت في ذاك المساء لخبره

وكأن حضرت ليوم عقد نكاح

That evening I attended to learn its story,

as though I were attending the signing of a marriage contract.

وشهدت ما شاهدت بالحكم التي

نزلت على بنز بوحي الواحي

I witnessed what I witnessed through the maxims that

descended upon Benz by inspiration of the Inspirer.

وتلوث فامشوا في مناكبها على

بسط الحرير وطرة الإصباح

And I recited, “Walk upon her shoulders,” over

carpets of silk and morning’s embroidered hem.

واليكمو تفصيل ما شاهدته

ذاك المسا للحارث الجحجاح

Here, then, is the detail of what I witnessed

that evening of the mighty plowman.

في ساعة به أنت حارث فرسخ

ما شئت منفردا بأي براح

In one hour with it, you can plow a farsakh,

as you wish, alone, across any open tract.

في نحو قنبلة يقدر قوة

عجبا ولم يحوج لكبح جماح

Its power is reckoned at roughly that of a bomb—

a marvel, yet it needs no bridle to curb its spirit.

في طول أربعة من الامتار في

متر ونصف عرضه يا صاح

It is four meters long,

and a meter and a half wide, my friend.

في مثل عرضه دون عشر سمته

في الارتفاع موشح بوشاح

Its height is one-tenth less than its width;

it rises, adorned with a sash.

وتدير هاتيك الدوالب عجلة

كبرى تسيرها يد الممراح

A great wheel sets those wheels turning,

guided by the merry operator’s hand.

أدواتها في علبة مجموعة ال

أجزاء لم تترتب بكف رياح

Its implements are gathered together in a casing—

not parts scattered by the hand of the wind.

لبساطة التركيب خفّض سعره

وغذاؤه من أي ما لوّاح

Its simple construction has brought its price down,

and its food is any flammable liquid.