أرى الأيام يظهرُ كل يوم

لنا من أمرها عجب عجابُ

I see each day brings something new,

Full of wonders and surprises too.

فهذا باقل أمسى خطيبا

و خان لسان سحبان الخطاب

One who could barely speak is now an orator,

Though his eloquent words are but a fraud.

و كًمِّم بلبل كي لا يغني

و أُعْطِي رخصةً عنه الغراب

The nightingale's been silenced, no longer sings,

While the raven's granted freedom for its caws.

إلى أن مات من كمد لبيب

و ميزان الأمور به اضطرابُ

Sense died when the wise one passed away,

And justice lost its balance and its way.

و مما زاد في الحطب اشتعالا

سكوت ذوي النهى عما يعاب

What added fuel to the raging fire,

Was the silence of the virtuous and wise.

فصار القبح قاعدة و أمسى

إذا نادى فدعوته تُجابُ

Ugly became the norm, so now it seems,

If vice calls out, its calls will find a welcome.

فهذا رغم أنف الشعر شعر

و لو في النثر كان له انتساب

This is counted as poetry despite its faults,

Though in prose it would not merit any thought.

و تلك قصيدة مع أنها عن

سؤال الشعر ليس لها جواب

That poem though no answer can it bring,

To poetry's deepest questioning.

تأذّى منطق الأشياء فينا

فأودى بالمفاهيم انقلاب

In us logic is offended and aggrieved,

And meaning is upended and perceived.

يسود القبحُ مجتمعاويطغى

إذا ناب الجمالَ به اغترابُ

Ugliness in our society prevails,

Beauty languishes, exile it curtails.