يُطردُ العشبُ والزّرعُ والشّجرُ

من أراضيهِ كيْ يسكنَ الحَجَرُ

The grass and crops and trees

Are expelled from their lands so the rocks may dwell

والهَوا الطلقُ والشّمسُ والقمرُ

فالسّماءُ يُصادرُها الغبَرُ

And the open sky, the sun and moon

Thus the heavens are confiscated by dust

والحِجارُ تأبّىْ علىْ الماءِ وال

ذرُّ ليسَ يُفرقُهُ مَطرُ

And the rocks refuse the water and growth

The settled dust is indisturbed by rain

والزّهورُ لِكيْلا ترَى دمعَ أمْ

ماتِها وهي تُجتزُّ تنْتحِرُ

And the flowers, so their mother's tears are unseen

As they are picked, commit suicide

والفراشُ يخلِّي أماكنَهُ

لذُبابٍ يساكنُهُ القذَرُ

And the mattress vacates its place

For insects made home by filth

والعِشا يلْقمُ العصرَ والظّهرُ من

قبلــــــــــهِ قــــد تلقَّمـــــَـهُ السّحرُ

And the nest takes lunch and dinner

After the dawn has already taken them

والجبالُ تساقطُ هاماتُها

منْ شرايينِها الدّمُ مُنفجِرُ

And the mountains, their pinnacles fall

From their veins, blood spurting forth

وقفتْ جُثثًا دونما أرؤسٍ

فوقَ أكْتافِها عُمِّرتْ بُؤَرُ

They stand as corpses without heads

Upon their shoulders, homes were built

والعَماماتُ بينَ السّما والسّما

كِبرياءٌ علىْ الموتِ مقتدرُ

And the turbans between heaven and heaven

Are pride over death they rule

يَستدِلُّ بهِ حينَ عودتهِم

الدُّعاةُ لذا فهْيَ تنتظرُ

As evidence for their return

The preachers await them thus

يستظلُّ بها الشّاهدانِ علىْ

الظّلمِ والجُرمِ: السّمعُ والبَصرُ

They shade the witnesses of

Injustice and sin: hearing and sight

فتقصُّ على المَسْمعِ الأذْنُ وال

عينُ تحكِيْ لهَا العينُ والصّورُ

Thus the ear tells the hearing

And the eye narrates to it and the visions

وابتهالاتُها والصلاةُ إلىْ

أنْ يُطيّرَ منهُم لها خبرُ

And their prayers and supplications to

One who will deliver news of them

مثلَ صَيْحةِ حقٍّ بهِ بَعثُها

بينما يهلكُ المُنْظرُ البطِرُ

Like the scream of truth that sent it

While the scene perishes in waste

وإذا لمْ تُصلِّ الجبالُ فمنْ؟

ودُعا منْ سيسْتمِعُ القدَرُ

And if the mountains do not pray, then who?

And who will destiny listen to?

والنُّجومُ الّتيْ اعتادَ أشرافُها

أنْ يمُرُّوا بها وهْيَ تنْحَدِرُ

And the stars which their nobility

Used to pass under as they descended

منْ لأوجاعِها بالدَّوا والدُّعا

حينَ يبلغُ مبلغَهُ السَّفرُ؟

For their pains, who has the medicine and prayer

When their journey has reached its end?

من سيُشعلُها بالأراجيزِ حت

تى تُلالي ويُستَمْلحُ السهرُ؟

Who will light them with poems until

The night is sweetened and the vigil enjoyed?

والأراجيزُ إنْ لمْ تقُلْها الجِبا

لُ فمنْ؟ ولِمنْ يطربُ القَمرُ؟

And if the mountains do not say the poems, who then?

And for whom will the moon be elated?

وهدَايا الجُدُودِ لهَا من سلا

سلَ يُطرِقُ مِنْ حُسنِها النّظرُ

And the gifts of ancestors, who in the lineage

Will admire their beauty in preservation?

بُعثِرَتْ حالُها حالُ واهبِها

في المتاحفِ يُلفىْ لهَا أثرُ

Their condition is like their granter’s condition

In museums, their traces are sought

وبُطولاتُ جدِّيْ معَ الأُسْدِ وال

غولِ تُحْكىْ وأبطالُها الخزَرُ

And the heroics of my grandfather with the lions and ogres

Are told while their heroes are poppies

والأكُفُّ الّتي لمْ يجُعْ فوقَها

ابنُ السّبيلِ أو اللّاهفُ الوَجِرُ

And the palms which no son of the path

Or starving pauper placed above

أو جناحانِ أوْ حافرٌ أو نُيو

بٌ تقيها العرائنُ والوُجُرُ

No wing or hoof or fang protects

Their markets were set ablaze so the veins are cut

لهِبتْ سُوقُها فالشرايينُ مقْ

طوعةٌ والقُنِيْ لاثَها البَقرُ

And the almond, fig and olive oil are gone

What remains is sent to us, boulders

فانتفىْ اللوزُ والتّينُ والزّيتُ منْ

ها ويُرسَلُ مِنها لنا جَزرُ

And the smiles of flowers over betrayal

Were lost in the humming whose origin is resurrection

وابتسامُ الزّهورِ علىْ الغُدُرِ

ضاعَ في دنْدنٍ أصلُهُ الحَشرُ

And the sands which the mountain rescued

Betrayed just as their inhabitants did

والرّمالُ الّتي غاثَها الجبلُ

كفرَتْ مثلما أهلُها كفَروا

And whoever denies God or His blessings

No sane person sought refuge in Him

والّذي يجْحدُ اللهَ أو فضله

ما اسْتجارَ بهِ عاقلٌ بَشرُ

And the two big ones around it are one

The sin of its sons is that they crossed over

والكبيرانِ من حولِها واحدٌ

ذنبُ أبنائِهِ أنّهُم عبَروا

And the northerner, his sons did not die

Their blood blazing with fire is his sin

والشّماليُّ ما ماتَ أبناؤُهُ

ذنبهُ النّارُ في الدّمِ تسْتعِرُ

And the little ones were busy in its homeland

With her from whom they lost when she flowed

والصِّغارُ بمَوطِنِها شُغلوا

بالّتيْ يومَ أنْ أُجرِيتْ خسِروا

If only their hearing heard the gurgling

Of its lofty peaks as it perished

ليتَ أسْماعَهم سمِعتْ حَشْرَجا

تِ شوامِخِها وهْيَ تحتضِرُ

Or would they erase their shame

Or are they too disgraced to fold?

أوَكانوا سيمْحونَ عارَهمُ

أمْ بهِمْ ذلّةٌ ليسَ تنحسِرُ

None survived of the ancestors except

The soft, easy or those who owned a palace

ما نجَا من جُدودِ الجدودِ سِوى

الليِّنِ السّهلِ أو مَنْ بهِ قِصَرُ

To be shredded by the eager as spoils

Violated as if they were leopards

كيْ يمزّقَهُ الزّنُما إربًا

تُستباحُ علىْ أنّها نِمَرُ

The early ones left and Uthman only stayed

Except the tales and biographies

رحلَ الأوّلانِ وعثمانُ ما

ظلَّ إلّا الأحاديثُ والسِّيَرُ

And Banu Hashim in their absence

And Umayyah's journey was prolonged

وبنو هاشمٍ في غِيابِهمُ

وأميّةُ طالَ بهِ السّفَرُ

Until they return, it has none

But a Lord with hearing and sight

وإلىْ أنْ يعُودوا فليسَ لها

غيرُ ربٍّ لهُ السّمعُ والبَصرُ

And peace be upon the best of people, and the martyrs

And those after them who persevered

والصّلاةُ على سيِّدِ الخلْقِ والشْ

شُهداءَ ومنْ بعدهِمْ صبَروا