1. يا لسهلٍ بيد الحذق استدَار

    اكسَبت اطرافُهُ الدَوحَ اخضرار

    O, what a plain, rounded by the hand of skill!

    Its edges bestowed greenness on the great trees.

  2. مذ بدت شمسُ المسا ترمقهُ

    عينها الحمراءُ ولَّت باصفرار

    When the evening sun appeared, gazing upon it,

    with her red eye, she withdrew, paling to yellow.

  3. كيف لا تهجرهُ أُم الضياء

    وهي غَضبَى نالها فرطُ الحياء

    How could the mother of light not forsake it,

    angry and overcome by excessive shame?

  4. كيف لا ينظرها الرآي وقد

    ادركَ الحقَّ بعين الازدراء

    How could the beholder not regard her—having

    grasped the truth—with an eye of contempt?

  5. وقويمُ الطَبعِ قد عَلَّمَهُ

    انَّ كل الفضلِ في نبذ الرياء

    And a sound disposition has taught him

    that all merit lies in casting off ostentation.

  6. وهي لا تفخر الا بالسنا

    وهو يحوي جلَّ اسبابِ الفخار

    She boasts of radiance alone,

    while it contains most of the grounds for pride.

  7. فارقتهُ الشمسُ لكن زارَهُ

    الفُ شمسٍ قد توازت نسقَين

    The sun left it, but it was visited by

    a thousand suns, set parallel in two rows.

  8. لَعَلَعت من ضمن بلوَّرٍ صفا

    ألسُناً تبدي شعاعاً من لُجين

    They blazed from within clear crystal,

    as tongues giving forth rays of silver.

  9. اشرَفَ البدرُ عليها دهشةً

    ليراها وهو قد اغمض عين

    The full moon looked down on them in amazement,

    to see them, though he had shut one eye.

  10. يا لهُ من اعورٍ لما بدا

    عاد ليلُ السهلِ بالنُور نهار

    O, what a one-eyed fellow! When he appeared,

    the plain's night became day through the light.

  11. حُشدت فيهِ جموعٌ جمَّةٌ

    كلَّ يومٍ من بنين وبنات

    Vast crowds were gathered there,

    each day, of boys and girls.

  12. زُمَرٌ من كلّ اجيال الورى

    فيهم الازياءُ طُراً واللغات

    Groups from all the peoples of humankind,

    with all forms of dress and all languages among them.

  13. مشهدٌ ما ان ترى مثلاً لهُ

    في عكاظ العُرب او في عَرَفات

    A sight whose like you would never see

    at the Arabs' Ukaz, or at Arafat.

  14. ماج بالخلق كبحرٍ مزبدٍ

    فيه تبدو الابل كالسفن الكبار

    It surged with people like a foaming sea,

    in which camels appeared like great ships.

  15. كم وكم من نعش ميتٍ قابلتهُ

    عروسٌ بين شدوٍ وطَرَب

    How many, how many a dead person's bier was met

    by a bride amid singing and delight!

  16. هي تمضي للاماني والمنى

    وهو يمضي ليوارَى في الترَب

    She goes toward wishes and hopes,

    while he goes to be buried in the earth.

  17. وقبيحٍ يتصبَّى غادةً

    هي منهُ بين لَهوٍ ولَعِب

    And an ugly man woos a graceful maiden,

    while she merely toys and plays with him.

  18. وبليدٍ همُّهُ التحشيش قد

    ضيَّع العقل فغنَّى خنفشار

    And a dullard, intent on smoking hashish, has

    squandered his reason and sung 'khunfashar'—gibberish.

  19. مركباتٌ بسموطٍ الكهربا

    اياتٌ رائحاتٌ في حشاه

    Carriages along electricity's strands,

    marvels passing through its heart,

  20. حاملاتٌ كلَّ ريمٍ فاتنٍ

    راج نحوَ الوَجدِ يعدو من رآه

    bearing every enchanting gazelle,

    much sought-after; whoever sees one races toward passion.

  21. ما رأت عيني نساء التركِ من

    شرفات القطر الا صحتُ آه

    Never did my eye see Turkish women from

    the trains' balconies without my crying, 'Ah!'

  22. هي حُورٌ قد ثوت في غرفٍ

    وسط عَدنٍ انما دونَ قرار

    They are houris who have dwelt in chambers,

    in Eden's midst, yet never staying still.

  23. قد تلونا الكتب لكن لم نجِد

    غُرَفَا تجري سراعاً كالوميض

    We have read the scriptures, but never found

    chambers racing swiftly like a flash,

  24. تنقل الحُور الى روض الفرج

    وسط سهلٍ هو كالروض الاريض

    carrying houris to Rawd al-Faraj,

    amid a plain like a lush garden.

  25. طالَ منهنَّ قوامٌ وشعو

    رٌ لرمي الناس في هّمٍ عَرِيض

    Tall were their figures, and long their hair,

    casting people into vast anguish.

  26. لا وربي ليس في الوحي كذا

    ضلَّ هذا العقلُ في الامر وحار

    No, by my Lord, revelation has nothing like this!

    This mind went astray in the matter and was bewildered.

  27. شيَّدُوا فيه لأسلاك الحديد

    حمًى يصفعُ بالهَول الهَرم

    They built there, for the iron wires,

    a precinct that slaps the pyramid with its grandeur.

  28. تنطحُ الجوزاءَ منهُ رايةٌ

    عُلّق المصباحُ فيها كالعَلم

    A banner from it butts against al-Jawza,

    upon which the lamp was hung like a flag.

  29. بين ركنَيه تبدَّت ساعةٌ

    سوف تحصي كلَّ أعمارِ الامم

    Between its two corners a clock appeared,

    which will count all the lifetimes of nations.

  30. ولسان الحال منها مُعرِبٌ

    عن مواقيتٍ لتسيير البُخار

    And its silent tongue declares

    the appointed times for setting steam in motion.

  31. سارت الأَرتالُ كالريح تطير

    حوَت ضدَّين ماءً وسعير

    The trains set off, flying like the wind,

    holding two opposites: water and blazing fire.

  32. تنهب الارضينَ سَيراً مُعجزاً

    بين نَوحٍ وأَنينٍ وزفير

    They plunder the lands at an astonishing pace,

    amid wailing, moaning, and sighing.

  33. ليس بدعاً ان تراها أعولَت

    حينما تبدأ من مِصرَ المسير

    It is no wonder to see them wail

    when they begin their journey from Egypt.

  34. كم وكم ركبها من عاشقٍ

    فارق الأحبابَ رغماً لاضطرار

    How many, how many a lover has boarded them,

    parting from loved ones against his will, out of necessity!

  35. حَلَّ في البوسفور منهم ذوهوًى

    أثَّرَت فيهِ تباريح الجوى

    Among them, a lover settled on the Bosphorus;

    the torments of lovesickness had left their mark on him.

  36. عن بلادِ الشام أمسى راحلاً

    يَدَفَعُ السُقمَ بتغييرِ الهوا

    He had departed from the lands of the Levant,

    warding off illness with a change of air.

  37. زاد في الفسطاط وجداً وضنًى

    اذ رآه قد حوَى ما قد حوى

    In Fustat his longing and wasting sickness increased,

    when he saw that it held what it held.

  38. عادَ من حيثُ اتى مستعجلاً

    قائلاً في نفسهِ اينَ الفرار

    He hurried back the way he had come,

    saying to himself, 'Where can I flee?'