كم رحلة لم أستفد منها سوى — أحمد الكاشف

How many a journey have I gained nothing from but

a stranger’s humiliation and bewilderment before the unknown—

and knowledge of the impotence that fetters my nation,

keeping it from aiding the forsaken one who cries for help.

I traveled, seeking gain with which to revive

hope’s dignity and the purity of aspiration.

I sent forth my verse, giving clear voice to a goal

toward which I hoped to make my way.

But I found my people, every one of them, engrossed in concerns,

heedless of a tireless man like me, whose concern was them.

So I returned with nothing but my cares,

and deplored the outcome of my exile and departure.

I wept for merit’s lot in an age when

a miser, through what he pursues, rose above one like me.