1. عفت اليراع ساءَمةً وفرارا

    من بادراتٍ تلجم الأفكارا

    I spurned the reed pen, weary and fleeing

    from sudden outbursts that bridle thought.

  2. وخرجت في ليل كأَن نجومهُ

    احقاق فصفور أصابت نارا

    And I went out into a night whose stars seemed

    caskets of phosphorus that had caught fire.

  3. جبتُ الجزيرة لا أرى لي مؤنساً

    والنيل حولي لا يزيل أوارا

    I roamed the island, finding no companion,

    and the Nile around me did not quench my burning thirst.

  4. حتى بدا نور الصباح فشمتهُ

    نور الهدى فاتيثهُ محضارا

    Until morning's light appeared, and I glimpsed it—

    the light of guidance—and came to it at a run.

  5. وطلبت عن هذا الوجود وسرهِ

    كشفاً يزيح عن الوجود ستارا

    And I sought, concerning this existence and its secret,

    a revelation that would lift a veil from existence.

  6. فأجابني سرُّ الوجود صحيفة

    طويت فقلتُ انشر امنت عثارا

    It answered me: 'The secret of existence is a page

    folded up.' I said: 'Unfold it; may you be safe from stumbling.'

  7. فتشتُ عن سر الوجود وقصدهِ

    وسأَلتُ عنهُ النطس والاحبارا

    I searched for the secret of existence and its purpose,

    and asked the experts and the scholars about it.

  8. طالعتُ ما كتبوا فما من مقنع

    وكتبت ما قالوا فلستُ أُمارى

    I read what they wrote, but found nothing convincing,

    and recorded what they said, so I am not gainsaid.

  9. أسماك هذا النيل لا تحصى وفي

    تاريخها قد جازت الادهارا

    The fish of this Nile are countless, and in

    their history they have traversed the ages.

  10. عاشت وماتت بين حبٍّ أو قلىً

    تحنو وتقسو لا هوىً لا ثارا

    They lived and died amid love or hatred,

    showing tenderness and cruelty, without passion or vengeance.

  11. حرباً وسلماً واعتداءً واحتكا

    ماً لا ترى منها لها انصارا

    In war and peace, aggression and arbitration,

    you see no champions among them to defend them.

  12. وطوائف الأحياءِ يعي وصفها

    قسَّ البيان وعدُّها المقدارا

    And describing the kinds of living things taxes

    eloquent Quss, while counting them defeats reckoning:

  13. من مثل مكروب حقير لا يرى

    أو مثل تمساح طوى الأنهارا

    such as a lowly microbe that cannot be seen,

    or a crocodile that has traversed the rivers.

  14. والنيل قُل ما شئت في تعظيمهِ

    نهر جرى كي يدرك الابحارا

    And the Nile—say what you will in praise of its greatness—

    is a river that flows to reach the seas.

  15. لو الف نيل جُمّعت ما ماثلت

    من اوقيانوس واحد معشارا

    If a thousand Niles were gathered, they would not equal

    a tenth of a single ocean.

  16. بحر خضمٌّ والخلائق ملئهُ

    تبغي البقا والى الفنا تتبارى

    A vast sea, with creatures filling it,

    seeking survival, yet racing one another toward annihilation.

  17. كانت كذلك في العصور الغابرات

    المبقيات على الصفا آثارا

    They were thus in ages long gone,

    which left traces upon smooth rock.

  18. منها تولَّدت الصخور وطالما

    قلب غدا صخراً وماءٌ غارا

    From them the rocks were born, and often

    a heart became rock, and water sank away.

  19. والطيرُ في أنواعها وضروبها

    سامت ذكاءَ تحلُّقاً ومطارا

    And birds, in all their kinds and varieties,

    vied with Dhukāʾ, the sun, in soaring and flight.

  20. أسرابها تغدوم وتقطع رُحَّلاً

    خوف الردى والى الردى تتجارى

    Their flocks go forth and journey as migrants,

    fearing death, yet racing one another toward death.

  21. ونبات هذي الأرض من أرز إلى

    زوفا يبيد وان يعش اعصارا

    And the plants of this earth, from cedar to

    hyssop, perish, though they may live for ages.

  22. فعلام هذا الخلق إن كان

    الفناءَ مصيرهُ والناس فيهِ توارى

    Then why this creation, if

    annihilation is its fate, and humanity vanishes within it?

  23. فأجابني رِكز خفيٌّ قائلاً

    اسمع وقل قولي امنتَ عثارا

    Then a hidden murmur answered me, saying:

    'Listen and repeat my words; may you be safe from stumbling.

  24. هذي الخلائق كلهنّ دقائقٌ

    والكون من مجموعها قد صارا

    These creatures are all minute particles,

    and the universe has come into being from their sum.

  25. والفرد فيها ليس من مجموعها

    الاَّ هباءً أو قذًى منهارا

    And the individual among them is nothing in their sum

    but dust or a crumbling mote.

  26. ورقيُّ هذا الكون يستدعي

    اندثار دقائق ونفايةً وبوارا

    And the progress of this universe requires

    the disappearance of particles, waste, and ruin.'

  27. هذهِ تعاليم الفلاسفة الأولى

    جعلوا دجى الليل البهيم نهارا

    These are the philosophers' first teachings;

    they made the gloom of pitch-black night into day.

  28. أنموت في سبل الرقيّ ضحيةً

    ونصير من أجل الرقي غبارا

    Are we to die as sacrifices on the paths of progress,

    and become dust for the sake of progress?

  29. نورَ الخلائق مصدر النور الذي

    يهدي الكواكب في السماء مدارا

    O light of creatures, source of the light that

    guides the planets along their orbits in the sky,

  30. إن لم تنر عقل ابن آدم لم يجد

    نور الهدى بل زاد عنك نفارا

    if you do not illumine the mind of Adam's son, he will not find

    the light of guidance, but will turn from you all the more.

  31. فاهدِ أيا نور البصائر معشراً

    تخذوا الحقيقة خلةً وشعارا

    So guide, O light of insight, a people

    who have taken truth as their close companion and emblem.

  32. انضوا عوامل عقلهم فتثلمت

    واستوقفوا المبغى فزاد فرارا

    They wore out the instruments of their reason until their edges were chipped,

    and tried to halt what they sought, but it fled all the more.

  33. ظُلَمٌ ونور العقل قصَّر عن هدىً

    وبغير نورك لا نشيم منارا

    Darkness—and the light of reason falls short of guidance;

    and without your light we glimpse no beacon.