1. مَاذَا سُؤَالُ النَّاسِ عَنْ مُتَرَدَّمِ؟

    اِحْمِلْ هَوَاكَ وَصُلْ بِهِ وَتَقَدَّمِ !!

    What is this question people ask about a breach to mend?

    Carry your passion, charge with it, and advance!

  2. في الشِّعْرِ كَمْ مَعْنىً جَمُوحٍ كَامِنٍ

    فَانْفَذْ إِلَيْهِ.. فَقَذْ يَذِلُّ لِمُلْهَمِ

    In poetry, how many a wild meaning lies hidden!

    So pierce through to it; it may yield to one inspired.

  3. وَالشِّعْرُ والمعنى غَزَالٌ نَافِرٌ

    وَالسِّرُّ في الصَّيَّادِ لاَ في الأَسْهُمْ!!

    And poetry and meaning are a skittish gazelle,

    and the secret lies in the hunter, not in the arrows!

  4. مَنْ صَادَ مَعْنىً أَوْقَعَتْهُ حِبَالُهُ

    أَوْلَى بِتَقْدِمَةٍ عَلَى الْمُتَقَدِّمِ

    Whoever captures a meaning that his snares have caught

    is worthier of precedence than the one who came before.

  5. يَا دَارَ عَبْلَةَ قَدْ أَتَاكِ مُتَيَّمٌ

    رُدِّي عَلَيْهِ سَلاَمَهُ وَتَكَلَّمِي

    O dwelling of Abla, a love-stricken man has come to you.

    Return his greeting to him, and speak.

  6. يَا دَارُ.. عَبْلَةُ فَارَقَتْكِ وَخَلَّفَتْ

    فِيكِ الفُؤَادَ وَصَبْوَةً لَمْ تَهْرَمِ

    O dwelling, Abla has left you and left behind

    in you her heart and a youthful longing that has not aged.

  7. هَرِمَتْ وَمَا هَرِمَ الغَرَامُ.. وَصَرَّمَتْ

    وَصْلاً.. وَحَبْلُ حَنِينِهَا لَمْ يُصْرَمِ

    She has aged, but love has not; and she has severed

    a bond, yet the cord of her yearning has not been cut.

  8. رَحَلَتْ فَأَضْحَى كُلُّ بَيْتٍ مُقْفِراً

    خَرِباً.. فَمَا أَلْقَتْ عَصَا الْمُتَخَيِّمِ

    She departed, and every house became deserted,

    ruined; she did not set down the camper's staff.

  9. رَحَلَتْ.. فَعَذْبُ الْمَاءِ مُهْلٌ آسِنٌ

    في حَلْقِهَا مُرٌّ كَطَعْمِ العَلْقَمِ

    She departed; sweet water is molten metal, foul and stagnant,

    bitter in her throat as the taste of colocynth.

  10. إِنْ مَا ارْتَدَتْ ثَوْبَ السَّعَادَةِ مَرَّةً

    غَطَّى سَعَادَتَهَا الزَّمَانُ بِمَأْتَمِ

    If she donned the garment of happiness even once,

    time shrouded her happiness in mourning.

  11. تَرْنُو لَهَا الدُّنْيَا بِوَجْهٍ عَابِسٍ

    يُبْدِي نَوَاجِذَهُ لِغَيْرِ تَبَسُّمِ

    The world gazes at her with a frowning face,

    baring its teeth, but not in a smile.

  12. فَارَقْتِ دَارَكِ ثُمَّ رُمْتِ وِصَالَهَا

    عَسِرٌ عَلَيْكِ طِلاَبُهَا ابْنَةَ مَخْرَمِ!!

    You left your dwelling, then sought reunion with it;

    seeking it is hard for you, daughter of Makhram!

  13. لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْ وَطَنٍ يُفَدَّى أَوْ حِمى

    يَأْوِي إِلَيْهِ مِنَ الْمَصَائِبِ مُحْتَمِي

    No homeland remains to be ransomed, nor a sanctuary

    where one seeking protection can take refuge from calamities.

  14. أَوْطَانُنَا أَطْلاَلُ ذِكْرَى نِعْمَةٍ

    بيعَتْ بخُسْرٍ... لاتَ حينَ المَنْدَمِ

    Our homelands are the ruins of a remembered blessing,

    sold at a loss—now is no time for regret.

  15. مَا زِلْتُ أَبْكِي مُذْ وُلِدْتُ بِأَدْمُعٍ

    فُصْحَى تُرِيقُ دِمَاءَ حُلْمٍ أَبْكَمِ

    I have kept weeping since I was born, with tears

    eloquent, spilling the blood of a mute dream.

  16. وَالدَّهْرُ أَبْصَرُ مَنْ رَأَيْتَ إذَا اعْتَدَى

    فَإِذَا اهْتَدَى أَوْ تَابَ مِنْ ظُلْمٍ عَمِي

    And time is the keenest-sighted of all you have seen when it transgresses;

    but when it finds guidance or repents of injustice, it goes blind

  17. وَيَنُوهُ مِنْهُ.. فَكُلُّ بَاغٍ مُفْصِحٌ

    لَسِنٌ.. فَيَا عَجَبِي لِهَادٍ أَعْجَمِ

    and loses its way because of it; every oppressor is articulate,

    fluent of tongue—how I marvel at a tongue-tied guide!

  18. فِيئِي لِنَفْسِكِ قَبْلَ فَيْئِكِ لِلْحِمَى

    لَوْ لَمْ تَضِلِّي في الهَوَى لَمْ تَنْدَمِي

    Return to yourself before returning to the sanctuary;

    had you not strayed in love, you would not have regretted it.

  19. وَقِفِي عَلَى أَطْلَالِ قَلْبِكِ وَانْدُبِي

    قَبْلَ الدِّيَارِ هَوَاكِ أُمَّ الهَيْثَمِ

    And stand at the ruins of your heart, and lament

    your love before mourning the dwellings, Umm al-Haytham.

  20. وابْكِي هَوىً أَخْلَى فَؤَادَكِ زيغُه

    مِنْ مَغْنَمٍ فَأَكَبَّهُ في مَغْرَمِ

    And weep for a love whose waywardness emptied your heart

    of gain, then cast it headlong into loss.

  21. لاَ تَنْشُدِي سَكَناً.. فَلَيْسَ بِكَائِنٍ

    وَطَنٌ بِغَيْرِ فُؤَادِكِ الْمُتَضَرِّمِ

    Seek no dwelling, for there is no

    homeland apart from your blazing heart.

  22. وَالدَّارُ وَهْمٌ في زَمَانِك خَادِعٌ

    والرَّسْمُ والأطلاَلُ مَحْضُ تَوَهُّمِ

    And the dwelling is a deceptive illusion in your time,

    and the traces and ruins are sheer imagining.

  23. شُدِّي الرِّحَالَ إِلَى فُؤَادِكِ وَانْزِلي

    جَلَّ الفُؤَادُ –فُدِيتِ مِنْ مُتَخَيَّم

    Saddle up for your heart, and alight there.

    How noble a campsite the heart is—may you be ransomed!

  24. وَخُذِي بِأَيْدِي النَّاسِ نَحْوَ قُلُوبِهِمْ

    فَالتِّيهُ في الأَلْبَابِ لاَ في الْمَعْلَمِ

    And lead people by the hand toward their hearts,

    for bewilderment lies in minds, not in landmarks.