1. يا بلاء السماء والأرضِ مهلاً

    زاد ما عاد منك عندي وجلّا

    O calamity of heaven and earth, relent!

    What has returned of you has deepened my dread.

  2. أزمتي أزمتي كما هي لا يد

    ري لها القائمون بالأمر حلّا

    My crisis, my crisis remains unchanged; those in charge

    know no solution for it.

  3. ورهين الديون ما زال للبي

    ع مسوماً برهنه وأقلّا

    And the captive of debt is still offered for sale,

    priced at his mortgage value, or even less.

  4. جددوا عقدَه وما جددوا إل

    لا مضيقاً له وقيداً وغلّا

    They renewed his contract, but renewed nothing

    save straits for him, fetters and shackles.

  5. وأطالوا آجاله وهي حتمٌ

    فأطالوا له الممل المعلّا

    They extended his deadlines, though they were inexorable,

    and so prolonged his wearying, sickening ordeal.

  6. ورأوا سخرة الثلاثين عاماً

    نعمة منهمُ عليه وفضلا

    They deemed thirty years of forced labor

    a blessing and a favor they had bestowed on him.

  7. تأخذ الأرض من قواه وتعطي

    وهو أسخى يداً وقلباً وعقلا

    The earth takes of his strength and gives,

    while he is more generous in hand, heart and mind.

  8. ساقياً تُرْبَها من العرق السا

    ئل منه أبرّ ماءٍ وأحلى

    He waters its soil with the sweat that flows

    from him—the kindliest of waters, and the sweetest.

  9. وهو في خصبها يجوع ويعرى

    وهو في خصبها يذوب ويبلى

    Yet amid its abundance he hungers and goes naked;

    amid its abundance he wastes away and wears out.

  10. كيف تحيي بقلة الأرض من لي

    س بكاف غريمه ما استغلّا

    How can the earth's green growth sustain one

    whose yield cannot satisfy his creditor?

  11. عجزتْ عن قضائها دينَ معيي

    ها ولو يستطيع عنها تخلّى

    The land cannot pay the debt of the man who wears

    it out; if he could, he would abandon it.

  12. وعجيب أني أهنِّئ بالتس

    ويةِ القومَ وهي أثقلُ حملا

    Strange that I congratulate the people on the settlement,

    though it is a heavier burden to bear.

  13. جاوزتني وما ظفرتُ بأسبا

    بٍ إلى غيرها ولم أر سُبْلا

    It passed me by, and I found no means

    to any alternative, nor saw any paths.

  14. وتخلفتُ غير منتفع بع

    د فنائي بها عناءً وشغلا

    I was left behind, without benefit, after

    wearing myself out over it in toil and labor.

  15. لست أدري أأصبح السهل صعباً

    بعد هذا أم أصبح الصعب سهلا

    I do not know: has the easy become hard

    after this, or has the hard become easy?

  16. وشهيدُ الخطوبِ ضيقاً وهماً

    كشهيد الحروب أسراً وقتلا

    The martyr of calamities, in distress and grief,

    is like the martyr of wars, in captivity and death.

  17. من مُجيري ممن يكلفني الغر

    مَ مراراً ويحسب العجزَ مطلا

    Who will shield me from one who burdens me with payment

    again and again, deeming inability deliberate delay?

  18. يضع النار في غراسي ويبغي

    ثمراتٍ من الغراس وظلّا

    He sets fire to my plantings, yet seeks

    fruit from those plantings, and shade.

  19. والذي عنده جميلي وإحسا

    ني رأى غمرتي ففر وولّى

    And he who has received my kindness and beneficence

    saw my distress, then fled and turned away.

  20. أمنَ الصحبَ فاستخف بهم واع

    تدَّ بالخصم فاصطفاه وأعلى

    He felt safe from his friends and slighted them, but esteemed

    his foe, chose him and raised him high.

  21. ولقاءُ العدو بالبأس أولى

    من مجاراته خِداعاً وختلا

    Meeting the enemy with force is better

    than matching him in deception and guile.

  22. طال حرصُ الرجال فينا على الحك

    م إلى أن رماهمُ وأذلّا

    Long did the men among us cling to rule,

    until it cast them down and humbled them.

  23. والغريم الذي كم التمس الزل

    فى إليهم أضحى عليهم مُدِلّا

    And the adversary who so often sought favor

    with them now lords it over them.

  24. مكَّنوه من المصير وقد كا

    ن على السائر الرقيب المطلّا

    They gave him mastery of their fate, though he had been

    the watchman looking down upon the traveler.

  25. وتحمَّلتُ ما جنته المقادي

    ر فكان الجزاء لوماً وعذلا

    I bore what the decrees of fate had wrought,

    and my reward was blame and reproach.

  26. فتواريتُ والعوادي عيان

    وتوانيت والحوادثُ عجلى

    So I hid away, with calamities in plain sight,

    and lagged behind while events rushed on.

  27. يا رجالَ الزمان أحسنتمُ ما

    قلتمُ والزمانُ يطلب فعلا

    O men of the age, fine indeed is what

    you have said; yet the age demands action.

  28. وخلا جوُّهُ لكم فأمنتم

    للرضى مبدلاً وللحال نقلا

    Its sky lay clear for you, and you felt safe

    from a reversal of favor or a change of circumstance.

  29. وضمنتم بقية الخمس سلماً

    تصرفون الأمور أصلاً وفصلا

    You secured peace for the rest of the five years,

    directing affairs from inception to resolution.

  30. وائتلفتم وبعضُ خصمكمُ أق

    وى لبعض أذىً وأعظم غِلّا

    You have united, while some of your foes are stronger

    in harming one another, and greater in rancor.

  31. عالجوا أزمة الديون كما عا

    لجتم أزمة السياسة قبلا

    Tackle the debt crisis as you tackled

    the political crisis before.

  32. واستردوا رهائن الشاعر الزا

    رع كي يستقلَّ فيما استقلّا

    And reclaim the poet-farmer's mortgaged property,

    so he may be independent where independence has been won.

  33. لا تسيغ البلادُ شعريَ إن لم

    أمتلكْ في البلاد بيتاً وحقلا

    The country will not savor my poetry unless I

    own a house and a field within it.

  34. أنا أهلٌ للخير ما دمت للخي

    رِ أرى كل من على الأرض أهلا

    I am worthy of good, so long as I deem

    everyone on earth worthy of good.

  35. والذي مارس الكوارثَ طفلاً

    هو أولى براحة البالِ كهلا

    And he who endured calamities as a child

    has the greater right to peace of mind in middle age.

  36. أنا في قريتي أناجي بشكوا

    يَ وحسبيْ نجواي كتباً ورُسلا

    In my village I whisper my complaint;

    and my whispers suffice me as letters and messengers.

  37. زاهداً لا أقول ليت لنفسي

    كان هذا ولا أقول لعلّا

    Detached from desire, I do not say, 'If only

    this were mine,' nor do I say, 'Perhaps.'

  38. غافراً للزمان أن لا أرى عو

    ناً عليه ولا أرى فيه خِلّا

    Forgiving time for leaving me no support

    against it, nor any friend within it.

  39. ولقائي بحاجتي النار خيرٌ

    من لقائي بها الزنيمَ العُتُلّا

    Better to face the fire with my need

    than to face a baseborn brute with it.

  40. كل ما عنده مواعيدُ يلقي

    ها لقُصَّاده كذوباً مُضِلّا

    All he has are promises, which he flings

    at his petitioners, ever lying and misleading.

  41. وهو في غدوتيه أكثرُ عجزاً

    وهو في روحتيه أكبر جهلا

    On his two morning rounds he shows greater helplessness,

    and on his two evening rounds, greater ignorance.

  42. ولغيري إذا تقاضيت حقاً

    ولغيري إذا تلمَّستُ عدلا

    When I demand a right, it is for others,

    and when I seek justice, it is for others.

  43. وقصارى الحياةِ أن أجمع الرأ

    يَ لقومِي وأن أؤلفَ شملا

    And life's utmost aim is to unite the counsel

    of my people, and gather them together.