1. ظَلَمَ الرِجالُ نِساءَهُم وَتَعَسَّفوا

    هَل لِلنِساءِ بِمِصرَ مِن أَنصارِ

    Men have wronged their wives and acted tyrannically.

    Do women in Egypt have any champions?

  2. يا مَعشَرَ الكُتّابِ أَينَ بَلاؤُكُم

    أَينَ البَيانُ وَصائِبُ الأَفكارِ

    O company of writers, where are your efforts?

    Where are eloquence and sound ideas?

  3. أَيَهُمُّكُم عَبَثٌ وَلَيسَ يَهُمُّكُم

    بُنيانُ أَخلاقٍ بِغَيرِ جِدارِ

    Does frivolity concern you, while you care nothing for

    the building of character without walls?

  4. عِندي عَلى ضَيمِ الحَرائِرِ بَينَكُم

    نَبَأٌ يُثيرُ ضَمائِرَ الأَحرارِ

    I have, concerning the oppression of freeborn women among you,

    news that stirs the consciences of free men,

  5. مِمّا رَأَيتُ وَما عَلِمتُ مُسافِراً

    وَالعِلمُ بَعضُ فَوائِدِ الأَسفارِ

    from what I saw and learned while traveling—

    and knowledge is one of travel's benefits.

  6. فيهِ مَجالٌ لِلكَلامِ وَمَذهَبٌ

    لِيَراعِ باحِثَةٍ وَسِتِّ الدارِ

    In it there is room for discussion and an avenue

    for the pen of Bahitha and Sitt al-Dar.

  7. كَثُرَت عَلى دارِ السَعادَةِ زُمرَةٌ

    مِن مِصرَ أَهلُ مَزارِعٍ وَيَسارِ

    A crowd has swelled in Dar al-Sa'ada,

    of Egyptians possessing farms and wealth.

  8. يَتَزَوَّجونَ عَلى نِساءٍ تَحتَهُم

    لا صاحِباتِ بُغىً وَلا بِشَرارِ

    They marry other women alongside their wives,

    who are neither unchaste nor wicked.

  9. شاطَرنَهُم نِعَمَ الصِبا وَسَقَينَهُم

    دَهراً بِكَأسٍ لِلسُرورِ عُقارُ

    These wives shared youth's blessings with them and gave them drink

    for years, from a cup whose wine was joy.

  10. الوالِداتُ بَنيهُمُ وَبَناتِهِم

    الحائِطاتُ العِرضَ كَالأَسوارِ

    Mothers of their sons and daughters,

    guarding their honor like ramparts,

  11. الصابِراتُ لِضَرَّةٍ وَمَضَرَّةٍ

    المُحيِياتُ اللَيلَ بِالأَذكارِ

    patient with a co-wife and with harm,

    keeping the night alive with remembrance of God.

  12. مِن كُلِّ ذي سَبعينَ يَكتُمُ شَيبَهُ

    وَالشَيبُ في فَودَيهِ ضَوءُ نَهارِ

    Among them, each man of seventy conceals his gray hair,

    though the gray at his temples is daylight.

  13. يَأبى لَهُ في الشَيبِ غَيرَ سَفاهَةٍ

    قَلبٌ صَغيرُ الهَمِّ وَالأَوطارِ

    Nothing but folly in old age is allowed him

    by a heart petty in its cares and desires.

  14. ما حَلَّهُ عَطفٌ وَلا رِفقٌ وَلا

    بِرٌّ بِأَهلٍ أَو هَوىً لِدِيارِ

    Neither affection nor gentleness has dwelt in it, nor

    kindness to family or love of home.

  15. كَم ناهِدٍ في اللّاعِباتِ صَغيرَةٍ

    أَلهَتهُ عَن حَفَدٍ بِمِصرَ صِغارِ

    How many a young, budding-breasted girl among those at play

    has distracted him from his little grandchildren in Egypt!

  16. مَهما غَدا أَو راحَ في جَولاتِهِ

    دَفَعَتهُ خاطِبَةٌ إِلى سِمسارِ

    Whenever he goes out, morning or evening, on his rounds,

    a matchmaker steers him to a broker.

  17. شُغِلَ المَشايِخُ بِالمَتابِ وَشُغلُهُ

    بِتَبَدُّلِ الأَزواجِ وَالأَصهارِ

    Elders are occupied with repentance, while his occupation

    is changing wives and in-laws.

  18. في كُلِّ عامٍ هَمُّهُ في طَفلَةٍ

    كَالشَمسِ إِن خُطِبَت فَلِلأَقمارِ

    Each year his thoughts are on a little girl,

    like the sun—if courted, it should be by moons.

  19. يَرشو عَلَيها الوالِدينَ ثَلاثَةً

    لَم أَدرِ أَيُّهُمُ الغَليظُ الضاري

    He bribes her parents for her; of the three,

    I know not which of them is the coarse, ravening brute.

  20. المالُ حَلَّلَ كُلَّ غَيرِ مُحَلَّلِ

    حَتّى زَواجَ الشيبِ بِالأَبكارِ

    Money has made everything forbidden lawful,

    even the marriage of gray-haired men to virgins.

  21. سَحَرَ القُلوبَ فَرُبَّ أُمٍّ قَلبُها

    مِن سِحرِهِ حَجَرٌ مِنَ الأَحجارِ

    It has bewitched hearts; many a mother's heart

    is, through its magic, a stone among stones.

  22. دَفَعَت بُنَيَّتَها لِأَشأَمَ مَضجَعٍ

    وَرَمَت بِها في غُربَةٍ وَإِسارِ

    She thrust her little daughter into the most ill-omened bed,

    and cast her into exile and captivity.

  23. وَتَعَلَّلَت بِالشَرعِ قُلتُ كَذِبتِهِ

    ما كانَ شَرعُ اللَهِ بِالجَزّارِ

    And she pleaded religious law; I said, 'You have misrepresented it!'

    God's law was never a butcher.

  24. ما زُوِّجَت تِلكَ الفَتاةُ وَإِنَّما

    بيعَ الصِبا وَالحُسنُ بِالدينارِ

    That girl was not married off; rather,

    youth and beauty were sold for dinars.

  25. بَعضُ الزَواجِ مُذَمَّمٌ ما بِالزِنا

    وَالرِقِّ إِن قيسا بِهِ مِن عارِ

    Some marriages are so vile that adultery

    and slavery, if compared with them, bear no disgrace.

  26. فَتَّشتُ لَم أَرَ في الزَواجِ كَفاءَةً

    كَكَفاءَةِ الأَزواجِ في الأَعمارِ

    I have searched, and found no compatibility in marriage

    like that of spouses matched in age.

  27. أَسَفي عَلى تِلكَ المَحاسِنِ كُلَّما

    نُقِلَت مِنَ البالي إِلى الدَوّارِ

    My sorrow for those beauties whenever they

    are moved from al-Bali to the country manor!

  28. إِنَّ الحِجابَ عَلى فُروقٍ جَنَّةٌ

    وَحِجابُ مِصرَ وَريفِها مِن نارِ

    Indeed, the veil upon some heads is a paradise,

    but the veil of Egypt and its countryside is of fire.

  29. وَعَلى وُجوهٍ كَالأَهِلَّةِ رُوِّعَت

    بَعدَ السُفورِ بِبُرقُعٍ وَخِمارِ

    And for faces like crescents, terrified

    after unveiling by a face veil and a head veil.

  30. وَعَلى الذَوائِبِ وَهيَ مِسكٌ خولِطَت

    عِندَ العِناقِ بِمِثلِ ذَوبِ القارِ

    And for tresses—musk itself—mingled

    at the embrace with the like of molten pitch.

  31. وَعَلى الشِفاهِ المُحيِياتِ أَماتَها

    ريحُ الشُيوخِ تَهُبُّ في الأَسحارِ

    And for life-giving lips, slain

    by old men's breath blowing in the predawn hours.

  32. وَعَلى المَجالِسِ فَوقَ كُلِّ خَميلَةٍ

    بَينَ الجِبالِ وَشاطِئٍ مِحبارِ

    And for the gatherings above every leafy grove,

    between the mountains and a delightful shore.

  33. تَدنو الزَوارِقُ مِنهُ تُنزِلُ جُؤذَراً

    بِقِلادَةٍ أَو شادِناً بِسِوارِ

    Boats draw near it, bringing ashore an oryx calf

    with a necklace, or a gazelle fawn with a bracelet.

  34. يَرفُلنَ في أُزُرِ الحَريرِ تَنَوَّعَت

    أَلوانُهُ كَالزَهرِ في آذارِ

    They sweep along in silken wraps, varied

    in color like the flowers of March.

  35. الطاهِراتُ اللَحظِ أَمثالَ المَها

    الناطِقاتُ الجَرسِ كَالأَوتارِ

    Pure in their gaze, like oryxes,

    their speech ringing like strings.

  36. الدَهرُ فَرَّقَ شَملَهُنَّ فَمُر بِهِ

    يا رَبِّ تَجمَعُهُ يَدُ المِقدارِ

    Time has scattered their company; so command it,

    O my Lord, and destiny's hand will reunite it.