لمن المساكن كالمقابر

يأوي لها حيّ كغابر

Whose are the dwellings, like tombs,

where a living man shelters like one long gone?

متجنب الدنيا عدو

وللأوائل والأواخر

Shunning the world, an enemy

to the first and to the last.

تقف الطبيعة دونه

تحمى الميامن والمياسر

Nature stands guard before him,

protecting right flanks and left.

وتذود عنه بشامخ

منها وآونة بزاخر

She shields him with a towering mountain

of hers, and at times a surging sea.

وهو المضلَّل كاليعا

فر والمشرد كالعصافر

He is led astray like young gazelles,

and driven homeless like sparrows.

دنياه دنيا الخامليـ

ـن ودينه دين الأصاغر

His world is the world of the indolent,

and his faith the faith of the lowly.

ولغاته لا للمنا

بر قد خلقن ولا المحابر

His languages—not for pulpits

were they created, nor for inkwells.

وعلومه درست وعفّا

ها من الأزمان داثر

His sciences have faded, effaced

by the ravages of passing ages.

أوعَى سخافات الجدو

د وأسقط الحكَم البواهر

He preserved his ancestors' follies

and discarded resplendent wisdom.

الأمر فيه لكاهن

والنهى مرجعه لساحر

Over him, command belongs to a soothsayer,

and prohibitions are referred to a sorcerer.

وإذا يسام نفيسَه

والنفس أعطى الكل صاغر

When asked to surrender his precious wealth

and his life, he gives everything, abased.

فمن الملوك إلى الولا

ة إلى الجباة تراه حائر

From kings to governors,

to tax collectors, you see him bewildered.

هو بينهم ذاك الكسيـ

ـر وكلهم للكل جابر

Among them he is that broken man,

and all of them are tyrants over all.

ومن العجائب ما لوى

ذنبا ولا رفع العقائر

And strangely, he has never swished

a tail, nor raised a cry.

عَير المظالم والمغار

م ضارع للهون صابر

A donkey laden with injustices and levies,

submissive to humiliation, enduring.

كلب إذا خوّفته

صقر إذا أمّنت كاسر

A dog when you frighten him,

a predatory falcon when you grant him safety.

جبل تقلقله الربى

فيلٌ تطارده الجآذر

A mountain shaken by little hills,

an elephant pursued by wild calves.

بين العباد وبينه

غور من الأحقاد غائر

Between mankind and him

lies a deep abyss of rancor.

وقِلاهم في طبعه

كالفأر تلقاه السنانر

Hatred of them is in his nature,

like a mouse confronted by cats.

لو أقطعوه صوفهم

غرس الخناجر في الحناجر

Were they to grant him their wool,

he would plant daggers in their throats,

وسقى من المهجات أكـ

ـبادا أحرّ من الهواجر

and water, with their hearts' blood, livers

hotter than the noonday heat.

تلك المعالم والمجا

هل والمحاشد والمحاشر

Those landmarks and unknown lands,

those mustering grounds and gathering places;

تلك السواحل والأسا

كل والعيالم والزواخر

those coasts and quays,

those oceans and surging seas;

تلك الممالك والإيا

لات التي لم يحص حاصر

those kingdoms and provinces

that no reckoner has numbered;

تلك المصادر لا موا

رد والموارد لا مصادر

those ways out, not ways in,

and ways in, not ways out.

الطير فيها مستطيـ

ـر الروع والحيوان عائر

The birds there are frantic with

terror, and the beasts roam astray.

والنجم مضطرب الخطا

والفلك في الظلمات ماخر

The star falters in its steps,

and ships plow through the darkness.

مأهولة أحشاؤها

معمورة منها المحاسر

Its depths are inhabited,

its bare expanses peopled

بالوحش في صور الأنا

م عشائرا حازت عشائر

by beasts in human forms,

tribes encompassing tribes.

أمم يكاثرها الحصى

عدّا وليس لها بكاثر

Nations with whom pebbles vie

in number, yet cannot outnumber them.

لا خلقها الحلو الوسيـ

ـم ولا خلائقها نواضر

Their form is neither sweet nor handsome,

nor are their natures fair.

صفر الغلائل واللوا

حظ والنواجذ والضمائر

Yellow are their tunics and glances,

their molars and consciences.

حسروا الرؤوس ضئيلة

موشورة فيها الضفائر

They bared their puny heads,

with serrated braids upon them.

ومشوا بأقدام حوا

ف مرهفات كالحوافر

They walked on bare feet,

slender, like hooves.

وكأن سوقهم العصىّ

أو القسىّ أو الصنائر

Their shins were like sticks,

or bows, or fishhooks.

ولقد يشينون الشنو

ف إذا تحلوا والأساور

They disfigure earrings,

and bracelets, when they adorn themselves.

وهم مغاوير السلا

م وفي الصدام هم المدابر

They are mighty warriors in peace,

but in battle they turn their backs.

وترى خراب الود بيـ

ـنهم وبين الجن عامر

You see love desolate among

them, yet thriving with the jinn.

يستصرخهم إذا

ثاورا على الأَنَس المعاشر

He calls on them for help when

he rises against his human companions.

يا قوم هذا موقف

ركن التهور فيها هائر

My people, this is a crisis

where rashness rests on a crumbling pillar.

لا الجن فيه دافع

ين ولا من الأرباب ناصر

Here the jinn cannot defend you,

nor is there a helper among the gods.

كلاّ ولا يغنى الرقا

ه ولا البخور ولا المجامر

No indeed! Nor do charmers avail,

nor incense, nor censers.

واللّكم ليس بنافع

ولو أنه أدمى المناخر

And punching is of no use,

even if it bloodies nostrils.

إن الكفاية للمكا

سم واللوابل والموازر

Adequate defense lies in Maxims,

Lebels and Mausers.

ولقد تصونكم الدرو

ع ولا تخونكم المغافر

Armor will surely protect you,

and helmets will not betray you.

فتكثروا مما ذكر

ت فإنه خير الذخائر

So stock up on what I have mentioned,

for it is the best of provisions.

وتعلموه وعلموه

صغاركم ضمن الشعائر

Learn its use, and teach it

to your children among your sacred rites.

هيهات قد نفذ القضا

ء وصرتم في حكم قادر

Too late! The decree has taken effect,

and you are under the rule of a mighty one,

متلهب الطغوى إذا

أخذ الفريسة لم يغادر

ablaze with tyranny: when

he seizes his prey, he leaves nothing.

يا ليت شعري من تدو

ر عليه بعدكم الدوائر

If only I knew on whom

the wheels of calamity will turn after you.

الوقت أضيق أن نغا

لط في الحقائق أو نكابر

Time is too short for us to quibble

over facts or stubbornly deny them.

لم يبق إلا كرمة

للمسلمين بغير ناطر

Only a vine remains

for the Muslims, without a watchman.

إن نام عنها الحافظو

ن فان جفن الشر ساهر

If its guardians sleep, neglecting it,

evil's eyelid stays wakeful.

من كان يرقب فرصة

فليغنم الفرص الحواضر

Whoever watches for a chance,

let him seize the chances now at hand.

لا يمشينّ السلحفا

ء وغيره للمجد طائر

Let no one walk like a tortoise

while another flies toward glory.

لا يحسبنّ المجد والـ

ـعلياء في كذب المظاهر

Let no one think that glory and

eminence lie in false appearances.

هذا بألقاب يتيـ

ـه وذا بأنساب يفاخر

This man struts in his titles,

and that one boasts of his lineage.

وإلى الأجانب تنتهى

نعم الصنائع والمتاجر

Yet to foreigners go

the blessings of industry and trade.

وتؤول كل إمارة

لم يرعها في القوم آمر

And to them passes every principality

that no ruler among its people has guarded.

إن دام هذا فالسلا

م على الَمَحارب والمنائر

If this goes on, then farewell

to prayer niches and minarets,

وعلى البرور بلا معا

قل والبحور بلا عمائر

and to lands without fortresses,

and seas without fleets.