1. لَيسَ يَدري الهَمَّ غَيرَ المُبتَلي

    طالَ جُنحُ اللَيلِ أَو لَم يَطُلِ

    None knows sorrow but the afflicted,

    whether night's darkness lengthens or not.

  2. ما لِهَذا النَجمِ مِثلِيَ في الثَرى

    طائِرَ النَومِ شَديدَ الوَجَلِ

    What ails this star, like me here on earth,

    sleepless and filled with dread?

  3. أَتُراهُ يَتَّقي طارِأَةً

    أَم بِهِ أَنّي غَريبُ المَنزِلِ

    Do you suppose it fears some sudden calamity,

    or is it troubled that I am a stranger here?

  4. كُلَّما طالَعتُ خَطباً جَلَلاً

    جاءَني الدَهرُ بِخَطبٍ جَلَلِ

    Whenever I confront a grievous calamity,

    Time brings me a grievous calamity.

  5. أَشتَكي اللَيلَ وَلَو وَدَّعتُهُ

    بِتُّ مِن هَمّي بِلَيلٍ أَليَلِ

    I lament the night; even if I bade it farewell,

    I would pass, through sorrow, a still darker night.

  6. يا بَناتِ الأُفقِ ما لِلصَبِّ مِن

    مُسعِدٍ في الناسِ هَل فيكُنَّ لي

    O daughters of the horizon, the lovelorn soul has no

    comforter among people; is there one for me among you?

  7. لا عَرَفتُنَّ الرَزايا إِنَّها

    شَيَّبَت رَأسي وَلَم أَكتَهِلِ

    May you never know calamities: they

    have grayed my head before I reached middle age.

  8. سَهَدَت سُهدي الدَراري إِنَّما

    شَدَّ ما بَينَ المُعَنّى وَالخَلي

    The bright stars keep my sleepless vigil; yet

    how vast the gulf between the tormented and the carefree!

  9. لَيتَ شِعري ما الَّذي أَعجَبَها

    فَهيَ لا تَنفَكُّ تَرنو مِن عَلِ

    Would that I knew what has delighted them,

    for they never cease gazing from on high.

  10. أَنا لا أَغبِطُها خالِدَةً

    وَلَقَد أَحسُدُها لَم تَعقِلِ

    I do not envy them their immortality,

    yet I do envy them their lack of understanding.

  11. كُلَّما راجَعتُ أَحلامَ الصِبى

    قُلتُ يا لَيتَ الصِبى لَم يَزَلِ

    Whenever I revisit the dreams of youth,

    I say, 'Oh, would that youth had never passed!'

  12. أَيُّها القَلبُ الَّذي في أَضلُعي

    إِنَّما اللَذَّةُ جَهلاً فَاِجهَلِ

    O heart within my ribs,

    pleasure lies in ignorance alone—so be ignorant.

  13. تَجمُلُ الرِقَّةُ في العَضبِ فَإِن

    كُنتَ تَهواها فَكُن كَالمِنصَلِ

    Delicacy is lovely in a sharp sword; so if

    you love it, be like a sword blade.

  14. هِيَ في الغيدِ الغَواني قُوَّةٌ

    وَهيَ ضَعفٌ في فُؤادِ الرَجُلِ

    In graceful, lovely women it is strength,

    but in a man's heart it is weakness.

  15. لا يَغُرَّ الحُسنُ ذا الحُسنِ فَقَد

    يَصرَعُ البُلبُلَ صَوتُ البُلبُلِ

    Let beauty not deceive the beautiful, for

    the nightingale's own song fells the nightingale.

  16. تُقتَلُ الشاةُ وَلا ذَنبَ لَها

    هِيَ لَولا ضَعفُها لَم تُقتَلِ

    The ewe is killed, though she has done no wrong;

    but for her weakness, she would not be killed.

  17. إِن تَكُن في الوَحشِ كُن لَيثَ الثَرى

    أَو تَكُن في الطَيرِ كُن كَالأَجدَلِ

    If you are among beasts, be the lion of the earth;

    or among birds, be like the falcon;

  18. أَو تَكُن في الناسِ كُن أَقواهُمُ

    لَيسَتِ العَلياءُ حَظَّ الوُكَّلِ

    or among people, be their strongest.

    Eminence is not the lot of those who rely on others.

  19. ما لِقَومي لا وَهيَ حَبلُهُمُ

    قَنِعوا مِن دَهرِهِم بِالوَشَلِ

    What ails my people—may their rope not fray!—

    that they settle for a mere trickle from their times?

  20. أَنا مِن أَمرِهِمُ في شُغُلٍ

    وَهُمُ عَن أَمرِهِمُ في شُغُلِ

    I am absorbed in concern for their affairs,

    while they are too occupied to mind their own affairs.

  21. كُلَّما فَكَّرتُ في حاضِرِنا

    عاقَني عاقَني اليَأسُ عَنِ المُستَقبَلِ

    Whenever I think about our present,

    despair bars me—bars me—from the future.

  22. نَحنُ في الجَهلِ عَبيدٌ لِلهَوى

    وَمَعَ العِلمِ عَبيدُ الدُوَلِ

    In ignorance we are slaves to desire,

    and with learning, slaves to states.

  23. نَعشَقُ الشَمسَ وَنَخشى حَرَّها

    ما صَعِدنا وَهيَ لَمّا تَنزِلِ

    We love the sun, yet fear its heat;

    we have not ascended, and it has not yet come down.

  24. قَد مَشى الغَربُ عَلى هامِ السُهى

    وَمَشَينا في الحَضيضِ الأَسفَلِ

    The West has walked upon Suha's crown,

    while we have walked in the lowest depths.

  25. سَجَّلَ العارَ عَلَينا مَعشَرٌ

    سَجَّلوا المَرأَةَ بَينَ الهَمَلِ

    A group has branded us with shame:

    those who have classed women among the neglected.

  26. فَهيَ إِمّا سِلعَةٌ حامِلَةٌ

    سِلَعاً أَو آلَةٌ في مَعمَلِ

    She is either a commodity carrying

    commodities, or a machine in a factory.

  27. أَرسَلوها تَزرَعُ الأَرضَ خَطا

    وَتُباري كُلَّ بَيتٍ مِثلِ

    They sent her out to sow the earth with footsteps

    and vie with every proverbial verse.

  28. تَتَهاداها المَوامي وَالرُبى

    فَهيَ كَالدينارِ بَينَ الأَنمُلِ

    The wastelands and hills pass her back and forth;

    she is like a dinar between fingertips.

  29. لا تُبالي القَيظَ يَشوي حَرُّهُ

    لا وَلا تَحذَرُ بَردَ الشَمأَلِ

    She heeds not midsummer, though its heat scorches;

    no, nor does she fear the north wind's cold.

  30. وَلَها في كُلِّ بابٍ وَقفَةٌ

    كَاِمرِءِ القَيسِ حِيالَ الطَلَلِ

    At every door she pauses,

    like Imru' al-Qays before the ruins.

  31. تَتَّقي قَولَ اِغرُبي خَشَيتَها

    قَولَةَ القائِلِ يا هَذي اِدخُلي

    She fears the words 'Be gone!' as she fears

    the words of one who says, 'You there, come in.'

  32. فَهيَ كَالعُصفورِ وافى صادِياً

    فَرأى الصَيّادَ عِندَ المَنهَلِ

    She is like a sparrow arriving thirsty,

    that sees the hunter beside the watering place,

  33. كامِناً فَاِنصاعَ يُدنيهِ الظَما

    ثُمَّ يُقصيهِ اِتِّقاءُ الأَجَلُ

    lying in wait; it turns aside, yet thirst draws it near,

    then fear of death drives it away.

  34. وَلَكَم طافَت بِهِ آمِلَةً

    وَاِنثَنَت تَقطَعُ خَيطَ الأَمَلِ

    And how often she has circled it in hope,

    and turned back, cutting the thread of hope.

  35. وَلَكَم مَدَّت إِلى الرَفدِ يَداً

    خُلِقَت في مِثلِها لِلقُبَلِ

    And how often she has held out for charity a hand

    that, in one like her, was made for kisses.

  36. ما بِها لا كانَ شَرّاً ما بِها

    ما لَها مِن أَمرِها في خَبَلِ

    What ails her? May what ails her be no evil!

    Why is she so bewildered by her plight?

  37. سائِلوها أَو سَلو عَن حالِها

    إِن جَهِلتُم كُلَّ طِفلٍ مُحُِلِ

    Ask her, or ask about her condition—

    if you do not know—every frail child.

  38. في سَبيلِ المالِ أَو عُشّاقِهِ

    تَكدَحُ المَرأَةُ كَدحَ الإِبِلِ

    For money's sake, or for those who love it,

    woman toils as camels toil.

  39. ما تَراها وَهيَ لا حَولَ لَها

    تَحتَ عِبءٍ فادِحٍ كَالجَبَلِ

    Do you not see her, powerless,

    beneath a crushing burden like a mountain?

  40. شُدَّتِ الأَمراسُ في ساعِدِها

    مَن رَأى الأَمراسَ حَولَ الجَدوَلِ

    Ropes have been fastened to her forearm—

    who has seen ropes around a stream?

  41. جَشَّموها كُلَّ أَمرٍ مُعضِلٍ

    وَهِيَ لَم تُخلَق لِغَيرِ المَنزِلِ

    They burdened her with every arduous task,

    though she was made for nothing but the home.

  42. فَإِذا فارَقَتِ الدارُ ضُحىً

    لَم تَعُد إِلّا قُبَيلَ الطَفَلِ

    So when she leaves the house in the forenoon,

    she does not return until just before dusk.

  43. أَلِفَت ما عَوَّدوها مِثلَما

    تَألَفُ الظَبيَةُ طَعمَ الحَنظَلِ

    She has grown used to what they accustomed her to,

    as a gazelle grows used to the taste of bitter colocynth.

  44. بِنتَ سورِيّا الَّتي أَبكي بِها

    هِمَّةَ اللَيثِ وَروحَ الحَمَلِ

    Daughter of Syria, in whom I mourn

    the lion's resolve and the lamb's soul,

  45. ما أَطاعوا فيكِ أَحكامَ النُهى

    لا وَلا قَولَ الكتابِ المُنزَلِ

    they have not obeyed reason's dictates concerning you,

    no, nor the words of the revealed Book.

  46. قَد أَضاعوكِ وَما ضَيَّعتِهِم

    فَأَضاعوا كُلَّ أُمٍّ مُشبِلِ

    They have neglected you, though you have not neglected them,

    and so have neglected every mother with cubs.