1. كَم سَهِرتُ الساعاتِ في الظلماءِ

    أَرصدُ النُجمَ في فَسيحِ الفَضاءِ

    How many hours I have kept vigil in the darkness,

    watching the stars in the vast expanse of space.

  2. وَزَفيرُ الفُؤادِ يَعلو تباعاً

    فَتوافيهِ مُقلَتي بِالبُكاءِ

    And the heart's sighs rise one after another,

    so my eye answers them with weeping.

  3. شاعِر الحُبِّ قيل عَنِّيَ قبلاً

    لكِن اليَومَ شاعِرُ البُؤَساءِ

    'Poet of love,' they once said of me,

    but today, the poet of the wretched.

  4. بِسمَ المرجُ لِلرَّبيعِ وَجَفَّت

    أَدمُعُ الغَيثِ في عُيونِ الشِتاءِ

    The meadow smiled at spring, and dry grew

    the tears of rain in winter's eyes.

  5. وَتعالى عَرفُ الأَزاهرِ لَمّا

    اِنفَرَجَت عَن مَباسِمِ العَذراءِ

    And the fragrance of the blossoms rose when

    they parted to reveal the maiden's smiling lips.

  6. قرب ذاكَ الغَديرِ في المَرجِ طيفٌ

    شاحِبُ الوَجهِ بارِزُ الأَعضاءِ

    Near that pool in the meadow is a phantom,

    pale-faced, his limbs jutting out.

  7. نَسجَ الجوعُ فَوقَ عَينَيهِ سَتراً

    لا نَراهُ في أَعيُنِ الأَحياءِ

    Hunger wove a veil over his eyes,

    such as we do not see in the eyes of the living.

  8. يَتَخَطّى إِلى الأَمامِ قَليلاً

    ثُمَّ يَعدو بِسُرعَةٍ لِلوَراء

    He steps forward a little,

    then runs swiftly backward,

  9. فَكَأَنَّ الحِمامَ يَبحَث عَنهُ

    وَهوَ يَرجو النَجاةَ بِالالتِجاءِ

    as though death were searching for him,

    while he hopes for escape by taking refuge.

  10. بائِسٌ وَالحَياةُ تَأنَفُ مِنهُ

    كَبَقايا الحُطامِ في الدأماءِ

    Wretched, and life recoils from him,

    like remnants of wreckage in the sea.

  11. إِنَّهُ بدعَةٌ مِن اللَهِ لكِن

    أَنكَرَتهُ جَماعَةُ الأَغنِياء

    He is a wondrous creation of God, yet

    the company of the rich has disowned him.

  12. لا عَزاءَ يُنسيهِ بَعضَ عَذابٍ

    في لَيالي شَقائِهِ السَوداءِ

    No solace makes him forget any of his torment

    in the black nights of his misery,

  13. غَيرُ نُجمِ الفَضا تُطِلُّ عَلَيهِ

    كَعُيونِ السَما مِن العلياءِ

    except the stars of space, looking down upon him

    like the eyes of heaven from on high,

  14. حامِلاتٍ سِرَّ الحَياةِ غَريباً

    فَيَرى فيهِ روح سرِّ الضِياءِ

    bearing the strange secret of life,

    so he sees in it the spirit of light's secret.

  15. يَتَعَزّى إِذ ذاكَ بَعضُ عَزاءٍ

    ما تَراهُ يُفيدُ بَعض العَزاءِ

    Then he takes a little solace;

    what good, do you think, does a little solace do?

  16. تارَةً يسمعُ الغَديرَ يُغَنّي

    فَيُوافيهِ صَوتُهُ بِالغِناءِ

    At times he hears the pool singing,

    so his voice answers it with song.

  17. وَغِناءُ الغَديرِ ماءٌ قراحٌ

    وَغِناءُ الفَقيرِ رَجو غذاءِ

    And the pool's song is pure water,

    and the poor man's song is a hope for food.

  18. تَتَراءى لهُ الكَواكِبُ طَوراً

    كَدَنانيرَ أُلقِيَت في الهَواءِ

    Sometimes the stars appear to him

    like dinars cast into the air.

  19. فَيمدُّ اليَدَين لَهفاً إِلَيها

    غَير أَنَّ الفَضا من البُخلاءِ

    So he stretches both hands toward them in longing,

    yet space is one of the misers.

  20. طَرَدته مَدينه الفَحشِ وَالظُل

    مِ فَآواهُ مَهبَط الفُقَراءِ

    The city of obscenity and oppression expelled him;

    then the refuge of the poor sheltered him—

  21. ذلكَ المَهبَط الَّذي عاشَ فيهِ

    هوميروسُ الكَبيرُ في الشعراءِ

    that refuge in which lived

    Homer, great among the poets.

  22. حَشرَجَت روحُه صَباحَ نَهارٍ

    بِعَذابٍ فَقاءَها في المَساءِ

    His soul gave a death-rattle one morning,

    in agony; then he spewed it out in the evening.

  23. وَعَلى الزَهرِ أَدمُعٌ مِن عُيونِ ال

    فَجرِ ما جُفِّفَت بِنورِ ذُكاءِ

    And on the flowers lie tears from the eyes of

    dawn, not dried by the light of Dhukāʾ.

  24. فَكَأَنَّ الدُموعَ مُضطَرِباتٍ

    في اللَيالي مراشِفُ الضُعَفاءِ

    So it is as though the tears, trembling

    at night, were the lips of the weak,

  25. تصرخ اللَهُ في الأَعالي اِنتِقاماً

    من أُولي الجور من أُولي الإِثراءِ

    crying to God on high for vengeance

    against the men of injustice, against the men of wealth.

  26. أُغرُبي يا مَدينَةَ العارِ إِنَّ ال

    مرجَ مَهدٌ لِدَولَةِ الأَنبِياءِ

    Begone, city of shame! For the

    meadow is a cradle for the prophets' realm.

  27. هُو مَأوى الزُهورِ وَالزَهرُ طهرٌ

    نَثَرته في المَرجِ روحُ السَماءِ

    It is a haven for flowers, and flowers are purity

    scattered in the meadow by the spirit of heaven.

  28. أُغرُبي يا جَهَنَّماً فَوقَ أَرضٍ

    ما رَأَينا فيها سِوى الفَحشاءِ

    Begone, O hell upon a land

    where we have seen nothing but depravity.

  29. فَالشَياطينُ مِن بَني الأَرضِ أَقوا

    مٌ همُ سادَةٌ من الزُعَماءِ

    For the devils among the sons of earth are

    people who are lords among the leaders.

  30. كَثُرَ الإِثمُ في الوُجودِ فَيا ر

    بّ تَرَحَّم وَاِعطُف عَلى التُعَساءِ

    Sin has grown rife in the world; so, O

    Lord, have mercy and show compassion to the wretched.

  31. هَل خَلَقتَ الغَنِيَّ لِلمَجدِ

    وَالبائِسَ أَوجدتَهُ تُرى لِلشَقاءِ

    Did You create the rich man for glory,

    and bring the wretch into being, I wonder, for misery?