جو السياسة مكفهر

ما فيه من لون يسر

The atmosphere of politics is grim.

There is no color in it to bring delight.

اني من اكفهراره

مترقب خطرا سيعرو

Indeed, from its grimness, I am

expecting a danger to strike.

فيلوح في هذا السحا

ب الجهم فوق الافق شر

And in this cloud,

grim above the horizon, evil looms.

لقد ازبأرت بغتةً

فلأي شيء تزبئر

It has suddenly bristled;

so why does it bristle?

عيني ترى وحشاشتي

تخشى وجلدي يقشعر

My eye sees, and my very soul

fears, and my skin shudders.

عصفت فظل العقل منذهلا

وهاج النفس ذعر

It raged, leaving the mind bewildered,

and terror stirred the soul.

نكباء تقلع كل شيء

تلتقيه او تطر

A crosswind uproots everything

it encounters, or shears it away.

لذيولها فوق الربى

والسهل ضافية تجر

Its tails over the hills

and the plain are dragged, long and flowing.

ما كان قبل عصوفها

بالعيش فوق الارض نكر

Before its raging, there was

nothing dreadful in life upon the earth.

يوم كوجه الغول وفي

شدقيه انياب تصر

A day like a ghoul's face, and in

its jaws, fangs gnash.

ولقد توارى من ذكا

ء لهوله الوجه الاغر

And Dhuka, the sun, has hidden

its radiant face in dread of that horror.

ما في النهار شعاعة

تهدى ولا لليل فجر

In the day there is no ray

to guide, nor does the night have a dawn.

وسحائب جون تدهدها

اعاصير تمرّ

And black clouds are rolled about

by passing whirlwinds.

برق ورعد قاصف

كرحىً تلح فتستمى

Lightning and crashing thunder,

like a millstone bearing down and grinding on.

وادير عيني في الفضا

ء فلا اشاهد ما يسر

And I turn my gaze through the sky,

but see nothing that brings delight.

وهناك بحر ثائر

امواجه لا تستقر

And there is a raging sea,

its waves never settling.

وكانما الاطواد في

احضان اودية تخر

As though the towering mountains, in

the arms of valleys, were tumbling down,

تهوى الى اغوارها

من بعدما هي تشمخر

plunging into their depths

after having towered so high.

اخذت تعيث ذئابها

اما الكلاب فلا تهر

Its wolves have begun to wreak havoc,

but the dogs do not growl.

يخشى الغني الجعد ان

يغشاه بعد الوفر فقر

The rich miser fears that

poverty will overtake him after abundance.

اما الفقير فلا ينا

ق له ولا غنم تدر

But the poor man has no she-camels

to his name, nor sheep that give milk.

انا بعصر فيه عند الناس

ترك الشر بر

I live in an age in which, among people,

refraining from evil is righteousness.

عصر به الامم الضعيفة

بالوصاية لا تقر

An age in which weak nations

do not consent to tutelage;

عصر به الام القوية

بالمواعد لا تبر

an age in which strong nations

do not stay true to their promises.

اللَه للعصفور من

بلواه ليس له مفر

God help the sparrow out of

its affliction: it has no escape.

في الجو صقر ذو اظا

فير وفوق الارض هر

In the sky is a falcon with talons,

and on the earth a cat.

ان الألى قد كان يرجى

النفع منهم قد اضروا

Indeed, those from whom one once hoped

for benefit have caused harm.

وكأن في القوم النفا

ق الى بلوغ الجاه جسر

As though, among the people, hypocrisy

were a bridge to attaining rank.

اما طريق العز فهو

لمن يسير عليه وعر

But the path to honor is

rough for whoever walks upon it.

لا بد من تعب ينا

ل المرء حين به يمرّ

There is no escaping hardship that befalls

a person while passing along it.

قد كان مجد للعرو

بة فاحتواه اليوم قبر

There once was glory for Arabdom,

and today a grave has enclosed it.

في أي قبر انت يا

مجد العروبة مسبطر

In what grave are you, O

glory of Arabdom, lying stretched out?

نشدو بمجد دارس

لم يبق الا منه ذكر

We sing of an effaced glory,

of which nothing remains but remembrance.

وكأن ذاك المجد مختفياً

عن الانظار سر

As though that glory, hidden

from sight, were a secret.

ما في العظام الباليا

ت لدولة الفتيان فخر

In the crumbling bones there is

no pride for the state of young men.

نمنا وخيل الحادثا

ت على جماجمنا تكر

We slept, and the horses of calamity

charged over our skulls.

لا يستطيع من البلية

ان يقول الحق حر

A free man cannot, amid this affliction,

speak the truth.

ويل لقطر لا يتا

ح لاهله بالحق جهر

Woe to a land where it is not permitted

for its people to proclaim the truth.

ما عند قوم ضيعوا

استقلالهم شيء يسر

Among a people who have squandered

their independence, nothing brings delight.

الشعب باستقلاله

يقوى ومورده يثر

Through its independence, a people

grows strong, and its resources abound.

غرتهم الاوعاد والاوعاد

خادعة تغر

Promises deceived them, and promises

are deceitful and deceiving.

امم تقدم والكفا

ح على السلامة مستمر

Nations advance, and the struggle

for survival continues.

والقتل من اجل الحيا

ة بكل ارض مستحر

And killing for the sake of life

rages fiercely in every land.

ما للذين تأخروا

في حلبة الاقوام عذر

Those who lag behind have no

excuse in the arena of nations.

لا حكمة لا ثروة

لا عسكر للذود مجر

No wisdom, no wealth,

no vast army for defense.

هل هابط وهداً كمن

فوق السحاب له مكر

Is one descending into a hollow like one

whose course lies above the clouds,

يجرى على طيارة

فكأنه في الجو نسر

traveling in an airplane,

as though he were a vulture in the sky?

ونصحت اهل الرافدين

على التحالف ان يقروا

And I advised the people of the Two Rivers

to settle upon an alliance;

لكن اهل الرافدين

على التخالف قد اصروا

but the people of the Two Rivers

insisted upon discord.

لم يسمعوا نصحى لهم

حتى اصاب القوم ضر

They did not heed my advice to them

until harm befell the people.

وكانما في الاذن منهم

عن سماع الحق وقر

As though in their ears there were

a deafness to hearing the truth.

ما ان رأيت مناضحا

كالعقل ليس عليه حجر

I have never seen a defender

like reason, when no restraint is placed upon it.

من عاش متكلاً على

الاقدار تعبث فهو غر

Whoever lives relying on

fate as it toys with him is naive.

عزم الفتى اقوى من الاقدار

وهو به ابر

A young man's resolve is stronger than fate,

and is kinder to him.

اني لشيخ مخلق

وتعلقي بالعيش نزر

I am indeed a worn-out old man,

and my attachment to life is slight.

فاذا حييت فكل ما

يحلي لغيري لي يمر

So if I live, everything that

is sweet to others tastes bitter to me.

واذا هلكت فكل شيء

بعد هلكي لا يضر

And if I die, then nothing

after my death can harm me.

مع كل ذلك ارتأى

ان الردى للمرء خسر

Despite all that, I hold

that death is a loss to a person.

للشيخ نفس بالحيا

ة تنوء وهي له تسر

The old man has a soul that, under life's weight,

sags, yet life gives him joy.

فعلى جفاف عروقه

آماله في القلب خضر

Yet despite the dryness of his veins,

his hopes are green within his heart.

اما الفتى فحياته

وشبابه ماء وخمر

But the young man's life

and his youth are water and wine.