عُمِرَتْ ديارُ شَراذمٍ دُخّال

أسفاً عليك وأنتَ قَفرٌ خالِ

The abodes of Sharadim have become inhabited by newcomers,

Alas for you while you are desolate and empty.

عُمِرَتْ ديار " الطارئين " ونُكِّستْ

دورٌ شَراها أهلها بالغالي

The abodes of "the passersby" have become inhabited,

While houses whose exorbitant price made their people sell have been demolished.

بالروح يُزهقُها الغَيورُ على الحمى

والمالُ يبذله عدوُ المال

Zeal for the sanctuary makes the passionate person sacrifice himself,

While the enemy of money spends it.

بدت البيوتُ الخاوياتُ حزينةً

محفوفةً بالشوكِ والأدغال

The vacant houses appeared sad,

Surrounded by thorns and weeds.

وكأنما شُرفاتها مغبرَّة

أشباحُ الآمٍ وَقفْنَ حيالي

It is as if their balconies are covered with dust;

The ghosts of sorrows stood before me.

يا عابرينَ على الطريقِ تلفتوا

وتَبَصَّرُوا بتقلُّبِ الأحوال

O you who pass on the road, look

And observe the vicissitudes of time.

هذي البيوتُ الموحشاتُ عِراصها

كانت تُحَطُّ بها عصا التَرْحال

These lonely houses, their pillars

Used to be surrounded by the staff of travel.

نُحرَتْ هنا كُومُ النياق وأوقدَتْ

نارُ القِرى للطارق المِحلال

The fire of the villages was kindled by the plundering newcomer.

These are the abodes of every Samaidha',

هذي الديارُ ديارُ كلِّ سَمَيْذَعٍ

حامٍ لحوزةِ غابهِ رِئبال

Yearning for the preservation of his forest den.

These are the abodes of every welcoming one

هذي الديارُ ديارُ كل مُرَحِّب

بالوافدين مُشَمِّر السربال

Who girds his cloak for hospitality.

And this one whom you now lament in poetry

ولقد يُرى في نِعمةٍ محسودةٍ

هذا الذي تَرثيِه في الأسمال

Can be seen to have enjoyed an enviable prosperity.

This dispersed one used to be the hope of the seeker

هذا المشرَّدُ كان مَأمَلَ طالبٍ

ومناخَ أطلاح وخدنَ عوالي

And a dwelling for the farthest travelers.

Alas! Hunger has destroyed your stateliness,

أسفاً يهدُّ الجوع منكَ بطولةً

يامعدِنَ الأشبالِ والأبطال

O source of youths and heroes.

O source of the group who

يا معدِنَ النَفَرِ الذينَ تقسَّموا

لسماحةٍ ورَجاحةٍ ونِزال

Were characterized by generosity, wisdom, and fighting.

Some groups were preserved for the days of joy,

ذُخِرَتْ لأيامِ السرورِ فلائلٌ

نَزلتْ على الأوطانِ شرَّ عِيال

While misfortunes befell the homelands.

But your sons were preserved for a terrible day,

وبنوكَ قد ذُخِروا ليومِ كريهةٍ

وضريبةٍ و مجاعةٍ وِقتال

Of taxation, famine, and fighting.

Those arms that have been weakened

تلك السواعدُ فعمةٌ مفتولةٌ

أرخَتْ أشاجعَها يدُ الإقلال

Are arms that idleness has made powerless.

And I stood at your spring, standing

ولقد وَقفتُ على مَصبِّك وَقفةً

لا ينمَحي تَذكارُها من بالي

In a way whose memory cannot be erased from my mind.

As for the watercourse within you, it

أما مسيلُ الماء فيكَ فإنه

يَبَسٌ تعاورَهُ مسيلُ رِمال

Has dried up, and a course of sands intersected it.

My tongue tires of speaking because of the violent turmoil

أعيا لسانَ القولِ فرطُ تَلجْلُجٍ

فيه فساعدَهُ لسانُ الحال

Within it, so the state of affairs has aided it.

I examined the position of my companion and found him

خالستُ موقفَ صاحبي فوجدتُه

وهو الرزينُ مهيَّج البِلبال

To be judicious while in anxious confusion.

The perception of the perceptive and their peers

ولقد يعزُّ على الشُعور وأهلِهِ

مرأى البلادِ بمثل هذي الحال

Is pained to see the country in this condition.

And I looked around and found that everything

وفحصتُ أطرافي فكانت كلُّها

توحي الىَّ معرّة الإهْمال

Conveys to me a sense of negligence.

O inhabitants of Al-Ghraf, who is capable

يا ساكني " الغراف " ما قدرُ الذي

يأتيكُمُ من شاعرٍ قوّال

Of bringing you the words of an eloquent poet?

Or shall I send to you the comforting hope

أو أبعثُ الأملَ المريحَ اليكُمُ

أنا مثلكُمْ متصدِّعُ الآمال

That I, like you, have shattered hopes?

I am like you, I have surrendered all my feelings

أنا مثلُكم أسلمتُ كلِّ عواطفي

لليأسِ يأخذُها بكلِّ مَجال

To despair, which takes them in every situation.

The bitter cups you have drunk are in the custody of history,

في ذمة التاريخِ ما جُرِّعتُمُ

من غُصَّةٍ ، في ذمة الأجيال

In the custody of generations.

I said to the few good people among them,

قد قلتُ للنَفَرِ القليلِ خِيارُهم

لو كانَ ثمةَ سامعٌ لمقالي

"Show me some deeds to match some of your words."

"First, the people's despair has made them clamor;

هاتوا من الأعمال ما يقوى على

تصديقِ بعضِ خوادِع الأقوال

Fear the lethal consequences of their despair.

What prevents the masters from thinking

أولا فانَّ الشعبَ دوّى يأسُه

اخشَوا عواقبَ يأسِه القَتّال

Of the fate of slaves and partisans?

A people who walked while their rule

ما يمنعُ الساداتِ أن يتفكروا

بمصير أعبِدَةٍ لهُمْ ومَوالي

Was always at odds with forms."

"More destructive for a nation than a famine

شعبٌ على شكلٍ تمشَّى حكمُهُ

أبداً برغم تخالُفِ الأشكال

Of years is a famine of men."

"A people whom their enemy wanted to seduce and disintegrate,

وأمضُّ من قَحْط السنين بأمةٍ

مشلولةِ الأعمالِ قحطُ رجال

While their sons are torn limb from limb."

"The Euphrates was preoccupied with its injustice, forgetting

شعبٌ أراد به الوقيعةَ خصمُهُ

وبنوه فهو ممزَّقُ الأوصال

The south and north of Iraq."

"And if you ask for mercy, their answer is,

شُغِل الفراتُ بضيمه عن دجلة

ونسى جنوبيّ العراق شمالي

'What is it to hearts in pain and anguish?'"

وإذا سألتَ الرفقَ كان جوابُهُم

ما للقلوبِ الموجَعاتِ ومالي