رحِمتُ قوماً وما مالت رقابُهمُ

رحِمتُ قوماً وما مالت رقابُهمُ

تحت القريض فظنُّوا أنهم حَمَلوا

تحت القريض فظنُّوا أنهم حَمَلوا

I pitied a people whose necks had not bowed

I had mercy on a people whose necks were not bent

Beneath poetry, and so they thought they had borne it.

Beneath the yoke, yet they thought they had borne it.

وقعقعوا دونه الأبوابَ فاعتقدوا

وقعقعوا دونه الأبوابَ فاعتقدوا

بطول ما قروعها أنهم وصلوا

بطول ما قروعها أنهم وصلوا

And they rattled the gates before it, believing

They clamored at its doors till they fancied

That, by knocking at them so long, they had arrived.

That the length of the din meant their call was effective.

وحظُّهم منه حظّ الناقِفاتِ رجتْ

وحظُّهم منه حظّ الناقِفاتِ رجتْ

أن يُجتنَى من هبيدِ الحنظلِ العسلُ

أن يُجتنَى من هبيدِ الحنظلِ العسلُ

And their share of it is that of the seed-crackers who hoped

Their share in it was like bees' share in the nectar;

That honey might be gathered from the seeds of bitter colocynth.

To suck what they could from the bitter colocynth.

تسرَّعوا في بحورٍ منه طاميةٍ

تسرَّعوا في بحورٍ منه طاميةٍ

والمنبعُ العذبُ فيها بيننا وشَلُ

والمنبعُ العذبُ فيها بيننا وشَلُ

They rushed into its surging seas,

They rushed into seas where its billows were frothed

While the sweet spring within them is but a trickle among us.

While the fountain of sweet water was ours and was hid.

محجَّةٌ سُبْلُها البيضاءُ خافيةٌ

محجَّةٌ سُبْلُها البيضاءُ خافيةٌ

وكلّها في مرائي أعينٍ سُبُلُ

وكلّها في مرائي أعينٍ سُبُلُ

It is a highway whose white paths lie hidden,

A lucid signpost, its white finger concealed;

Yet, in the eyes' view, it is all pathways.

Yet they wandered the mirage that lured their vain eyes.

والصحفُ تُملأ والأقلامُ متعَبةٌ

والصحفُ تُملأ والأقلامُ متعَبةٌ

وكلّما سمعوا من خاطبٍ نقلوا

وكلّما سمعوا من خاطبٍ نقلوا

And the pages are filled, and the pens are wearied,

The records were full and the writers weary

And whenever they hear a speaker, they copy his words.

Transcribing the words brought them by every chance talker.

والقولُ والنقدُ مخلوقانِ في عَدَدٍ

والقولُ والنقدُ مخلوقانِ في عَدَدٍ

قُلٍّ كما تُخلَق الأسماعُ والمُقَلُ

قُلٍّ كما تُخلَق الأسماعُ والمُقَلُ

And verse and criticism are inborn in some—

Opinion and censure were made in one mold—

A few—just as ears and eyes are created.

Few ears as the mouths where crude notions originate.

لا يُكسبان بتقليدٍ ولا أدبٍ

لا يُكسبان بتقليدٍ ولا أدبٍ

ولايفيدهما علمٌ ولا عملُ

ولايفيدهما علمٌ ولا عملُ

They cannot be acquired through imitation or literary learning,

No cloak of instruction, tradition avails them.

Nor can knowledge or practice bestow them.

No science, no toil brings them gain or achievement.