1. خطُ أختي لم أكن أجهله

    إن أختي دائماً تكتب لي

    My sister's handwriting was familiar to me.

    Indeed, my sister always writes to me.

  2. حدثتني أمس عن أهلي وعن

    مضض الشوق وبُعد المنزل

    Yesterday she told me about my family, and about

    the ache of longing and the remoteness of home.

  3. ماعساها اليوم لي قائلة؟

    أيُّ شيءٍ يا ترى لم تقلِ

    What might she be saying to me today?

    What, I wonder, has she not said?

  4. وفضضت الطرس ..لم أعثر على

    غير سطرٍ واحدٍ ..مختزلِ

    And I unfolded the sheet... I found

    nothing but a single, terse line.

  5. وتهجيت بجهدٍ بعضه

    إن أختي كتبت في عجل

    And with effort I spelled out part of it.

    Indeed, my sister had written in haste.

  6. فيه شيءٌ...عن عليٍ مبهمٌ

    ربما بعد قليل ينجلي

    There was something unclear in it about Ali,

    perhaps it would soon become clear.

  7. وتوقفتُ ..ولم أتممْ..وبي

    رعشاتُ الخائف المبتهل

    And I stopped... I did not finish... within me were

    the tremors of a frightened supplicant.

  8. وترآءى لي عليٌّ كاسياً

    من خيوط الفجر أسنى حُلَلِ

    And Ali appeared to me, clad

    in the brightest robes of dawn's threads.

  9. مَرِحَ اللفتةِ مزهو الخطى

    سلس اللهجة حلو الخجل

    playful in his glance, proud in his stride,

    smooth in his speech, sweet in his shyness.

  10. تسأل البسمةُ في مرشفه

    عن مواعيد انسكاب القُبَلِ

    The smile upon his lips asks

    when the kisses are to pour forth.

  11. طلعةٌ استقبل الدنيا بها

    ناعم البال بعيد المأمل

    A countenance with which he greeted the world,

    his mind at ease, his hopes far-reaching.

  12. كم أتى يشرح لي أحلامه

    وأمانيه على المستقبل

    How often he came to explain his dreams to me

    and his hopes for the future.

  13. قال لي في كبرياء إنه

    يعرف الدرب لعيش أفضل

    He told me with pride that he

    knew the path to a better life.

  14. إنه يكره أغلالي التي

    أوهنت عزمي وأدمت أرجلي

    He hated my shackles, which

    had weakened my resolve and bloodied my feet.

  15. سوف يعطي في غدٍ قريته

    خبرة العلم وجهد العمل

    Tomorrow he would give his village

    expert knowledge and hard work.

  16. وسيبني بيته في غابةٍ

    تترامى فوق سفح الجبل

    And he would build his house in a forest

    stretching far over the mountain slope.

  17. وسأعتز به في غده

    وأراه مثلاً للرجل

    And I would take pride in him in his tomorrow,

    and see him as a model of manhood.

  18. عدت للطرس الذي ليس به

    غير سطرٍ .. واحدٍ .. مختزلِ

    I returned to the sheet, which held

    nothing but a single, terse line.

  19. وتجالدت .. لعلي واجد

    فيه ما يبعد عني وجلي

    And I steeled myself, hoping I might find

    in it something to dispel my dread.

  20. وإذا أقفل معناه على

    وهمي الضارع ..كل السبل

    And suddenly its meaning closed off

    every path for my pleading illusion.

  21. غرقت عيناي في أحرفه

    وتهاوى مِزقاً عن أنملي

    My eyes drowned in its letters,

    and it tumbled in shreds from my fingertips.

  22. قلبُ أختي ..لم أكن أجهله

    إن أختي دائماً تحسن لي

    My sister's heart was familiar to me.

    Indeed, my sister is always kind to me.

  23. ما لها تنحرني نحراً على

    قولها ..مات ابنها.. مات علي

    Why does she slaughter me so with

    her words: her son has died... Ali has died?