1. اسالَ منَ الأجفانِ عَن صَدرِه نَهرا

    ليُطفِئَ ما بالقَلبِ مُشتَعِلاً جَمرا

    He let a river flow from his eyelids to soothe his breast,

    to quench the embers blazing in his heart.

  2. ومِن أدمُعِ الباكي الغَزِيرَةِ ما به

    تُخَفَّفُ أحزانٌ قد أقلَقَتِ الصَّدرا

    And in the weeper's copious tears lies that by which

    sorrows that have troubled the breast are eased.

  3. دَعُوا قَطَراتِ الدَّمعِ تَنزِلُ فوقَهُ

    فإنِّي بما في مُهجَتي مِنكُم أدرى

    Let the teardrops fall upon it,

    for I know better than you what is in my heart.

  4. فما نَكَدٌ مِثلُ الرُّعاةِ تَراهُمُ

    غداً نَهيُهم نَهياَ وأمرُهمُ أمرا

    For no bane is like these shepherds—you see them

    tomorrow, their bans real bans, their orders real orders.

  5. وذا الأرعَنُ المَشدودُ بالحَبلِ نِصفُه

    متى ساسَ غيرَ الضَّنِ جَاز به وَعرا

    And this reckless fool, half his body bound with a rope—

    whenever he governs anything but sheep, he leads it over rough ground.

  6. فأصبحَ والشَّكوى إلى اللهِ وحدَه

    وما المُرتَجى إلاَّهُ أن يَكشِفَ الضُرَّا

    And now—complaint is to God alone,

    and none but He is looked to for relief from harm—

  7. يَسوسُ بِفاسٍ مِن بَنيه كِرامَهُم

    فَيقلِبُهُم بَطناً ويَجلِدُهُم ظَهرا

    he governs in Fez the noble among its sons,

    turning them belly-down and flogging their backs.

  8. مُصابٌ نَشَدَت الصبرَ عندَ هُجومِه

    فَفَارَقَني صَبري يُرَدِّدُ لا صَبرا

    A calamity at whose onslaught I sought patience,

    so my patience deserted me, repeating, 'No patience!'

  9. مَصابٌ جَسيمٌ يا كرامُ بِحَقِّكُم

    خُذوا شَطرَه إنِّي اغتَصَبتُ لكم شَطرا

    A grievous calamity, noble ones—by your honor,

    take half of it; I have wrested away a half for you.

  10. وإن كنتُ أدري أنَّ بين ضُلوعِكُم

    كُبوداً حِراراً دونَها كَبِدي الحَرَّى

    And although I know that between your ribs

    are burning livers, hotter than my own burning liver,

  11. وزادكَمُ هَولَ المُصابِ سَماعُكُم

    نِداءَ بَنيكم تَستغيثًُ بِكُم جَهرا

    what deepened the calamity's terror for you was hearing

    your sons' cries, loudly calling to you for help.

  12. وأربعُة أسرى بُطونَهمُ جَثَوا

    بأطرافِهم تبَّت يَداهمُ مِن أسرى

    And four men, slaves to their bellies, knelt

    upon their limbs—may those slaves' hands perish!

  13. مُصابٌ كذا التاريخُ شاءَ فظاعةً

    يُحَدِّثُ عنه الغَيرُ من أُمَمٍ أخرى

    A calamity—history willed such horror—

    of which others from other nations speak.

  14. أسجنٌ وضَربٌ مُؤلِمٌ وإهَانَةٌ

    وزَجرٌ وتَعزير وما اقترَفوا وِزرا

    Imprisonment, painful beating, and humiliation,

    and rebuke and punishment, though they committed no offense?

  15. وما ذَنبُهم إلا الشُّعورُ بأنَّهم

    أثصيبوا فَصاحُوا من تأَلُّمِهِم جَهرا

    And their only fault was feeling that they

    had been hurt, so they cried aloud from their pain.

  16. فَقُل لكثيفِ الرُّوح هاتيكَ ضَربةٌ

    ملايينَ قد أضنَت بِمَغرِبنَا عَشرا

    So tell the coarse-souled one: that is a blow

    that has exhausted ten million in our Morocco.

  17. أحَسُّوا جميعاً بالتَأَلُّمِ والضَّنى

    وهل يَجهَلُ المَضرُورُ أنَّ ضُرًّا

    They all felt pain and exhaustion;

    and can the harmed be unaware that harm has been done?

  18. فمِن صامتٍ لم يَستَطِع وصفَ سُقمِه

    ومِن ناطقٍ مِن نُطقِه لم يَجِد صَبرا

    Some are silent, unable to describe their suffering,

    and some speak, finding no patience in their speech,

  19. سَواكَ الذي صيغَت منَ الرِّجسِ روحُهُ

    وقلبُه من صَخرٍ وما أليَنَ الصَّخرا

    except you, whose soul was fashioned from filth,

    and whose heart is rock—yet how soft rock is!

  20. ستَلقَى منَ الدَّهرِ النَّؤومِ انتباهَةً

    إليك فتَدري منه ما حَقه يُدرى

    You will face an awakening from slumbering Time

    toward you; then learn from it what ought to be known.

  21. هو الدَّهرُ يَحكي البَحرُ حالَ سُكونِه

    إذا طالَ مَدُّ البَحرِ فانتَظِر الجَزرا

    It is Time, resembling the sea in its stillness;

    when the sea's flood tide lasts long, await the ebb.

  22. وهَبهُم جُناةً أينَ منكَ جَزاؤُهُم

    جزاءً وِفاقثا لا خصاصاً ولا وَفرا

    And suppose them offenders—where, from you, is their recompense,

    a fitting recompense, neither scant nor excessive?

  23. فلو ساسَهُم أهلُ السِّياسَةِ والنُّهى

    رجالُ فَرنسا ساسةُ العالَمِ الكُبرى

    For had they been governed by people of statecraft and reason,

    the men of France, the world's foremost statesmen,

  24. لَمَا ظَفِرُوا مِنهُم بِغَيرِ عَدالةٍ

    تُخَوِّلُهُم صَفحاً إذا استَوجَبُوا زَجرا

    they would have received from them nothing but justice,

    granting them pardon when they merited rebuke.

  25. أيَا زَائِرَي فآسٍ إذا ما مَررتُما

    بِسِجنٍ حوَى أبنَاءَهُ خُضَّعاً مُرَّا

    O you two visitors to Fez, if ever you pass

    by a prison holding its sons bowed down, pay it a visit.

  26. فإنَّ بِذاكَ الخِيسِ أُسداً تَذَوَّقوا

    طُعومَ حياةِ احُرِّ فاستَعذبوا المُرَّا

    For in that thicket are lions who have tasted

    the flavors of a free man's life, so they found bitterness sweet.

  27. وشَقُّوا على عِلمٍ طريقَ زُباهُمُ

    فما حُبِسوا قَهراً وإن حُبِسوا قَهرا

    And knowingly they cut a path to their heights;

    so they were not imprisoned in defeat, though imprisoned by force.

  28. حياةُ الفَتى إدراكُ سِرِّ حَياتِه

    وما المَوتُ إلا جَهلُه ذلِكَ السِّرَّا

    A young man's life is understanding the secret of his life,

    and death is but his ignorance of that secret.

  29. فيُبصِرُ في الظَّلماءِ نورَ بصَيرةٍ

    وفي الشهدِ والحلَواءِ يَستَطعِمُ الصَّبرا

    Thus he sees in darkness the light of insight,

    and in honey and sweetmeats he tastes bitter aloe.

  30. وكم من طَليقٍ عاشَ في السِّجنِ عُمرَهُ

    وساكنِ سِجنٍ باتَ في عَينِه قَصرا

    And how many a free man has spent his life in prison,

    and for many a prison-dweller it became a palace in his eyes.

  31. فَقُل لِصُحاةٍ طالَ بالجَاهِ سُكرُهُم

    هُوَ الغَدُ لا يُبقي بِرَأسِكُم سُكرا

    So tell the sober ones, long drunk on prestige:

    it is tomorrow that will leave no drunkenness in your heads.

  32. أحَقًّا بني فاسِ بأنَّ بَنيكُمُ

    لَقَوا من صُروفِ الدَّهرِ ما أغضَبَ الدَّهرا

    Is it true, sons of Fez, that your sons

    have faced vicissitudes of Time that angered Time itself?

  33. مُصابٌ كما شاءَت شَقَاوَةُ أهلِهِ

    وخَطبٌ كما شاءت جسامَتُهُ الكُبرى

    A calamity as its people's misery decreed,

    and a catastrophe as its great magnitude decreed.

  34. فما اكتََنَز الوادي جَواهِرَهُ عَدا

    لِيَنظِمَها دَمعاً فَيَنثُرُها نَثرا

    So the valley hoarded its jewels only

    to string them as tears, then scatter them about.

  35. وقَبلاً خَريرُ الماءُ ما تَسمَعونَه

    والآنَ اسمَعوا صارَ الخَريرُ بُكاً مُرَّا

    And before, what you heard was the murmur of water;

    now listen: the murmur has become bitter weeping.

  36. فًَصَبراً جميلاً يا ابنَ فاسٍ عَنِ الرَّدى

    فحَقُّكَ في الدنياءِ يُقضى وفِي الأخرُى

    So show noble patience, son of Fez, and shun ruin;

    for your right will be vindicated in this world and the next.

  37. سَيلقَى مِنَ الدَّيَّانِ ما هو أهلُه

    وبالخِزي في الدُّنيا سَتبقى له الذِّكرى

    He will receive from the Judge what he deserves,

    and his memory will remain in disgrace in this world,

  38. ويدفَعُ للأيَّامِ جُلَّ حِسابِها

    إذا رَنَتِ الأيّام يَوماً له شَزرَا

    and he will pay the days the greater part of their reckoning,

    when one day the days look at him askance.