وَ من عَجَبَ الدَّهرِ أنَّ الغُرابَ يُربّى

                            وَ صَقرُ الفَضاء يُهجَرُ

وَ النِسُورُ عَلى بُعدِها              

                               تُطاوِلُها نَملَةٌ تَعثِرُ

فَيا وَيحَ شِعرِي مَنْ قَدَّموُا     

                 وَ يا لَهفَ نَفسِي مَنْ أخَّروُا

 

Abdul Hameed Naji, Baghdad, 1974

 

 

Sleeping Sheep

 

Falsehood's become true ... and chaos has spread
Liars are upheld ... and good mouths are well weld

 

Wisdom deserted all ... but a sleepless few
Trance became the norm ... and to reality blindness wed

 

No freethinking is left ... so long as they were fed
Sleeping most became ... in a rented bed

 

Wake up and uphold … what God’s always said:

Don’t step over others ... to reach a higher end
Love each other so ... to the Truth you’d be led

Ali Adams, Abu Dhabi, 2006