Beneath the blue Egyptian skies,

Concrete and cubic errands.

I saw the great pyramids of Giza arise,

And I shall see them pass away in the desert sands.

I watched when the Ottomans passed,

where the sultan of Istanbul’s flag unfurled.

Cleopatra II the pharaoh who brought her dynasty’s last,

The death that shook the World.

To each hour under these new Arab skies,

Persian, Greek, French and Jews.

I too saw the Suez Canal arise,

Even Abbas the 1st who brushed me with his shoes.

And yet I am not of such kith and kin,

Mohammed or Ahmad Urabi in command.

I am the one who never changes within,

The single grain of sand.