I am the sea, with pearls hidden in my depths…
Quote
I am the sea, with pearls hidden in my depths; have they asked the diver about my shells?
Arabic original
أنا البحر في أحشائه الدر كامن، فهل ساءلوا الغواص عن صدفاتي؟
What it means
The Arabic language speaks through the poet. It compares itself to a sea full of pearls: its resources require exploration and knowledge, rather than a shallow judgement about its power to express the world.
The story behind this quote
Hafez Ibrahim gives Arabic a voice in his poem about the language and its speakers. The diver represents someone who knows it deeply enough to appreciate its riches.
The image distinguishes what is visible at the surface from what a skilled person finds below. The diver matters because the pearls otherwise remain hidden. The final question defends the language’s richness by asking that judgement come through people who know and explore it.
The source
اللغة العربية تنعى حظها بين أهلها (رجعت لنفسي فاتهمت حصاتي), على لسان اللغة العربية, 1903
The text appears in the indicated source. A traditional attribution remains distinct from proof of authorship: see the context.