1. The year was folded like a scroll
And fell into the abyss of the distant past

2. It did not just happen, but it went away
Until it was as if it had never been

3. If it had known when destruction came
It would have wished it had never existed

4. What shining star has ever set
What throbbing heart has ever stilled

5. Ignorant is he who thinks the future will last
A fool is he who hopes the past will return

6. Why does sadness overtake us
Whenever a year fades away and withers

7. We rejoice that we draw near
To a tomorrow that contains death

8. Wondrous is this, and more wondrous
Is that we perish yet hope does not

9. It is as if we never heard of death
Or as if we enjoyed immortality

10. O God, protect this past year
For it was peaceful and safe

11. In it, rivals made peace with rivals
And the sword and spears found rest

12. Dawn never came but it saw the lamps lit
And the fires of turmoil died down in the Balkans

13. I shall not forget the awakening of the sleeping people
For in it is a lesson for those who would learn

14. And the two seas met after
Generations had passed without meeting

15. The dam between them became
A pond where both blues gather

16. So may America last, for she has no peer
In this feat in history

17. And may her flag with the stars flutter
The most beautiful of flags is deserving of glory

18. And the people rode high on the wings of air
Playing around balloons

19. The balloon sails among them in the sky
As ships sail on the sea

20. Miracles not achieved by prophets
Nor aspired to by ancients

21. Science has harnessed even the clouds for them
And they are above the land like the clouds

22. The Westerners flew high in the heavens
While we lamented the unfair destiny

23. For when the fortunate ones said:
“We found and you say nothing”

24. Had we understood life’s meaning like them
We would not have wasted it in weeping

25. Our souls are accustomed to constant injustice
As the deer is habituated to salty plants

26. All nations have attained their goal
The Chinese arose while we still sleep

27. Misfortunes and disasters toyed with us
As the wicked toy with the free

28. The writer and orator are banned among us
Our tongues are forbidden even to speak

29. We are the people of the scroll
We are like the Jewish brethren in humiliation

30. Would that when tyranny died
Our spirits had joined the departed

31. We did not rebel against the oppressors
Nor did we unchain a single prisoner

32. Only blood will erase our shame
How long will we shed scalding tears?

33. A thousand tyrants rose over us
Though not one of us died a martyr

34. Oh my people, the flood reached the helms
And injustice spread and corruption mounted

35. So make your pens white as camels
And borrow your ink from the blood of oppressors

36. The sword has written, so read what it wrote
Glory cannot be won but by sacrifice

37. Men of the East, sons of great men
Do not sleep, the plague is stagnation