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O Kinana, this is her voice raised

بني الكنانة هذا صوتها ارتفعا

1. O Kinana, this is her voice raised
Do not deny the truth, the truth has shone

١. بني الكنانةِ هذا صوتُها ارتفعا
لا تُنكروا الحقَّ إنّ الحقَّ قد سطعا

2. The most wretched of peoples and the first to receive mercy
A people seized by the misguided then deceived

٢. أشقى الشُّعوبِ وأولاها بمرحمةٍ
شَعبٌ تَلقَّفَهُ الغاوونَ فانْخدعا

3. Ask the exalted, they laid the constitution down, what did they do
When yesterday's pillar tilted and collapsed

٣. سلوا الأُلىَ صرَعوا الدُّستورَ ما فعلوا
إذ مالَ قائِمُه بالأمسِ فاضطجعا

4. They are the criminals against the people to whom their hands reached
From the meadows of humiliation whatever was cut

٤. هُمُ الجُناةُ على الشّعبِ الذي وصلت
أيديهمو من رباقِ الذُلِّ ما قطعا

5. It wants the path to its independence and sees
The cunning of the protectors and the misleading of the enemies permitted

٥. يَبغِي السَّبيلَ إلى اسْتقلالهِ ويرى
كيدَ الحُماةِ وتضليلَ العِدى شَرَعا

6. When they snatched away the constitution from its hand
You would think it was torn out of the heart of darkness

٦. إذا هُمُ انْتَزعوا الدّستورَ من يدهِ
حَسِبْتَهُ من سَوادِ القلبِ مُنتزَعا

7. O quencher of the great strife when
The land of Kinana shook from its terrors, alarmed

٧. يا مُطفِئَ الفتنةِ الكبرى وقد رجفتْ
أرضُ الكِنانةِ من أهوالها فَزعا

8. Had it not been for your defense, its fire would have blazed
And blood would have flowed unrestrained in its regions

٨. لولا دِفاعُكَ طارتْ نارُها شُعَلاً
واسْترسلَ الدَّمُ في أرجائها دُفَعا

9. You stood against evil, stopped it, and deterred it
Until it retreated after being repelled and recoiled

٩. وقفتَ للشرِّ تَنهاهُ وتزجُرُه
حَتى تراجعَ بعد الكرَّ وارْتَدعا

10. When you rose to the events pushing them back
The clouded adversity was exposed and dispersed

١٠. لمّا طلعت على الأحداثِ تدفعُها
تكشّفَ العارضُ المُسودُّ وانْقشعا

11. They said weapons and provoked them, misguided
Blind, seeking the truth behind it rising

١١. قالوا السّلاحُ وهاجوها مُضلَّلةً
عمياءَ تبغي وراءَ الحقِّ مُطَّلعا

12. If they were fair to you, they would have said one who protects
Who guarded the country and protected the people so he refused

١٢. لو أنصفوكَ لقالوا ذو مُحافظةٍ
حَمَى البلادَ وصان الشَّعبَ فامتنعا

13. Indeed, you refrained until every young
Soldier concealed his sword and shied away

١٣. لقد تورّعتَ حتّى باتَ كلُّ فتىً
من الجُنودِ يُوارِي سَيْفَهُ وَرَعا

14. Had it been other than you, you would not have been gentle with their master
And would not have cared what the oppressors amassed

١٤. لو كنتَ غيرَك لم تَرفقْ بسيِّدِهم
ولم تُبال من الدَّهماءِ ما جمعا

15. Injury strikes you, overwhelms whoever complains about you
So you spend the evening grieved and anxious

١٥. يُصِيبُك الجرحُ يغشى مِن صحابتِه
مَن يشتكيك فتُمسِي مُشفِقاً جَزِعا

16. Do they not weep the day your good deed from you is blocked
A hand that heals wounds and dispels worries and pain

١٦. أما بكَوْا يَومَ تُسدِي الصُّنعَ منك يدٌ
تَشفِي الجِراحَ وتنفِي الهمَّ والوَجَعا

17. If tears had effect in their depths
It would have flowed on the blood caused by what they did

١٧. لو كان للدَّمعِ في آماقِهم عَملٌ
جَرَى على الدَّمِ يُجريه بما صنعا

18. They provoked the souls, so when their destroyer fell
They fled quickly and returned terrified together

١٨. هاجوا النُّفوسَ فلمّا طاحَ هالكُها
طاروا سِراعاً وعادوا مُهطِعين معا

19. Where are the covenants and oaths, bringing them together
One who, had he seen war in his dreams, would have panicked

١٩. أين المواثيقُ والأَيْمانُ يَحشُدُها
من لَو رأى الحربَ في أحلامِه هَلَعا

20. The promptings of a soul were repelled by destiny
Which turns back every deviant from harm intended

٢٠. كانت نوازعَ نَفْسٍ ردَّها قَدَرٌ
يَردُّ كلَّ غوِيٍّ للأَذى نَزعا

21. God helped the people of the Nile, so
Afflictions recoiled from them, and had it not been for God, they would have collapsed

٢١. اللهُ أدركَ شَعبَ النِّيلِ فانصدعتْ
عنه الخُطوبُ ولولا اللهُ لانْصدَعا

22. He made His mercy flow through the hand of Ismail
So what happened was among the beloved matters willed

٢٢. أَجرى على يدِ إسماعيلَ رحمَتَهُ
فكان من مُستحبِّ الأمرِ ما وقعا

23. Peace rested protected in his competence
And every young man retired armed with security

٢٣. راح السّلامُ مَصوناً في كِلاءتِه
وبات كلُّ فتىً بالأمنِ مُدَّرعا

24. So the frightened maker returned to his livelihood
After sorrow and the farmer watered what was planted

٢٤. فراجع الصّانعُ المذعورُ مَيْعتهُ
بعد الوَنى وسقَى الفلّاحُ ما زرعا

25. Neither did the land disappear with its people as they claimed
Nor did its celestial bodies fall to pieces

٢٥. لا الأرضُ زالت بأهليها كما زعموا
ولا السّماءُ هوت أجرامُها قِطَعا

26. They roamed the country and said whatever they invented
But the people saw nothing of it nor heard

٢٦. طافوا البلادَ وقالوا كلَّ ما ابتدعوا
فما رأى الشّعبُ من شيءٍ ولا سَمِعا

27. Their master did not stop grieving every troubled one
Burning, calling out for supporters and defenders

٢٧. ما انفكَّ سيِّدهُم في كلِّ مُضطَربٍ
حرّانَ يستصرخُ الأنصارَ والشِّنَعا

28. Tempting the commons with protectors who did not
Wring the blood of the commons or insult them

٢٨. يُغرِي السّوادَ بمأمونين ما اعتصروا
دَمَ السَّوادِ ولا زانوا له الشُّنَعا

29. May evil repay them for their goodness to their nation
And for refusing the path of misguidance however alluring

٢٩. يَجزيهمُ السُّوءَ أَن بَرُّوا بأُمَّتهم
وأَن أَبَوْا من سبيلِ الغَيِّ ما اتّبعا

30. With power he increasingly desires it
Like wine, the more accustomed one becomes the greater the craving

٣٠. يَزدادُ بالحكمِ إمّا ذاقَهُ شَغفاً
كالخمرِ يزدادُ مَن يَعتادُها وَلَعا

31. He tyrannizes, but if the glimmer of a lightning bolt
From the side of the usurpers startles him, he wilts and humbles himself

٣١. يَطغَى فإن راعَهُ إيماضُ بارقةٍ
من جانبِ الغاصِبينَ انْحطَّ واتَّضعا

32. A spendthrift seeking from their affection a reason
If the connected cause weakens then it is severed

٣٢. مُستهلِكٌ يبتغِي من وُدِّهم سَبباً
إذا وَهَى السَّببُ الموصولُ فانقطعا

33. He complained so much he left no lovelorn one
To complain of the torment of love in words however eloquent

٣٣. بثَّ الشكاةَ فلم يَتركْ لِذي شَجَنٍ
يشكو جَوى الحُبِّ من قولٍ وإن برعا

34. When Mcdonald realized his distress
Tears streamed from his eyes or spilled

٣٤. لمّا تبيَّنَ مكدولندُ لوعَتَهُ
تحدّرَ الدَّمعُ من عَينَيْهِ أو همعا

35. And he said, why does Ismail deny us?
Does he not see the view of those who have become our followers?

٣٥. وقال ما بالُ إسماعيلُ يُنكرنا
أما يَرى رأيَ مَن أمسَى لنا تبعا

36. With speeches from his message he pelted us
Nothing has struck us like them, not even a slap

٣٦. لقد رمانا بخطبٍ من رسالتِه
ما مسَّنا مثله خطبٌ ولا قرعا

37. He sailed the seas but we were not amazed by what we found in him
Nor did we blame the fleet when it recoiled

٣٧. خاضَ البِحارَ فلم نَعجبْ لما وجدت
منه ولم نَلُمِ الأُسْطولَ إذ خشعا

38. Woe to Kinana! Neither its independence was true
In it suspicions were confirmed, nor its constitution effective

٣٨. ويحَ الكِنانةِ لا استقلالُها صَدقتْ
فيه الظُّنونُ ولا دُستورُها نَفَعا

39. Hope narrowed so no latitude was decided for it
Unless the state of reform found room to spread

٣٩. ضاقَ الرَّجاءُ فما تُقضَى له سَعةٌ
إن لم تَجِدْ دولةُ الإصلاحِ مُتَّسعا

40. What will the reformer who builds his nation do
If the destructive disenchanted hasten what he erected?

٤٠. ما يفعلُ المصلحُ الباني لأُمَّتِه
إن عاجلَ الهادمُ الموتورُ ما رفعا