1. O nation whose dreams have perished,
Whose glories have collapsed into ruin.

2. You are misled by the deceits of every misguided one,
The darkness has veiled understanding from their eyes.

3. He casts you into every perilous illusion-
You think withdrawal is praiseworthy there.

4. This is the path to life, and these
Are the beacons of guidance, if only minds would be guided.

5. O my people, can a whimsy move mountains,
Or empty words frighten lions in their lairs?

6. O my people, do disputes and divisions
Give life to nations and protect their lands?

7. O my people, does a sluggard attain glory?
Does sleep lead to triumph in the race?

8. O my people, are hands with no strength able
To build, when the shoulders above them weary?

9. Woe unto you, O children of Egypt!
Is this how events and days instruct you?

10. Alas, disasters have attacked us.
Thickly they have descended upon thickening ruin.

11. Alas, their violence has tormented our souls.
Deception and trickery have led them astray.

12. A character yielding only evil, from which pour
Calamities to frighten those living in security.

13. Tackle your affairs through the policy of one prudent,
Perhaps what is corrupt can thereby be set right.

14. I grieve over those mutually hostile. Have they not seen
That cordiality and harmony are grace and delight?

15. They have initiated enmity amongst themselves, though
Neither Christ's nor Islam's religion commanded them this.

16. But yesterday the foxes frolicked round their lair,
And today wolves growl maliciously about it.

17. They have squatted in the mire of disgrace, not realizing
That life is conflict and peril and war.