1. O life, you were bright like the adornment of a garden before my eyes
With greetings like a swaying branch

2. And poetry descended upon it, O soul
Reassured in its reassured spirit

3. You met the faces of the eminent radiantly
The risings of years, auspicious dawns

4. And the hearts of loyalty expanded
Pure from any deceit and malice

5. And the palms of generosity did not follow
With harm and were not troubled with disdain

6. And Alawite virtues from reins
In peace and dignity with composure

7. You enriched in the land of souls treasures
And the years concealed them after burial

8. You were blessed in your meadows with branches
Fresh, tender grape buds

9. Welcome to the souls intoxicated with pure wine
Not the daughter of a cup and lowliness

10. Welcome to the hearts that cultivated vineyards
And the branches met in growth, branch with branch

11. May God unite them after dispersion
And reunite their raids after hostility

12. O you who celebrate Alif, this is the sanctuary of Alif
With sublime and security with composure

13. From it balconies overlooking you were ennobled
Standing on sturdy foundations

14. Of elders among them wise guides
And youth among them chivalrous knights

15. They confer about righteousness and piety
Between a chapter of speech and melody

16. And they urge souls to what
Gives the grandfather a lofty status

17. It saddened them that their people are weak
To languor in its weak body

18. Folded like silk, its tones flowed
Not knowing lamentations or songs

19. Or it was misled, though the evidence is manifold
Contrary, it turned its back to its belly

20. So its fertile land became barren
And it punished it for its luck with stinginess

21. And disasters strike after disasters
From it the axes struck every building

22. O protectors of the country, O youth of Alif
Do you have from opinion a refuge?

23. Your neighbors have marched with time
While you stand between illusion and weakness

24. Under various powers you suffer from them
What you suffer from harm and collect?

25. Where is your awe from you and vindication?
Or have you settled into contempt and injustice?

26. Do not say...the ancestors failed, for here
An upbringing that caused them ill thoughts

27. In Tlemcen, in Béjaïa, in Tiaret
In Ghardaia, every art prospered

28. When they were the East and West's refuge
Like an institute and fortress

29. And upon it were mighty honorable kings
Every vigilant, prudent lord

30. They supported righteousness, supported the sea with flags
From the structures of cities and ships

31. And they walked on the saddles of the earth hunting
Between fierce angels and jinn

32. They guided the nations with opinion and shepherding
And ruled them with wisdom and permission

33. Then they were tied by circumstances with constriction
And surrounded by conditions with affliction

34. And the hand of time folded them
As the scribe's hand folds the book and bends

35. So life became like a miserable night
And the countryside lonely like a prison

36. And the earth is barren and the air blind
Its shadow clouded by sorrow

37. And the kingdom of ancestors passed, leaving
In the hands of sons nothing but wishes

38. Oh lost glory other than glory
That bit a palm or knocked a tooth

39. Stand with me in Algiers today and probe
Its conditions with an observant eye and ear

40. You find the child playing in the alleys
And the youth drinking wines and committing adultery

41. You find the orphan girl suffering
Under numbness, stooping or crouching

42. And though the whites have helped her and said
The hand of Christ has honored her with an embrace

43. Had men of dignity passed by her
She would have married and been adopted

44. Algeria's children have no other
Meaning or borders or law of any meaning

45. And the parliaments have uncovered tribulations
Not consolations that challenge them like years

46. Like the lies of lightning in every discourse
Promising the people falseness and wishes

47. And the projects, laws, manners, books, and prohibitions
Have no meaning

48. And from the tongues in forums and pens in the press
Evil taste and accusation

49. And pretense spread so every holder of a rosary
With a long beard and chin claimed to be governor

50. And the people went too far with the saint, thinking
He is like a god who enriches and provides

51. And they refused the river of knowledge thirstily
Hoping for the watering of partial knowledge

52. Moses felt constricted by the knowledge of Moses' companion
No no, they came up with superstition and perversity

53. And they called each other, thus innovating their reformers
And when was a reformer other than traditional?

54. O Muslims, our ship has long been sinking, is there a way to patch it?
God forbid a people seeking His grace should drown

55. Revere God among them and guide the lost
Among them who lost the path to the Garden of Eden

56. And make the knot of creed firm in religion, strengthen it
From every rupture and strife

57. Yes, the reward of jihad is with soul, wealth, and say to the rich: I mean you
For the comfort of Algeria is in the comfort of its guardian

58. Leave injustice in complaining of doom, for in my view, its time has passed or it is as if it never was
And seek your right to a just living, do not lean towards cruelty or cowardice

59. Raise your voice with it and die for it, do not despair even if a thousand centuries pass
The scream of truth in the ears causes rupture

60. Like an arrow filling the air flexibly
So peace unto peace, peace on truth

61. And no ruin from a minaret or pillar
And peace on peace on the pure

62. On goodwill, consent, and rapprochement
And peace be upon you and the delegation

63. And what it contained of majesty and beauty