لستَ أَبْكي لعَسْفِ ليلٍ طويلٍ

أَوْ لرَبْعٍ غَدَا العَفَاءُ مَرَاحَهْ

I do not weep for the tyranny of a long night,

I weep not for the tyranny of a dragging night,

Nor for a pleasant spring that is now desolate.

Nor for ruins where desolation has made its bed.

إنَّما عَبْرَتي لخَطْبِ ثَقيلٍ

قَدْ عَرَانا ولمْ نَجِدْ مَن أَزاحَهْ

Rather, my tears are for a grave misfortune,

My tears fall only for a heavy calamity

That has befallen us with none to remedy.

That has befallen us, with none to lift its weight.

كلَّما قامَ في البلادِ خَطيبٌ

مُوقِظٌ شعبَهُ يُريدُ صَلاحَهْ

Whenever an orator rises in this land,

Whenever a voice rises within the land,

Awakening his people, seeking their welfare,

To wake his people, seeking their restoration,

أَلْبَسوا رُوحَهُ قَميصَ اضْطِهادٍ

فاتِكٍ شائِكٍ يَرُدُّ جَمَاحَهْ

They force his spirit into oppression's shirt,

They clothe his spirit in a tunic of oppression,

Rough and prickly, clipping his wings.

Lethal and barbed, to curb his wild defiance.

أَخْمَدوا صَوْتَهُ الإِلهيَّ بالعَسْفِ

أَماتوا صُدَاحَهُ وَنُواحَهْ

They stifle his divine voice with violence,

They stifle his divine voice with brute force,

Silencing his zeal and lament.

Killing his melody and his lamentation.

وَتَوَخَّوْا طَرائِقَ العَسْفِ والإِرْ

هَاقِ تَوًّا وَمَا تَوَخَّوْا سَمَاحَهْ

And they plot the means of tyranny and terror,

They pursue the paths of tyranny and exhaustion,

Never considering tolerance or clemency.

Relentlessly, with never a thought for grace.

هكذا المُخْلِصونَ في كلِّ صَوْبٍ

رَشَقَاتُ الرَّدى إليهم مُتَاحَهْ

Thus are the sincere treated in every quarter,

Such is the lot of the faithful everywhere;

Pelted by ruins made accessible to them.

The shafts of destruction are ever aimed at them.

غَيْرَ أَنَّا تَنَاوَبَتْنا الرَّزايا

واسْتَبَاحَتْ حَمانا أَيَّ اسْتِباحَهْ

Though we have shared in calamities,

Yet we are besieged by tragedies in turn,

And our sanctuary is violated - what a violation!

Which have violated our sanctuary with utter abandon.

أَنا يا تُونُسَ الجميلَةَ في لُجِّ

الهَوَى قَدْ سَبَحْتُ أَياً سِباحَهْ

O beautiful Tunisia, I plunged deep

I, O beautiful Tunisia, in the deep ocean

In the sea of passion - what a plunging!

Of passion, have swum the furthest reaches.

شِرْعتي حُبُّكِ العَميقُ وإنِّي

قَدْ تَذَوَّقْتُ مُرَّهُ وقَرَاحَهْ

My creed is my profound love for you,

My creed is your deep love, and I have truly

Though I've tasted its bitterness and wounds.

Tasted its bitterness and its pure sweet spring.

لستُ أَنْصاعُ للوَاحي ولوْ مُتُّ

وقامَتْ على شَبابي المَنَاحَهْ

I will not yield to the slanderer, even if

I yield not to the critic, even if I perish,

Old age descends upon my youth.

And the funeral dirge is raised over my youth.

لا أُبالي وإنْ أُرِيقَتْ دِمائي

فدِماءُ العُشَّاقِ دوماً مُبَاحَهْ

I care not if my blood is spilled,

I heed it not, even if my blood is shed,

For the blood of lovers is always licit.

For the blood of lovers is always lawfully taken.

وبطُولِ المدى تُريكِ اللَّيالي

صادِقَ الحُبِّ والوَلاَ وسَجَاحَهْ

And time will show you, through the nights,

Through the stretch of time, the nights will show you

The sincerity of my love, loyalty and passion.

True love, devotion, and a noble nature.

إنَّ ذا عَصْرُ ظُلْمَةٍ غَيْرَ أنِّي

مِنْ وراءِ الظَّلامِ سِمْتُ صَبَاحَهْ

Though this is an era of darkness,

This is indeed an age of darkness, yet I,

Beyond the gloom, I have glimpsed its dawn.

From beyond the shadows, have glimpsed its dawn.

ضَيَّعَ الدَّهْرُ مَجْدَ شَعْبي ولكِنْ

سَتَرُدُّ الحَيَاةُ يوماً وِشَاحَهْ

Fate has destroyed my people's glory, but

Fate has squandered my people's glory, but

Life will one day restore its mantle.

Life shall one day restore its sash of honor.