1. رُوَيدَكَ أَيُّها الجَبّارُ فينا

    فَإِنَّ الرَأيَ أَلّا تَزدَرينا

    Hold back, O tyrant in our midst!

    For good sense is not to despise us.

  2. رُوَيدَكَ أَيُّها القاضي عَلَينا

    قَضاءَ الظالِمينَ الناقِمينا

    Hold back, O you who pass judgment on us,

    with the judgment of resentful oppressors.

  3. زَعَمتَ الحُكمَ حُكمَكَ في كِتابٍ

    كَذَبتَ بِهِ الخَلائِقَ أَجمَعينا

    You claimed, in a book, that judgment was yours;

    through it you lied to all mankind.

  4. وَما غَفلوا عَنِ الأَحقادِ تَغلي

    مَراجِلُها وَما جَهلوا اليَقينا

    Nor were they heedless of the hatreds seething

    in their cauldrons; nor were they ignorant of the certain truth.

  5. نَفَثتَ سُمومَها إِذ ضاقَ عَنها

    فُؤادُكَ وَالقُلوبُ تَضيعُ حينا

    You spewed their poisons when they overwhelmed

    your heart—and hearts sometimes go astray.

  6. زَعَمتَ سُراتَنا وَذَوي نُهانا

    مَهاذيرَ المَقاوِلِ كاذِبينا

    You claimed our leaders and men of sound judgment were

    babblers in their speech and liars.

  7. إِذا ما جِئتَهُم أَرضَوكَ مَدحاً

    فَإِن فَارَقتَ عادوا لاعِنينا

    Whenever you come to them, they please you with praise;

    but if you leave, they turn again to cursing.

  8. زَعَمتَ بِلادَهُم هانَت عَلَيهِم

    فَما يَشكونَ عَهدَ الغاصِبينا

    You claimed their homeland meant little to them,

    so they do not complain of the usurpers' rule.

  9. زَعَمتَ حَياتَهُم أَرضاً وَماءً

    تَجودُ بِهِ أَكُفُّ المانِحينا

    You claimed their life was land and water

    generously bestowed by benefactors' hands.

  10. زَعَمتَ بِنا مَزاعِمَ كاذِباتٍ

    وَما يُغني مَقالُ الزاعِمينا

    You made false assertions about us,

    yet the words of those who make claims avail nothing.

  11. زَعَمتَ الدينَ وَالقُرآنَ جاءا

    بِما يُشقي حَياةَ المُسلِمينا

    You claimed religion and the Quran had come

    with what makes Muslims' lives wretched.

  12. زَعَمتَ مُحَمَّداً لَم يُؤتَ رُشداً

    وَلَم يَسلُك سَبيلَ المُصلِحينا

    You claimed Muhammad had not been granted right guidance

    and had not followed the path of reformers.

  13. فَلَيتَكَ كُنتَهُ لِتَسُنَّ شَرعاً

    يُبَلِّغُنا مَكانَ السابِقينا

    Then would that you had been he, to enact a law

    that would bring us to the station of the foremost!

  14. رُوَيدَكَ أَيُّها الجَبّارُ فينا

    فَبِئسَ الحُكمُ حُكمُ القاسِطينا

    Hold back, O tyrant in our midst!

    For wretched is the judgment of the unjust.

  15. وَهَبنا أُمَّةً في الجَهلِ غَرقى

    وَشَعباً في مَهانَتِهِ دَفينا

    And suppose us a nation drowned in ignorance,

    and a people buried in its humiliation:

  16. أَدينُ اللَهِ يَأمُرُنا بِجَهلٍ

    وَيوجِبُ أَن نَذِلَّ وَنَستَكينا

    does God's religion command us to be ignorant

    and require that we be abased and submit?

  17. سَلِ الأَحياءَ وَالمَوتى جَميعاً

    أَكُنّا أُمَّةً مُستَضعَفينا

    Ask the living and the dead alike:

    were we a nation treated as weak

  18. لَيالِيَ يَبعَثُ الإِسلامُ مِنّا

    عَزائِمَ تُخضِعُ المُتَغَطرِسينا

    in the nights when Islam called forth from us

    resolves that subdued the arrogant?

  19. نَثُلُّ عُروشَ جَبّارينَ غُلباً

    وَنَجتَثُّ المَمالِكَ فاتِحينا

    We toppled the thrones of mighty tyrants

    and uprooted kingdoms as conquerors.

  20. وَقائِعُ تَرجُفُ الدُوَلاتُ مِنها

    وَيَذكُرُها القَياصِرُ صاغِرينا

    Battles at which states tremble,

    and the Caesars recall them in humiliation.

  21. تَرَكنا الدَهرَ يَنتَقِضُ اِنتِقاضاً

    وَغادَرنا الخَلائِقَ ذاهِلينا

    We left Time shuddering violently,

    and left mankind dumbfounded,

  22. بِبَأسٍ لا كِفاءَ لَهُ وَعِلمٍ

    جَلا الغَمَراتِ وَاِكتَسَحَ الدُجونا

    with might that had no equal, and with knowledge

    that dispelled engulfing confusion and swept away the darkness,

  23. لَيالِيَ ظَلَّل الأَقوامَ جَهلٌ

    أَضَلَّهُمُ فَظَلّوا حائِرينا

    in the nights when ignorance overshadowed the peoples,

    leading them astray, so they remained bewildered.

  24. سَننَّا الرُشدَ لِلغاوينَ طُرّاً

    وَلَولا الدينُ لَم نَكُ راشِدينا

    We laid down right guidance for all who strayed;

    and but for religion, we would not have been rightly guided.

  25. وَلَولا مَعشَرٌ خَذَلوهُ مِنّا

    لَكُنّا السابقينَ الأَوَّلينا

    And but for a group among us who forsook it,

    we would have been the foremost, the very first.

  26. أَتَزعُمُ ما جَنى الجُهَلاءُ ديناً

    وَتَأخُذُنا بِذَنبِ الجاهِلينا

    Do you claim that what the ignorant have perpetrated is religion,

    and hold us accountable for the sin of the ignorant?

  27. رُوَيدَكَ أَيُّها الجَبّارُ فينا

    فَما أَنصَفتَنا دُنيا وَدينا

    Hold back, O tyrant in our midst!

    For you have not been fair to us in worldly affairs or religion.