لا اليوم يومك إذ ولدت ولا الغد — Ahmad Muharram

لا اليومُ يومك إذ وُلِدتَ ولا الغدُ

يا ليت أنّك كلّ يوم تُولَدُ

Neither today nor tomorrow is your day—the day you were born.

Oh, if only you were born every day!

عاد الظلامُ كما عَهدتَ وهذه

دُنيا الجهالةِ والأَذى تَتجدّدُ

Darkness has returned as you knew it, and this

world of ignorance and harm renews itself.

ما ذاق مهلكه أبو جهلٍ ولا

أودى أبو لهبٍ وربُّك يَشهدُ

Abu Jahl has not tasted his doom, nor

has Abu Lahab perished—your Lord bears witness.

في كلّ أرضٍ منهما مُتجبِّرٌ

يأبى الرّشادَ وظالمٌ يتمرّدُ

In every land stands a tyrant of their kind,

who spurns right guidance, and an oppressor who rebels.

وعبادةُ الأصنامِ قام دُعاتُها

مِلءَ الممالكِ ما على يدهم يَدُ

And the advocates of idol worship have risen,

filling the kingdoms, with no hand above their own.

فلكلِّ قومٍ من سفاهةِ رأيهم

ربٌّ يُعظَّمُ أو إلهٌ يُعبَدُ

Thus every people, through the folly of their judgment,

has a lord exalted or a god worshipped.

قُمْ يا محمّدُ ما لحقِّكَ ناصرٌ

حتّى تَقومَ وما لدينك مُنجِدُ

Rise, Muhammad: your cause has no champion

until you rise, and your faith has no helper.

قم في جنودك غازياً وافتح بهم

دنيا الجحودِ لأُمّةٍ لا تَجْحَدُ

Rise among your troops, campaigning, and conquer with them

the world of denial for a nation that does not deny,

تمشي على نُورِ الكتابِ فتهتدي

وتُقيمُ آداب الحياةِ فتسعدُ

that walks by the light of the Book and finds guidance,

and upholds life's proper conduct and finds happiness.

جَدِّدْ لنا أيّامَ بدرٍ إنّها

أيّامُنا اللّاتي نُحِبُّ وَنحْمَدُ

Renew for us the days of Badr, for they are

our days, which we love and praise.

حَفِظَتْ على الإسلامِ يَانِعَ غرسِه

والجاهليّةُ بالقَواضبِ تُحْصَدُ

They preserved for Islam its flourishing planting,

while the age of ignorance was reaped by keen swords.

غَرْسٌ نَما فالأرضُ من بَرَكاتِه

تُعطِي الحياةَ كريمةً وَتُزَوِّدُ

A planting that grew, and by its blessings the earth

gives life generously and provides sustenance.

قُمْ يا رسولَ الله وانْظُرْ هل تَرَى

إلا شعوباً غابَ عنها المَرْشَدُ

Rise, Messenger of God, and look: do you see

anything but peoples from whom guidance has vanished?

نامتْ سُيوفُك بعد طُولِ سُهادِها

فاسْتَيْقَظَ الغاوي وهَبَّ المُفْسِدُ

Your swords have slept after their long wakefulness,

so the wayward one awoke and the corrupter sprang up.

عَمَّ الفسادُ فلا صَلاحٌ يُرْتَجَى

لِلعَالَمينَ ولا فَلاحٌ يُنْشَدُ

Corruption has spread everywhere: no righteousness is hoped for

for humankind, nor is prosperity sought.

الأمرُ فوضَى والحياةُ ذميمةٌ

والشَّرُّ لا يَفْنَى ولا هو يَنْفَدُ

Affairs are chaos, and life is blameworthy,

and evil neither perishes nor runs out.

دُنيا الهوى ترمِي الشُّعوبَ من الأذَى

ومن العَذابِ بِعاصِفٍ لا يركدُ

The world of desire assails the peoples with harm

and torment in a tempest that never abates.

انْظُرْ إلى أيّامِ عادٍ إذ طَغَتْ

وثمودَ يبعثُها الزّمانُ الأنكدُ

Look at the days of Ad, when it tyrannized,

and of Thamud, revived by this ill-starred age.

أَسَفِي على الإِسلامِ هَانَ عَرينُه

وعَدَا عليه الفاتِكُ المُسْتَأسِدُ

My sorrow for Islam: its lion's den is humbled,

and the lion-like killer has assailed it.

إنَّ الذي جَمَعتْ سيوفُ مُحمّدٍ

أَمْسَى بأيدي المُسلِمينَ يُبَدَّدُ

Indeed, what Muhammad's swords gathered

is now being squandered by Muslim hands.

ما أَوْجَعَ الذكرَى ويالكِ لوعةً

في قلبِ كل مُوَحِّدٍ تَتَوقَّدُ

How painful the memory! What burning anguish

blazes in the heart of every believer in God's oneness!

يا مَوْلِدَ النُّورِ الذي صَدَعَ الدُّجَى

فَرأَى السَّبيلَ الحائِرُ المُتَردِّدُ

O birth of the light that cleaved the darkness,

so the bewildered, hesitant one saw the way!

السُّبْلُ خافيةُ المعالِمِ والهُدَى

قوْلٌ يُقالُ ومَطْلَبٌ لا يُوجَدُ

The paths' landmarks are hidden, and guidance

is a saying uttered, a goal that is never found.

طَالَ الرّجاءُ فهل لنا مِن مَوْعِدٍ

وَاحَسرتَاهُ مَتَى يَحينُ المَوْعِدُ

Hope has lasted long; is there an appointed time for us?

Alas, my sorrow! When will the appointed time arrive?

ذَهبَ الزَّمانُ فَمَنْ لنا بِبَقِيَّةٍ

منه تُحَلُّ بها الأُمورُ وتُعْقدُ

Time has departed: who can secure for us a remnant

of it, in which affairs may be unbound and bound?

الناسُ مُعْوَجُّ السّبيلِ مُضلَّلٌ

ومُوَفَّقٌ في العالمينَ مُسَدَّدُ

People include those of crooked path, misled,

and those favored among humankind, rightly guided.

ربِّ اتَّخِذْ لِلمُسلِمينَ سبيلَهم

فإلَيْكَ مَرْجِعُهم وأنت المَقْصِدُ

Lord, choose for Muslims their path,

for to You is their return, and You are the destination.

فَزِعُوا إليكَ فَكُنْ لهم لا تُقْصِهِمْ

عن بابِ رحمتِكَ الذي لا يُوصَدُ

They have sought refuge with You: be there for them; do not drive them

from the door of Your mercy, which is never shut.

مَنْ كانَ يَسْألُ في الشّدائِدِ مَنْ لَنا

فالله جلَّ جلالهُ ومُحمَّدُ

Whoever has asked in hardships, 'Who will stand by us?'

It is God—exalted be His majesty—and Muhammad.

نهض الشبابُ وجالتِ الآمالُ

والمجدُ أجمعُ نهضةٌ ومجالُ

Youth has risen, and hopes have roamed,

and glory, all of it, is an awakening and a field of action.

نهضت قُوى الجيل الذي انتفضت له

وتطلّعت من حوله الأجيالُ

The generation's powers have risen; for it they have stirred

and looked up—the generations all around it.

للدّهر منه ومن عجائبِ صنعِه

مَثَلٌ يُريهِ بلاءَه فَيُهالُ

Time has, from it and the wonders of its work,

an example that shows its prowess and leaves time aghast.

دفعَ الحوادثَ فاعتزلن سبيلَه

ومضى إلى غاياتِه يَنثالُ

It repelled calamities, and they withdrew from its path,

and surged onward toward its goals.

جاشت به هِمَمٌ بلغن به المدى

وعلقن بالأقدار وهيَ عِجالُ

High resolves surged within it, carrying it to the utmost reach,

and clung to destinies as they hastened.

هزّ الرّواسِيَ مُقدِماً ما مثله

في البأسِ إعصارٌ ولا زلزالُ

It shook the steadfast mountains, advancing; none matches it

in might—neither whirlwind nor earthquake.

كَلِفٌ بأسباب السّماءِ يُريدها

لو أنّ اسبابَ السّماء تُنالُ

Enamored of heaven's pathways, it longs for them,

if only heaven's pathways could be reached.

يبني لأُمَّتهِ الحياةَ جديدةً

للعلم فيها روعةٌ وجلالُ

It builds life anew for its nation,

in which knowledge has splendor and majesty.

تأبى المعاولُ أن يقرَّ قرارُها

حتّى تُدمّرَ ما بَنى الجُهّالُ

The pickaxes refuse to settle into rest

until they demolish what the ignorant built.

شَرَفُ الشُّعوبِ عُلومُها وحياتُها

أن تَصلُحَ الأخلاقُ والأعمالُ

The honor of peoples is their learning, and their life

is the soundness of morals and deeds.

وإذا الشّبابُ رمى الأمور بعزمِه

عَنَتِ الصِّعابُ وخفّتِ الأثقالُ

And when youth hurls its resolve at affairs,

difficulties bow and burdens grow light.

ما للأُمورِ إذا التوت أسبابُها

إلا كفاحٌ دائمٌ ونضالُ

For affairs, when their means grow tangled, there is

nothing but constant struggle and striving.

خُذْ ما أردتَ بقوّةٍ وادأبْ ولا

يأخذْك ضعفٌ أو يَنَلْكَ مَلالُ

Take what you desire with strength, persevere, and let no

weakness seize you or weariness touch you.

واليأسُ فاصْدِفْ عنه واحْذرْ داءَه

فاليأسُ داءٌ للنّفوسِ عُضالُ

As for despair, turn away from it and beware its disease:

for despair is an incurable disease of souls.

واضرِبْ بما زعم الضّعافُ وجوهَهم

فمن المزاعمِ للعقولِ خَبالُ

And strike their faces with what the weak have claimed,

for certain claims bring derangement to minds.

وإذا هُمُ ذكروا المحالَ فَقُلْ لهم

ما في الأُمور على الرجالِ مُحالُ

And when they speak of the impossible, tell them:

'For men, nothing in affairs is impossible.'

قَعَد الشُّيوخُ عن النّضالِ وهذه

دُنيا الشّبابِ فبوركَ الأبطالُ

The elders sat back from striving, and this is

the world of youth: blessed be the heroes!

صدأُ الحديدِ طغى على آبائهم

وخبا الفِرِنْدُ فما يُفيد صِقالُ

The rust of iron has overwhelmed their fathers,

and the blade's luster has faded; polishing is no use.

وهوى اللّواء مُعفَّراً وتحطَّمت

حولَ اللّواءِ أسِنّةٌ ونصالُ

And the banner fell, dust-stained; shattered

around the banner lay spearheads and blades.

أخَذ الشّبابُ لواءَهم وتدافعوا

حيث ارتمتْ تَتدافعُ الأهوالُ

Youth took up their banner and surged forward

where terrors flung themselves, jostling one another.

في كلِّ مُعتَركٍ تهون نفوسُهم

فيه وترخصُ عنده الأموالُ

In every battlefield, they hold their lives lightly,

and there wealth, too, is held cheap.

لا المستبيحُ يَعيثُ في أوطانهم

إن رامَ بَيْضتَها ولا المغتالُ

No ravager runs riot in their homelands,

should he target their heartland, nor does the assassin.

يحمون بالدمِ عِرضَها وهو الحمى

إن رِيع مُعتصَمٌ وخِيفَ مآلُ

They guard their homelands' honor with blood—it is the protected domain—

if a refuge is alarmed and the outcome feared.

العارُ أجمعُ والمهانةُ كلُّها

عِرضٌ بأيدي العابثين مُذالُ

All shame and every humiliation

lie in honor debased by reckless hands.

نَفَضَ الشّبابُ العَجزَ عن آمالهِ

والعاجزون على الشُّعوب عِيالُ

Youth shook incapacity from its hopes,

and the incapable are a burden on peoples.

وانسابَ يأبى أن يَعيبَ زَمانَهُ

قِيلٌ يضيعُ به الزّمانُ وقالُ

and flowed onward, refusing to let its time be marred

by 'it was said' and 'he said,' which waste time.

لم يقضِ حاجَتَه ولم يظفرْ بها

في النّاس إلا القائل الفعّالُ

None has fulfilled his need or attained it

among people except the speaker who acts.

الأمرُ جِدٌّ مابه من ريبةٍ

والبعثُ حقٌّ ليس فيه جدالُ

The matter is serious; there is no doubt in it,

and the revival is real; there is no dispute about it.

قُلْ للأُلىَ ظنّوا الظُّنونَ وأرجفوا

لا شيءَ يمنعُ أن تحولَ الحالُ

Tell those who harbored suspicions and spread rumors:

nothing prevents the state of things from changing.

للهِ أمرٌ في الممالكِ نافذٌ

تجرِي به الأقدارُ والآجالُ

God has a command that prevails in the kingdoms,

by which destinies and lifespans run their course.

لا تركننَّ إلى الوساوسِ واحترِسْ

إنّ الوساوسَ للنُّفوسِ ضلالُ

Do not yield to misgivings, and be on your guard:

misgivings, indeed, lead souls astray.