كانت بلادك في نواك محولا

فارجع إليها آملاً مأمولا

Your country lay barren in your absence,

so return to it, hopeful and hoped for.

في الداء طبّاً في الكريهة سلوةً

في الخوف أمناً في العثار مقيلا

A remedy in sickness, a solace in adversity,

security in fear, a restorer after a fall.

لولا جهادك راحلاً متنقِّلاً

لشكت إليك تنقُّلاً ورحيلا

Were it not for your striving as you journeyed from place to place,

it would have complained to you of your roaming and departure.

تغدو تبوعاً للخليفة مخلصاً

وتروح بالهمم العلى مشغولا

In the morning you go out, a devoted follower of the caliph,

and return at evening, absorbed in lofty aims.

هل بعد ما حادثته وشهدته

جذلان يحسبه العداة عليلا

After you have spoken with him and seen him

joyful, do his enemies still think him ill?

هبه مريضاً كان أياماً أما

كان اللقاء على الشفاء دليلا

Grant that he was ill for days—was not

the meeting evidence of his recovery?

صف للرعية كيف مَكَّنَ عرشَهُ

في المشرقين وشيَّد الأسطولا

Tell the subjects how he secured his throne

in the two Easts and built up the fleet.

وانصح عباداً يزعمون الشر في

أن يستعيد إلى الفرات النيلا

And counsel people who claim there is evil in

restoring the Nile to the Euphrates.

هم أرجفوا بالحرب يبتدرونها

وتوقعوا التدمير والتقتيلا

They spread alarms of war, rushing toward it,

and anticipated destruction and slaughter.

وتسلموا عدد الدفاع كأنما

أضحى حماك إليهم موكولا

And they took possession of defensive equipment, as though

your domain had been entrusted to them.

واستظهروا بالزاخرين ليقطعا

بين الضمائر والهوى ويحولا

And they sought strength in the two surging seas, that these might divide

hearts from love and stand between them.

قالوا استعان بنا على سلطانه

من أن يمد يداً إليه طولى

They said, “He sought our aid against his sultan,

lest that ruler stretch a far-reaching hand toward him.”

هل تستغيث بضيفك المملول من

أهليك والمولى الأعز قبيلا

Do you seek aid from your wearisome guest against

your kin and the lord whose following is mightiest?

ويجرد الترك الحسام لموقع

لا يغنينَّ الظافرين فتيلا

And would the Turks unsheathe the sword for a place

that would not profit the victors a whit?

إن لم تجئْ بهمُ إليك سفينة

جعلوا جسورهمُ قنا ونصولا

If no ship brings them to you,

they will make their bridges of spears and blades.

هل في التآلف والتعاون فتنة

تجتاح جاراً أو تنال نزيلا

Is there in harmony and cooperation any strife

that ravages a neighbor or harms a guest?

ما بال وهاب الأمان كما ادعى

أمسى يرى في كل فجٍّ غولا

What ails the bestower of safety, as he claimed,

that he now sees an ogre in every pass?

ولقد يصر على التمادي لو رأى

من قومه الإرجاف والتهويلا

And he might well persist in his excesses if he saw

alarmist rumors and fearmongering from his people,

أو كان يأمن عصبةً عبسوا له

شهداء يأبون العناد عدولا

or were unafraid of a band who frowned upon him—

upright witnesses who reject obstinacy—

ومهذباً مستشرقاً متطوِّعاً

يقظان للبلد الأمين خليلا

and of a cultivated Orientalist, freely serving,

watchful, a devoted friend to the secure land.

وهو القَئُولُ الأريحيُّ وليتَه

كسواه يقدر أن يكون فعولا

He is a generous-hearted man of words—if only he

could, like others, be a man of deeds.

لولا اتكال الصابرين على غد

ودّوا الرجوع إلى الليالي الأولى

Were it not for the patient ones' trust in tomorrow,

they would wish to return to the nights of old.

لم يعذروا الحكم المجرِّبَ ظالماً

ولطالما عذروا الظلوم جهولا

They did not excuse an experienced government when unjust,

though often they excused an ignorant tyrant.

ومن الحياة شعورهم بجراحهم

يشكون حتى تنتهي وتزولا

And their awareness of their wounds is a sign of life;

they complain until those wounds subside and vanish.

ومن القوى تهيامهم في ليلهم

يتلمسون نهارك المصقولا

And a sign of strength is their impassioned wandering through their night,

groping for your burnished day.

ولربما ملأوا البلاد مواسماً

من بعد ما ملأوا البلاد عويلا

And they may yet fill the land with festivals,

after having filled the land with wailing.

لا يفزعون إلى الغريب وإن رأوا

سيف القريب عليهم مسلولا

They do not turn to the stranger for refuge, even if they see

a kinsman's sword drawn against them.

اللّه أدَّبنا بأكبر خلقه

فعلاً وأنفذ في الممالك قيلا

God has schooled us through the mightiest of His creatures

in deed, and most commanding in word among kingdoms.

متباينون همُ ونحنُ شرائعاً

وطبائعاً ومنازعاً وأصولا

They and we differ in religious laws,

and in temperaments, inclinations, and origins.

كِلْهُمْ إلى الدهر القدير لعلنا

لا نعدم التغيير والتبديلا

Entrust them to mighty Time; perhaps we

shall not be denied change and transformation.

وإذا هممت بنا إلى استقلالنا

فالحزم أن لا نطلب التعجيلا

And when you resolve to lead us toward our independence,

prudence requires that we not press for haste.

ومن المحال نجاتنا إن لم نكن

أرقى نفوساً منهم وعقولا

And our deliverance is impossible unless we are

more advanced than they in spirit and intellect.

ولقد تطلعنا إليها شُمَّخاً

فارفع على الأجيال هذا الجيلا

And we have indeed aspired toward it, heads held high;

so raise this generation above all others.

هي غاية الآمال شتى سبْلُها

طوبى لمن جعل السلام سبيلا

It is the goal of hopes, and diverse are its paths;

blessed is whoever makes peace his path.

يا حسنهم إذ ينجلون ولا نرى

إلا الوداد إليهم موصولا

How fine they will be when they depart, and we see

only an unbroken bond of affection with them!

إن يذكروا طاعاتنا نذكر لهم

درساً تلقَّتْه البلاد جليلا

If they recall our obedience, we shall recall to their credit

a great lesson the country has learned.