1. My long night, does it make me suffer?
The night makes me suffer, though the free are not to be wronged.

2. When I thought the night's darkness was dying,
at dawn it lights up and oppresses me.

3. I was certain my night would end and draw near,
Will it finish or will it end without me?

4. I have endured years of oppression but did not waver,
How wretched for the free to live imprisoned!

5. It is as if I'm swimming in the sea, striving,
With no shore - would that make me stop?

6. If the hoped-for shore appears, I will rest,
And if I'm deprived, my resolve will sustain me.

7. My soul tells me: it's worse if the free
Fall into the grip of tyranny and humiliation.

8. The lion is in chains and the dogs are vicious,
While the night descends and terrors oppress me.

9. My soul, do not grieve, even if I live steadfast
In truth, after this suffering, can anything hurt me?!

10. In chains I live and shake the tyrants - and does
Captivity harm me? Captivity is for the faith.

11. As long as my heart is free and has no sorrow,
And if they shackle my body, my heart will protect me.

12. If they tear my body apart, my heart will not break,
It has hope of a reward that will not be denied.

13. Do you not see the tyrants have no stratagems,
While my resolve is like a river that flows on, sustaining me?

14. They are like sheep scattered by the wind that breaks them,
While I am a mountain, no wind can harm me.

15. So do not let the beastly night deceive you, I will not
Be pleased with a soul if suffering destroys me.

16. And you, O night, we have journeyed together always,
I have decided I will remain ungrieved.

17. Free I will remain, my call ever more honored, and if
I do not die free, then that death will give me life.