Sol 6.1

  1. أتذكرُ من بغدادَ مقتبلَ العمرِ

    ومجداً ثوى بين الرصافة والجسرِ

    I recall Baghdad's youthful prime,

    and glory that dwelt between al-Rusafa and the bridge;

  2. وقوماً بها شادوا العروشَ فلم تدُم

    وقد دام ما شادوه من طيب الذكرِ

    and people there who raised thrones that did not endure,

    yet the good name they built has endured.

  3. أكارمٌ كانوا حُلية الشرق كله

    فزالوا وأضحى منهم عاطلَ النحرِ

    Noble men, once the adornment of the whole East—

    then they passed away, and its neck stood bare without them.

  4. ومجلسَ هارون وقد ضاق رحبهُ

    باهل الحجى من سادةِ النظمِ والنثرِ

    And Harun's court, whose broad expanse grew cramped

    with people of intellect, masters of verse and prose.

  5. مليكٌ يهابَ الشرقُ والغربُ بطشهُ

    ويرهبُ أن يمضي النهار بلا برِ

    A king whose might the East and West fear,

    yet who fears the day may pass without a good deed.

  6. تنازعُ سادات الورى بابُ دارهِ

    ويجلسُ منها خادمُ العلمِ في الصدرِ

    The lords of humankind vie at the door of his house,

    while within it the servant of learning sits in the place of honor.

  7. سلامٌ على بغدادِ من مدمن الفكرِ

    بما كان فيها من علاءٍ ومن فخرِ

    Peace upon Baghdad from one forever reflecting

    on the grandeur and glory that once were there.

  8. سلامٌ على تلك الحضارةِ إِنها

    تعدُّ بذاك العصرِ من عجبِ الدهرِ

    Peace upon that civilization, for it

    is reckoned, for that age, among the wonders of time.

  9. حياةٌ زهت في الشرقِ حيناً كأنها

    حياةُ ورودٍ لا تدوم سوى فجرِ

    A life that bloomed in the East for a time, as though it were

    the life of roses, lasting only a dawn.

  10. ونورٌ تجلَّى منهُ والغربُ غارقٌ

    من الجهلِ في أدجى ظلاماً من القبرِ

    And a light that shone from it while the West lay submerged,

    through ignorance, in darkness blacker than the grave.

  11. فسبحان من يجري القضاءُ بأَمرِه

    يصرِّفُهُ من حال يسر إلى عسرِ

    So glory to Him at whose command fate unfolds,

    who turns it from a state of ease to hardship.

  12. بني الشرق هل من ذلك النوم يقظةٌ

    تُرجَّى وهل يجدي يتنبيهم شعري

    Sons of the East, is there an awakening from that sleep

    to be hoped for? And can my poetry help rouse them?

  13. أفيقوا بني أمي فقد طال ليلكُم

    ولا تجعلوا إصباحكم موعد الحشرِ

    Awake, sons of my mother, for your night has grown long;

    and do not make your dawn the appointed hour of the Resurrection.

  14. أيجمعنا جنسٌ ولسنٌ وموطنٌ

    ويفرِقنا وهمٌ تحكَّمَ في الفكرِ

    Do race, tongue, and homeland unite us,

    yet a delusion that rules the mind divides us?

  15. أَأَرغبُ بالصينيّ ديناً وأَزدري

    أخي وابن جنسي آهِ من ذلك الأَمرِ

    Am I to favor a Chinese man on grounds of faith, yet scorn

    my brother and a son of my race? Alas for such a thing!

  16. أَفيقوا من الجهلِ الذي قد سكرتُم

    به فالردى يا قومُ في ذلك السكرِ

    Awake from the ignorance you have grown drunk

    on; for death, O people, lies in that drunkenness.

  17. ترابكمُ دينٌ لكم فاتِباعهُ

    أحقُّ ومن أَزرى بذاك ففي كفرِ

    Your soil is your faith, so following it

    is more fitting; whoever belittles that is in unbelief.

  18. نصيحةُ شرقيٍ يحبُّ بلادهُ

    واخوانهُ لا دينَ زيدٍ ولا عمرو

    The counsel of an Easterner who loves his country

    and his brothers, not the faith of Zayd or Amr.

  19. هي النزرُ في الفؤادِ وانَّه

    برغميَ اني الآن راضٍ بذا النَزرِ

    It is but a little of what lies in my heart, and it is

    against my will that I am now content with this little.

  20. وفي الصدرِ منهُ ما لوَاني أَقولهُ

    لأَلهبَ قرطاسي وضاءَ بهِ حبري

    And in my breast is something of it that, were I to utter it,

    would set my paper ablaze, and my ink would glow with it.