1. قبل الرسالة قل لي من هم العرب

    وأي مجد بنت أم لهم وأب

    Before the Message, tell me: who were the Arabs?

    And what glory had a mother and father built for them?

  2. تعال فاستقرى التاريخ أمثلة

    تر الحقائق فيما تحمل الكتب

    Come, then examine history for examples;

    you will see the truths contained in books.

  3. كان التفاخر بالأنساب رائدهم

    في كل ناد فماذا حقق النسب

    Boasting of ancestry was their guide

    in every gathering—what, then, did lineage achieve?

  4. هل استطاعوا به توحيد أمتهم

    كلا ففاقد أمر الشيء لا يهب

    Could they, through it, unite their nation?

    No: whoever lacks possession of a thing cannot bestow it.

  5. أبناء لخم لكسرى الفرس تابعة

    وآل جفنة بالرومان تعتصب

    The sons of Lakhm were subject to Kisra of Persia,

    and the house of Jafna allied itself with the Romans.

  6. وذو النباهة فيهم من له وثن

    إليه يجأر بالشكوى وينتحب

    The distinguished among them was he who had an idol

    to which he cried out in complaint and sobbed.

  7. واشرف القوم من وأد البنات له

    يعد فخرا ومن يقتات ما نهبوا

    And the noblest among them was he for whom burying daughters alive

    counted as glory, and he who subsisted on what they plundered.

  8. وما البسوس وما جرته من فتن

    إلا دليل بأن الفكر مضطرب

    And al-Basus and the strife she brought about

    were only evidence that thought was in disarray.

  9. نعم وإلا فما مقدار ناقته

    حتى عليها دم الحيين ينسكب

    Yes—otherwise, what was his she-camel worth

    that the blood of both clans should flow for her sake?

  10. وكان أول قتلى القوم سيدهم

    كليب : ثم توالت بعده النوب

    The first of their people slain was their chief,

    Kulayb; then calamities followed after him.

  11. فأربعون من الأعوام إن خمدت

    نار الحروب فنار الحقد تلتهب

    For forty years, whenever there died down

    the fire of war, the fire of hatred flared.

  12. إن كنت في مرية من أمر سيرتهم

    فابحث عن الصدق في أخبار من ذهبوا

    If you doubt the course of their conduct,

    seek the truth in accounts of those who have departed.

  13. سل داحسا والغبيرا عن رهانهم

    وكيف عبس وذبيان به نكبوا

    Ask Dahis and al-Ghubayra about their wager,

    and how Abs and Dhubyan were devastated by it.

  14. خمسون عاما ونار الحرب ما فتئت

    تصلى الفريقين لم يخمد لها لهب

    For fifty years, the fire of war never ceased

    scorching both sides; its flame never died down.

  15. وسل بين قيلة عن داء باقعة

    فيها تحكمت الهندية القضب

    And ask the sons of Qayla about a ruinous affliction,

    in which Indian blades held sway.

  16. وعن بعاث ومالاقوه من محن

    فيه تمخض عنه الحقد والغضب

    And about Bu'ath and the ordeals they suffered,

    where hatred and anger came seething forth.

  17. فراح يحصد بعض بعضهم سفه

    وما أفادتهم القربى ولا الحسب

    So, in folly, some began mowing down others;

    neither kinship nor ancestral honor availed them.

  18. هذا مثال من التاريخ أنقله

    كما روته لنا الأخبار والكتب

    This is an example from history that I relate,

    as the accounts and books have told it to us.

  19. ولو أردنا له حصراً لأعجزن

    فهم على مثل هذا الحال قد دأبوا

    Were we to attempt an exhaustive account, it would defeat us,

    for they persisted in just such a condition.

  20. لكن من يتولانا... برحمته

    لم يترك الحال فوضى سعيها شعب

    But He who cares for us in His mercy

    did not leave matters chaotic, their pursuits divided.

  21. وإنما الله بالإسلام نظمه

    شريعة همها الإصلاح لا السلب

    Rather, God ordered their condition through Islam:

    a law concerned with reform, not plunder.

  22. فطوفت في رحاب الأرض حاملة

    إلى البرية منهاجا بما يجب

    So it traversed the expanses of the earth, bearing

    to humankind a path of what must be done.

  23. تاريخهم من رسول الله مبدؤه

    وما عداه فزيف كله كذب

    Their history begins with God's Messenger;

    all beyond that is counterfeit, all of it lies.

  24. فقد أطل على الدنيا ببعثته

    وليس فيها لأمر صالح سبب

    For he appeared before the world with his prophetic mission,

    when it held no means to any righteous undertaking.

  25. فوحد الله بالإسلام فرقتهم

    على يديه وفي توحيدها العجب

    Through Islam, God brought their divided people together

    at his hands; wondrous was that unity.

  26. وإذ بتلك البطولات التي جنحو

    بها إلى الشر نحو الخير تنقلب

    And behold, those feats of valor which they had directed

    toward evil turned instead toward good.

  27. فلا ترى صفحة بالعدل مشرقة

    إلا وجدت بأيديهم لها كتبوا

    Thus you see no page radiant with justice

    without finding that they wrote it with their own hands.

  28. ولا روت كتب التاريخ مكرمة

    إلا وفيها بسهم الفوز قد ضربوا

    Nor have the books of history recounted a noble deed

    without their having claimed a winning share in it.

  29. مكارم سيظل الدهر يذكره

    بالفخر ما شيد في بيدائنا طنب

    Noble deeds that Time will continue to recall

    with pride, so long as a tent-rope is raised in our deserts.

  30. سل عابد النار هل أغنت عبادته

    عن عرشه حين جاء الجحفل اللجب

    Ask the fire-worshipper: did his worship defend

    his throne when the clamorous host arrived?

  31. وهل حتى تاجه الإيوان حين أتى

    سعد ومن خلف سعد قادة نجب

    And did the palace protect his crown when there came

    Sa'd, and behind Sa'd noble commanders?

  32. كتائب بتعاليم الهدى انطلقت

    لنشرها حيث ساد الشك والريب

    Battalions set out, following the teachings of guidance,

    to spread them where doubt and misgivings prevailed.

  33. فما دعوا لولاة الفرس ذاكرة

    عن المجوسية الرعناء إذ وثبوا

    They left the rulers of Persia no remembrance

    of the foolish Magian faith when they sprang forward.

  34. والشام حيث غزوها فر قيصره

    وفر من خلفه الرومان والعرب

    And in al-Sham, when they invaded it, its Caesar fled,

    and behind him fled the Romans and the Arabs.

  35. وحينما نزل الإسلام ساحتهم

    لاذت دمشق به واستسلمت حلب

    When Islam entered their lands,

    Damascus sought refuge in it, and Aleppo surrendered.

  36. أتوا إلى القدس باسم الله فانتصرو

    ولو أتوا باسم قحطان لما غلبوا

    They came to Jerusalem in God's name and triumphed;

    had they come in Qahtan's name, they would not have prevailed.

  37. حقائق لذوي الألباب أذكره

    كما توالت بذكراها لنا الحقب

    Truths I recount for those of understanding,

    as successive ages have brought their memory to us.

  38. أتى الكنانة عمرو وهي كافرة

    وللطواغيت في أرجائها نصب

    Amr came to al-Kinana, the Quiver, while she was unbelieving,

    and altars to false gods stood throughout her lands.

  39. فراح يدعو لدين الله متبع

    نهج الرسول وفي منهاجه الأرب

    He began calling to God's religion, following

    the Messenger's path, in whose way lay the desired end.

  40. فآمنت مصر بالإسلام وانتظمت

    في عقده وتبنت كل مايجب

    So Egypt believed in Islam and took her place

    in its necklace, adopting all that duty required.

  41. وبعد مصر مضى ركب الهدى قدم

    بكل ندب إلى العلياء ينتدب

    After Egypt, the caravan of guidance moved forward

    with every gallant man answering the call to lofty deeds.

  42. مضوا من النيل غربا يحملون إلى

    تلك البقاع ضياء دونه الشهب

    They journeyed westward from the Nile, carrying to

    those lands a radiance that outshone the meteors.

  43. فبارك الله مسعاهم ومكنهم

    من كل طاغية للظلم يرتكب

    God blessed their endeavor and gave them power

    over every tyrant who committed injustice.

  44. فحكموا العدل فيهم حينما حكمو

    والناس لا شكل نحو العدل تنجذب

    So they made justice the arbiter among them when they ruled,

    and people, without doubt, are drawn toward justice.

  45. ومقتضى الدين إعلاء لمبدئه

    فكان من أمرهم ما كان وانتدبوا

    Religion demands that its principle be exalted;

    so their affairs unfolded as they did, and they selected

  46. منهم رجالا أقاموا صرح مملكة

    يشدو بأمجادها التاريخ والأدب

    men from among them who raised a kingdom's edifice,

    whose glories history and literature sing.

  47. حتى تذكر ناسيهم أبا لهب

    عروبة فأضاعوا الملك وانسحبوا

    Until those who forgot them remembered Abu Lahab

    in the name of Arabness; they squandered their kingdom and withdrew.

  48. فليت طارق لم يبرح حليلته

    وليت من معه في الفلك ما ركبوا

    If only Tariq had never left his wife,

    and those with him had never boarded the ships,

  49. ولا غزوا في سبيل الله أندلس

    ولا فدوا حين عز المال والطلب

    nor invaded al-Andalus in God's cause,

    nor sacrificed themselves when wealth and their goal were hard to attain.

  50. وليت صقر قريش ظل مختبئ

    يلهو به الهم أو يلهو به الطرب

    If only the Falcon of Quraysh had remained in hiding,

    with sorrow playing with him, or delight playing with him.

  51. فلو أعيدت لهم أرواحهم ورأو

    ماتوا من الغم مما يفعل العقب

    For if their souls were restored to them and they could see,

    they would die of grief at what their descendants do.

  52. لعل من قرأ التاريخ يخبرن

    ففي مقالة أم لابنها عجب

    Perhaps someone who has read history will tell me,

    for there is wonder in a mother's words to her son.

  53. رأته يبكي فقالت إبك مملكة

    أضعتها وعليها اليوم تنتحب

    She saw him weeping and said, "Weep for a kingdom

    you squandered, and over which you sob today."

  54. يا شعر قف بي أقارن جاهليتهم

    قبل الهدى ثم ماذا بالهدى كسبوا

    O poetry, pause with me while I compare their ignorance

    before guidance, then what they gained through guidance,

  55. وجاهلية أقوام تعيش على

    سبعين نهجا وللإسلام تنتسب

    with the ignorance of peoples who live by

    seventy paths, yet claim affiliation with Islam.

  56. كان الألى رغم ما في الجهل من نكد

    لا يصبرون على ضيم إذا سلبوا

    Those men, despite the misery that ignorance held,

    would not endure humiliation when they were despoiled.

  57. وقادة اليوم لا شيء يحركهم

    حتى ولو مرغوا في الوحل واختضبوا

    But today's leaders—nothing moves them,

    even if they are rolled in the mud and stained.

  58. موزعون بأمريكا لها عرب

    من العبيد وروسيا لها عرب

    They are parceled out: America has Arabs

    among her slaves, and Russia has Arabs.

  59. منافقون ولكن من سيردعهم

    وأكثر القوم من صهبائه شربوا

    Hypocrites—but who will restrain them,

    when most of the people have drunk of his tawny wine?

  60. بالأمس سيقت إلى الإعدام أندلس

    قسرا ونفذ فيها الحكم مغتصب

    Yesterday, al-Andalus was led to execution

    by force, and a usurper carried out the sentence upon her.

  61. واليوم يذبح أهل العجل قدسكم

    ويستبيحون ما شاءوا متى رغبوا

    Today, the people of the calf slaughter your Jerusalem,

    and violate whatever they wish, whenever they desire.

  62. ولو يهب أبو جهل لنجدتكم

    ألا ترون أبا جهل هو السبب

    Even if Abu Jahl were to rise to your rescue,

    do you not see that Abu Jahl himself is the cause?

  63. يا شعر قف بع أن طوفت بي حقب

    فق حيث أنت فقد أضناني التعب

    O poetry, stop, after you have taken me roaming through ages;

    stop where you are, for weariness has exhausted me.

  64. وما وجدت بغير الدين معركة

    للعرب فيها على أعدائها الغلب

    And outside religion I have found no battle

    in which the Arabs gained victory over their enemies.

  65. إن العروبة بالإسلام عزته

    فإن تولت فلا عز ولا عرب

    Indeed, Arabness finds its honor through Islam;

    and if it turns away, there is neither honor nor Arabs.