1. دع التاريخ يستملي اليراع

    ويستجلي الصحائف والرقاعا

    Let history take dictation from the reed pen,

    and bring the pages and loose sheets to light;

  2. وحدثني بأصدق ما تلقى

    من الأنباء مرأى أو سماعا

    and tell me the truest of what you learn

    of tidings, whether seen or heard.

  3. لعل خلال أسطره وعيد

    نكيد به النضير وقينقاعا

    Perhaps amid its lines lies a threat

    with which we may outwit al-Nadir and Qaynuqa.

  4. ودعك من المهازل فالمآسي

    تصب على مواطننا تباعا

    And spare yourself the farces, for tragedies

    pour upon our homelands one after another.

  5. فلم تدمع لمسئول عيون

    وما حفظ العهود وكم أضاعا

    Yet no official’s eyes have shed tears,

    and he has kept no pledges—how many he has squandered!

  6. وما زلنا كما كنا نوالي

    أباة العدل حبا واتباعا

    And still, as ever, we give our allegiance

    to those who reject justice, loving and following them.

  7. نلوم على نذالتهم أناس

    رضوا بالذل عجزا وارتياعا

    We reproach people for their baseness:

    they accepted humiliation out of helplessness and fright.

  8. وما شأن الجهاد وشأن قوم

    عدوهم اشترى فيهم وباعا

    And what has jihad to do with a people

    whose enemy has bought and sold among them?

  9. ورباهم على يده صغار

    ومن حق المربي أن يطاعا

    And he raised them by his own hand as children,

    and their rearer has the right to be obeyed.

  10. فهل من مبلغ عني الكبيسي

    سطورا كدن بنفثن التياعا

    So will anyone convey to al-Kubaysi, on my behalf,

    lines that nearly breathed out anguish,

  11. وآهات يكاد القلب منه

    يذوب اسى وبنشطر اقتطاعا

    and sighs from which the heart almost

    melts in sorrow and is torn asunder?

  12. أثرت قريحتي ونفضت عنه

    صدى الأيام فانقلبت شعاعا

    You stirred my poetic gift and shook from it

    the echo of days, so it became a ray of light.

  13. تضيء كما أضظات لنل دروب

    بفكر نير يأبى الخداعا

    It shines, as you lit paths for us,

    with luminous thought that rejects deceit.

  14. رأى في الحق غايته فهانت

    عليه النفس طوعا وانصياعا

    He saw his goal in truth, and so held lightly

    his own life, willingly and in submission.

  15. فقل للباحثين عن المعالي

    طريق المجد ليس هوى مشاعا

    So tell those who seek lofty attainments:

    The road to glory is not a common whim.