1. للدهر في مسراه سرٌّ غريبْ

    يحفي على غير الأديب الأريبْ

    Time, in its course, holds a strange secret,

    hidden from all but the discerning man of letters.

  2. يقبل لكن بعد إدباره

    واليسر بعد العسر طبعاً يطيب

    It approaches, but only after turning away,

    and ease, after hardship, naturally grows sweet.

  3. لو لم يروّعك بقبح الخطَا

    ما كنت تدري صفوه إذ يصيب

    Had it not appalled you with the ugliness of error,

    you would not know its serenity when it acts aright.

  4. والبدر لا يؤنس إشراقُه

    إلاّ لتذكار زمان المغيب

    And the full moon's radiance brings no comfort

    except through remembrance of the time of its absence.

  5. وذو الهوى يعرف مقدار ما

    يلذ للمهجور وصلْ الحبيب

    And one in love knows how greatly

    reunion with the beloved delights the forsaken.

  6. فليفرح الشرق وأبناؤه

    وليلقَوا الدهرَ بصدر رحيب

    So let the East and its sons rejoice,

    and meet Time with an open breast;

  7. وليهنأوا بالعام عام الصفا

    وليلبسوا ثوب السرورِ القشيب

    and take joy in the year, the year of serenity;

    and don joy's fresh new robe;

  8. وليسعدوا بالطالع المزدهي

    وليزدهوا بالمسعد المستجيب

    and rejoice in the resplendent ascendant,

    and glory in the responsive bringer of joy;

  9. وليستردّوا مجد أسلافهم

    وليستعدوا للزمان الخصيب

    and reclaim their ancestors' glory,

    and prepare for a fertile age.

  10. حسْب الليالي منك يا شرق أن

    أصبحتَ في حال المهين الكئيب

    It is enough for the nights, O East, that you

    have come to the state of one abased and dejected,

  11. وابتزك الدهر باسقامه

    وداؤك استعصى وأعيى الطبيب

    and Time has despoiled you with its ailments,

    and your illness has defied cure and baffled the physician.

  12. لا كان يومٌ أهلُك استسلموا

    إلى العدا فيه ونام الرقيب

    Would that the day had never been when your people surrendered

    to the foes, and the watchman slept!

  13. واجتهدوا في فك أوصالهم

    وما خلا مجتهد من نصيب

    And they strove to sunder their limbs,

    and no striver went without a share.

  14. فيه سرى التفريق في جمعهم

    فأي يومٍ بعد هذا عصيب

    That day, division crept through their ranks;

    so what day, after this, could be called dire?

  15. إلامَ يا شرق وحتى متى

    يجهل من افقك قدر اللبيب

    How long, O East, and until when,

    will the worth of the wise man from your horizon go unrecognized,

  16. ولا تراعىَ للنُهى ذمةٌ

    وإنما يحظى بهن الغريب

    and no duty toward intellect be honored,

    while the foreigner alone benefits from it?

  17. لكن مضى الدور وقد آن أن

    ندعو المعالي والمعالي تجيب

    But that phase has passed, and the time has come

    for us to summon glory, and glory answers,

  18. ويرجع الأمر إلى أصلهِ

    وينجلي سرّ الليالي العجيب

    and affairs return to their original state,

    and the nights' wondrous secret becomes clear.

  19. فاستبشروا يا فتية الشرق قد

    غنّى على بشراكمو العندليب

    So rejoice, O young men of the East—already

    the nightingale has sung to celebrate your glad tidings.

  20. وصافحوا العام الجديد الذي

    مدّ لكم بالبشر كفا خصيب

    And shake hands with the new year, which

    has held out to you, with gladness, a bountiful hand,

  21. واستودع التنزيل تاريخه

    نصر من الله وفتح قريب

    and entrusted its date to the Revelation:

    “Victory from God, and a conquest close at hand.”