تنبهوا واستفيقوا أيها العرب — Ibrahim Al Yaziji

تَنَبَهوا وَاستَفيقوا أَيُّها العَرَب

فَقَد طَمى الخَطبُ حَتّى غاصَتِ الرُّكَبُ

Be alert and awaken, O Arabs!

Calamity has overflowed until knees are submerged.

فيمَ التَعلُّلُ بالآمالِ تَخدَعَكُم

وَأَنتُم بَينَ راحاتِ الفَنا سلُبُ

Why soothe yourselves with hopes that deceive you,

While you lie as spoils in the palms of annihilation?

اللَّهُ أَكبرُ ما هَذا المَنام فَقَد

شَكاكُمُ المَهد وَاِشتاقَكُمُ الرَّبُّ

God is greatest! What slumber is this? Already

The cradle has complained of you, and the Lord has longed for you.

كَم تُظلمون وَلَستُم تَشتَكون وَكَم

تُستَغضَبونَ فَلا يَبدو لَكُم غَضَبُ

How often you are wronged, yet do not complain! How often

You are provoked, yet no anger shows in you!

ألِفتُم الهون حَتّى صارَ عِندَكُمُ

طَبعاً وَبَعضُ طِباعِ المَرءِ مُكتَسَبُ

You have grown used to humiliation, until to you it is

Second nature—and some human traits are acquired.

وَفارَقَتْكُم لِطول الذُلِّ نَخوَتكُم

فَلَيسَ يُؤلِمُكُم خَسفٌ وَلا عَطبُ

And through long humiliation your proud spirit has deserted you,

So neither degradation nor destruction pains you.

لِلّهِ صَبركُمُ لَو أَن صَبرَكُمُ

في مُلتَقى الخَيلِ حينَ الخَيلُ تَضطَرِبُ

By God, what patience! If only your patience were

At the cavalry's clash, when the horses surge!

كَم بَينَ صَبرٍ غَدا لِلذُلِّ مُجتَلِباً

وَبَينَ صَبرٍ غَدا لِلعزِّ يَحتَلبُ

How far apart are patience that brings humiliation

And patience that draws the milk of glory!

فَشَمِّروا وَاِنهَضوا لِلأَمرِ وَاِبتَدِروا

مِن دَهرِكم فُرصَةً ضَنَّت بِها الحِقَبُ

So gird yourselves, rise to the task, and seize

From your time an opportunity the ages have withheld.

لا تَبتَغوا بِالمُنى فَوزاً لِأَنفُسِكُم

لا يُصدقُ الفَوزُ ما لَم يَصدُقِ الطَّلَبُ

Do not seek success for yourselves through wishes;

Success is not genuine unless the striving is sincere.

خلُّوا التَّعَصُبَ عَنكُم وَاِستَووا عُصباً

عَلى الوِئام وَدَفعِ الظُّلمِ تَعتَصِبُ

Cast off fanaticism, and stand together in bands

United for concord and the repelling of oppression.

لِأَنتمُ الفِئةَ الكُثرى وَكُم فِئةٍ

قَليلةٍ تمّ إِذ ضَمَت لَها الغَلبُ

You are indeed the greater multitude; how many a band,

Though small, has won full victory when united!

هَذا الَّذي قَد رَمى بِالضَّعفِ قوَّتكم

وَغادرَ الشَّمل مِنكُم وَهُوَ مَنشَعبُ

This is what has struck your strength with weakness

And left your unity splintered apart;

وَسَلّطَ الجورَ في أَقطارِكُم فَغَدَت

وَارضها دونَ أَقطار المَلا خِربُ

And unleashed tyranny throughout your lands, leaving

Their soil, unlike the world's other lands, in ruins.

وَحُكَّم العِلجَ فيكُم مَع مَهانَتِهِ

يَقتادكُم لِهَواهُ حَيثُ يَنقَلبُ

And set the barbarian to rule over you, despite his baseness,

Driving you at his whim wherever he turns;

مِن كُلِّ وَغدٍ زَنيمٍ ما لَهُ نَسَبٌ

يُدرى وَلَيسَ لَهُ دينٌ وَلا أَدبُ

From every baseborn wretch with no lineage

That is known, with neither faith nor manners;

وَكُلُ ذي خَنثٍ في الفَحشِ مُنغَمِسٍ

يَزدادُ بِالحَكِّ في وَجَعائهِ الجَرَبُ

And every effeminate man immersed in obscenity,

Whose scabies worsens as he scratches his sore spot.

سِلاحَهُم في وُجوهِ الخَصمِ مَكرَهُمُ

وَخَير جُندِهُم التَّدليسُ وَالكَذبُ

Their weapon in the face of the foe is their guile,

And their finest troops are fraud and lies.

لا يَستَقيمُ لَهُم عَهدٌ إِذا عَقَدوا

وَلا يَصحُّ لَهُم وَعدٌ إِذا ضَرَبُوا

No covenant of theirs holds true when they conclude it,

Nor is a promise they make sincere.

إِذا طَلَبتَ إِلى ودٍّ لَهُم سَبباً

فَما إِلى ودِّهم غَير الخَنى سَببُ

If you seek a means of winning their affection,

There is no path to their affection but obscenity.

وَالحَقُّ وَالبُطل في ميزانِهم شرعٌ

فَلا يَميلُ سِوى ما ميَّل الذَّهَبُ

And truth and falsehood weigh alike upon their scale;

It tips only where gold has made it tip.

أَعناقكُم لَهُمُ رقٌّ وَما لَكُمُ

بَينَ الدُّمى وَالطُّلا وَالنردُ مُنتَهبُ

Your necks are enslaved to them, and all you own

Is plundered among doll-like beauties, wine, and dice.

باتَت سِمانُ نِعاجٍ بَينَ أَذرُعِكُم

وَباتَ غَيركُم لِلدُّرِّ يَحتَلِبُ

Fat ewes have spent the night within your arms,

While others have spent it drawing their milk.

فَصاحِبُ الأَرضِ مِنكُم ضِمنَ ضَيعتِهِ

مُستَخدَمٌ وَرَبيبُ الدَّارِ مُغتَربُ

So the landowner among you, within his own estate,

Is a servant, and one reared at home is an exile.

وَما دِماؤُكُم أَغلى إِذا سُفِكتْ

مِن ماء وَجهِ لَهُم في الفُحشِ يَنسَكِبُ

And your blood, when shed, is no dearer

Than their honor, poured away in obscenity.

وَلَيسَ أَعراضُكُم أَغلى إِذا اِنتُهِكَت

مِن عِرضِ مَملوكِهِم بِالفلسِ يَجتَلِبُ

Nor is your honor, when violated, dearer

Than the honor of their slave, acquired for a copper coin.

بِاللَّهِ يا قَومَنا هُبُّوا لِشأنِكُمُ

فَكَم تُناديكُمُ الأَشعارُ وَالخَطبُ

By God, our people, rise to your own cause!

For how often poems and speeches call to you!

أَلَستُم مِن سَطوا في الأَرضِ وَاِفتَتَحوا

شَرقاً وَغَرباً وَعَزّوا أَينَما ذَهَبُوا

Are you not those who swept across the earth and conquered

East and west, and were mighty wherever they went?

ومَن أَذَلُّوا المُلوكِ الصِّيدَ فَاِرتَعَدَت

وَزلزلَ الأَرضَ مِما تَحتَها الرّهَبُ

And those who humbled haughty kings, till they trembled,

And terror shook the earth from its depths?

وَمن بَنَوا لِصروحِ العزِّ أَعمِدَةً

تَهوي الصَّواعقُ عَنها وَهيَ تَنقَلِبُ

And those who built pillars for the palaces of glory,

From which thunderbolts tumble, turning back?

فَما لَكُم وَيحَكُم أَصبَحتُمُ هملاً

وَوجهُ عزّكم بِالهونِ مُنتَقِبُ

What ails you—alas for you!—that you have become forsaken,

And the face of your glory is veiled in humiliation?

لا دَولةٌ لَكُمُ يَشتَدُّ أزرَكُمُ

بِها وَلا ناصِرٌ لِلخَطبِ ينتَدِبُ

You have no state by which your strength might grow,

Nor a champion who rises to meet calamity.

وَلَيسَ مِن حُرمةٍ أَو رَحمةٍ لَكُمُ

تَحنو عَلَيكُم إِذا عضتكمُ النُّوَبُ

And there is neither respect nor mercy for you

To shelter you when calamities bite.

أَقدارُكُم في عُيونِ التُّركِ نازلَة

وَحَقَكُم بَينَ أَيدي التُّرك مُغتَصَبُ

Your worth has fallen in the eyes of the Turks,

And your rights are usurped at the hands of the Turks.

فَلَيسَ يُدرى لَكُم شَأنٌ وَلا شَرَفٌ

وَلا وجودٌ وَلا اِسمٌ وَلا لَقَبُ

Neither standing nor honor is acknowledged for you,

Nor existence, nor name, nor title.

فَيالِقَومي وَما قَومي سِوى عَرَبٌ

وَلَن يُضَيَّعَ فيهُم ذَلِكَ النَسَبُ

So, alas for my people—my people are none but Arabs—

And that lineage shall never be lost among them.

هب أَنَّهُ لَيسَ فيكُم أَهلُ مَنزِلَةٍ

يُقَلَّدُ الأَمرَ أَو تُعطى لَهُ الرُّتَبُ

Suppose there is none among you of standing

To be entrusted with authority or granted rank;

وَلَيسَ فيكُم أَخو حَزمٍ وَمَخبرةٍ

لِلعَقدِ وَالحَلِّ في الأَحكامِ يُنتخَبُ

Nor anyone among you with resolve and experience

To be chosen to bind and loose in matters of rule;

وَلَيسَ فيكُم أَخو علمٍ يُحكَّمُ في

فَصل القَضاءِ وَمِنكُم جاءَتِ الكُتُبُ

Nor a man of learning among you to serve as arbiter in

The settling of cases—though the books came from you—

أَلَيسَ فيكُم دَمٌ يَهتاجُهُ أنفٌ

يَوماً فَيَدفَعُ هَذا العار إِذ يَثِبُ

Is there no blood among you that pride might rouse

One day, to leap up and drive this shame away?

فَأَسمِعوني صَليلَ البَيضِ بارِقَةً

في النَّقعِ إِني إِلى رَنَّاتِها طَرِبُ

So let me hear the clang of white blades flashing

In the battle-dust; I thrill to their ringing.

وَأَسمَعوني صَدى البارودِ مُنطَلِقاً

يَدوي بِهِ كُل قاعٍ حينَ يَصطَخِبُ

And let me hear the echo of gunpowder unleashed,

With every plain resounding as it roars.

لَم يَبقَ عِندَكُمُ شَيءٌ يَضنُّ بِهِ

غَيرَ النُّفوسِ عَلَيها الذُّلُّ يَنسَحِبُ

Nothing remains to you to be held dear

But your lives, over which humiliation creeps.

فَبادِروا المَوتَ وَاِستَغنوا بَراحَتِهِ

عَن عَيشِ مَن ماتَ مَوتاً مُلؤُهُ تَعبُ

So hasten to death, and let its rest suffice you

Instead of the life of one who has died a death full of toil.

صَبراً هَيا أُمَّةِ التُّركِ الَّتي ظَلَمت

دَهراً فَعمَّا قَليلٍ تُرفَعُ الحُجُبُ

Patience, O nation of the Turks, which has oppressed

For ages; before long, the veils shall be lifted.

لنطلبنَّ بِحَدِّ السَّيفِ مأَرَبنا

فَلَن يَخيبَ لَنا في جَنبِهِ أَرَبُ

We shall surely seek our aim with the sword's edge,

For no wish of ours shall fail at its side.

وَنَترُكَنَّ عُلوجَ التُّركِ تَندُبُ ما

قَد قَدَّمَتهُ أَياديها وَتَنتَحبُ

And we shall surely leave the Turkish barbarians lamenting what

Their own hands have wrought, and sobbing.

وَمِن يَعِشْ يَرَ وَالأَيام مُقبِلَةٌ

يَلوحُ للمَرءِ في أَحداثِها العَجبُ

And whoever lives shall see; the days are approaching.

In their events, wonders will appear to man.