ويل لمملكة قضى اهمالها

من اهلها ان يفشل استقلالها

Woe to a kingdom that neglect has doomed—

neglect by its people—to lose its independence.

ولبلدة منكوسة قد انكدت

علماؤها وتنعمت جهالها

And to a town turned upside down, where misery has afflicted

its scholars, while its ignorant have lived in ease.

ولامة بعد الوفاق تخالفت

فتقطعت لخلافها اوصالها

And to a nation that, after concord, fell into discord,

so its limbs were torn apart by its dissension.

فرحت لفرط الجهل من ادبارها

فكانما ادبارها اقبالها

Through sheer ignorance it rejoiced at its decline,

as though its decline were its advance.

ما خير ناس اجفلت من ظلها

فقضى على غاياتها اجفالها

What good are people who flee from their own shadow,

and whose panic has destroyed their aims?

امم اذلتها سياسة قسوة

من اقوياء يسرهم اذلالها

Nations humiliated by a policy of cruelty,

from the powerful, who delight in humiliating them.

من كل عاصمة الرشيد لاهلها

لم يبق الا طيفها وخيالها

Of al-Rashid's entire capital, its people

have nothing left but its specter and shadow.

عاثت بها فتاكة ابناؤها

فكأنما ابناؤها اغوالها

Its murderous sons wreaked havoc within it,

as though its sons were its ghouls.

تقفو خطى الآباء انجال فما

الآباء راشدة ولا انجالها

Offspring follow their fathers' footsteps, but

neither the fathers nor their offspring are rightly guided.

ان جد بين الغي يوما والهدى

حرب فاين من الوغى ابطالها

If one day, between error and right guidance, there erupts

a war, where are its champions in the fray?

دخل الذئاب حمى العرين تدوسه

لا الاسد تحميه ولا اشبالها

Wolves have entered the den's sanctuary, trampling it;

neither the lions nor their cubs defend it.

لم يسمعوا نصحي لهم وكأنما

كانت على آذانهم اقفالها

They did not listen to my counsel for them, as though

locks lay upon their ears.

وهو التعصب حاك آراءً لهم

صعبا على من راضها استئصالها

And it is fanaticism that has woven opinions for them,

hard for anyone who would tame them to uproot.

واذا العقيدة في النفوس استحكمت

فمن العسير بحجة ابطالها

And when a creed takes firm hold in souls,

it is hard to refute it with an argument.

مرضى من العادات مزمنة فلا

يرجى بغير مطبب ابلالها

Sick from chronic habits, they have no

hope of recovery without a physician.

اما النجاح فلا نجاح لأمة

ما ايدت اقوالها افعالها

As for success, there is no success for a nation

whose deeds do not bear out its words.

غلت فما ابدت اقل تذمر

فكأنما طابت لها اغلالها

It was shackled, yet showed not the slightest discontent,

as though its shackles pleased it.

بالرافدين من الشباب عصابة

قد صارعت آلامها آمالها

In the land of the Two Rivers is a band of youths;

their hopes have wrestled with their pains.

لم يبق عند بني العراق سوى المنى

اما المنى فطويلة احبالها

Nothing remains for the sons of Iraq but wishes;

as for wishes, their ropes are long.

ولقد كشفنا للصروف صدورنا

اما الصروف فلا تطيش نبالهال

And we have bared our breasts to fate's reversals;

as for fate's reversals, their arrows never miss.

لم تبق للايام من هبة فقد

تعطى اليمين فتسترد شمالها

No gift of time has endured, for

its right hand may give, but its left takes back.

ما للركاب بطيئة في سيرها

اثقيلة في ظهرها احمالها

Why are the riding camels so slow on their way?

Are the loads upon their backs heavy?

ان الحياة اذا حوت حرية

هي نعمة ما ان يراد زوالها

Indeed, life, when it contains freedom,

is a blessing whose passing is never desired.

ديست باقدام ثقيل وطؤها

ارض العروبة سهلها وجبالها

Trampled beneath feet whose tread is heavy

was the Arab land, its plain and its mountains.

سكتت عن التغريد كل طيورها

الا حمامات لها اعوالها

All its birds have ceased their singing,

except for doves, with their lamentations.

كم ليلة عصافة قد كشرت

للفتك عن انيابها اغوالها

How many a stormy night has seen

its ghouls bare their fangs for slaughter!

قل للاساتذة الألى قد ازمعوا

عوداً لمصر ومصر سعد فالها

Tell the teachers who have resolved

to return to Egypt—and Egypt's omen is auspicious—

ان العراق لكم يجل وانما

اجلالكم في وقته اجلالها

that Iraq holds you in esteem, and that

honoring you in due season is nothing but honoring her.

اني ارى بين الجهالة والنهى

حربا تدور وانتم ابطالها

Indeed I see, between ignorance and reason,

a war raging, and you are its champions.

عودوا اليها راشدين فانها

امّ كثير عنكم تسآلها

Return to her, rightly guided, for she

is a mother who often asks after you.

لا غرو عند نزوحكم عن دجلة

ان شيعتكم بالقلوب رجالها

No wonder, as you depart from the Tigris,

that her men have bidden you farewell with their hearts.