من بعد ما انتظرت حقابا

ثارت فمزقت الحجابا

After she had waited for ages,

she rose in revolt and tore the veil.

عربية عرفت اخيراً

كيف تنبذ ما ارابا

An Arab woman who finally learned

how to cast aside what troubled her.

كان الحجاب يسومها

خسفاً ويرهقها عذابا

The veil used to subject her

to humiliation and burden her with torment.

وسيطلب التاريخ من

ناس لها ظلموا حسابا

And history will demand

a reckoning from people who wronged her.

سألت لها حرية

منهم فما لقيت جوابا

She asked for freedom for herself

from them, but received no answer.

حتى اذا ما استيأست

خرقت بايديها النقابا

Until, when she had lost all hope,

she tore the face veil with her own hands.

فرأت امام سفورها

للمجد افنية رحابا

Before her unveiling she saw

glory's spacious courtyards.

ذهبت كزوبعة لها

صخب فاحمدت الذهابا

She went forth like a whirlwind

with a roar, and found her going praiseworthy.

احسنت يا ابنة يعرب

صنعاً واتبعت الصوابا

You did well, O daughter of Ya'rub,

in deed, and followed what is right.

فلقد كفاك غضاضة

ذاك الشقاء بما اصابا

For you have suffered enough humiliation

from that misery and all it inflicted.

ليس الجمود سوى خنو

ع قد يجر لك التبابا

Stagnation is nothing but submission,

which may bring you ruin.

ان الحياة لتبتغي

في عصرنا هذا انقلابا

Life indeed seeks

a revolution in this age of ours.

ظهرت تباشير له

تبني المنى منها قبابا

Its first signs have appeared,

from which hopes build domes.

خوضي الى المجد الاثيل

مع الألى خاضوا الصعابا

Plunge toward deep-rooted glory

with those who braved hardships.

وتنكبي الوهد الذي

يخفيك واطلبي الهضابا

And shun the low ground that

conceals you, and seek the uplands.

اما العباب فانه

ان حال فاقتحمي العبابا

As for the surging sea,

if it bars your way, plunge into its surge.

الحق حقك فانشديه

في محاولة طلابا

Your right is yours, so seek it

through effort and pursuit.

واذا ابوا فخذيه

منهم في مكافحة غلابا

And if they refuse, take it

from them through struggle, overcoming them.

لا تعبئي ابدا بغر

بان يواصلن النعابا

Never pay any heed to crows

that keep on cawing.

وذرى من الدين القشو

ر جميعها وخذي اللبابا

And cast aside religion's husks,

all of them, and take the kernel.

لا خير في ناس اذا

افحمتهم ولوا غضابا

There is no good in people who, when

you confound them, turn away in anger.

عزوا الحجاب الى الكتا

ب فليتهم قرأوا الكتابا

They ascribed the veil to the Book—

if only they had read the Book!

ان التعصب مانع

ان تبصر العين الصوابا

Indeed, fanaticism prevents

the eye from seeing what is right.

ما عاش شعب نصفه

قد شل من داء اصابا

No people lives when half of it

has been paralyzed by a disease that struck.

ما كان خدرك غير سجن

مظلم يولي اكتئابا

Your secluded chamber was nothing but a prison,

dark, bringing despondency.

اني لارجو ان ارى

التوقير في الفتيان دابا

Indeed, I hope to see

respect a habit among young men.

والوم من مردوا فلم

يبغوا عن السفه اجتنابا

And I reproach those hardened in vice, who did not

seek to avoid foolishness.

كم من خراف حين ادجى

ليلها انقلبت ذئابا

How many sheep, when darkness fell

over their night, turned into wolves!

لما رأت لحما طريا

ابرزت ظفراً ونابا

When they saw tender flesh,

they bared a claw and a fang.

ولرب فاتنة العيو

ب لحاظها تحكي الحرابا

And many a woman with bewitching flaws,

whose glances resemble spears,

وترى خصائل شعرها

فتخالها تبراً مذابا

and you see the locks of her hair

and imagine them molten gold,

زفت الى وحش فسلت

في حيازته اكتئابا

was wed to a beast, and wasted away

in his keeping, from despondency.

واجاعها شحاً ولم

يحسب لجوعتها حسابا

And he starved her out of miserliness and did not

give any thought to her hunger.

هل ظن ان المرهق

الغرثان يلتهم الترابا

Did he think the exhausted,

famished person would devour dirt?

ولقد إلى منها الأسى

فتفجرت تبكي المصابا

And indeed, her sorrow [wording unclear],

then she burst into tears over her affliction.

ان الأسى اما إلى

ليفجر الصم الصلابا

Indeed, sorrow, if ... [wording unclear],

will surely rend the hard, solid rocks.

وتعاتب الاقدار لو

يسمعن من احد عتابا

And she reproaches the fates—if

they could hear anyone's reproach.

ذم الجهالة انها

ما اورثت الا خرابا

Condemn ignorance, for it

has bequeathed nothing but ruin.

يا ماء اهلي اين انت

فانني اشكوا اللهابا

O water of my people, where are you?

For I complain of the burning flame.

يا قبر ليلى انت تحوي

فيك زنبقة كعابا

O Layla's grave, you hold

within you a lily, a blossoming maiden.

حيتك واكفة الحيا

تهمي فتنسكب انسكابا

May a rain-laden cloud salute you,

pouring down and spilling profusely.

كم مثلها من نسوة

يرجون في الصبر الثوابا

How many women like her

hope for reward through patience.

يلوين من جور الرجا

ل وقد تبرمن الرقابا

They turn their necks under men's tyranny,

having grown weary and discontented.

مالي رجاء في الشيو

خ وانما ارجو الشبابا

I have no hope in the old men;

I hope only in the young,

من كل وثاب اذا

اغريته اقتحم الصعابا

in every spirited man who, when

you spur him on, plunges into hardships.

الناس في الآراء يختلفون

بعدا واقترابا

People differ in their opinions,

far apart or drawing close.

بسم المنى لاقلهم

خطأ واكثرهم صوابا

Hope's smile is for those of them least

in error and most in the right.

اني ارحب بالالى

بلد لرشيد بهن طابا

I welcome those women

through whom Rashid's city has grown fair.

اوليننا النعم الرغا

ب وما توخين الثوابا

They bestowed bountiful favors on us

and sought no reward,

بل خدمة الوطن العزيز

بهن عن بعد اهابا

but service to the beloved homeland,

which called to them from afar.

نعم سأشكرها ومن

لا يشكر النعم الرغابا

Favors I shall give thanks for—and who

does not give thanks for bountiful favors?

وكذاك تشكر كل ار

ض عضها الجدب السحابا

And likewise every land gives thanks

to the clouds, when drought has bitten it.

يا نور هذا الحفل قد

بلغت بطولتك النصابا

O light of this gathering, indeed

your heroism has reached its full measure.

لا تحسبي للمرجفين

ومن روى عنهم حسابا

Pay no heed to the alarm-mongers,

or to those who repeat their words.