1. الشعر ديوان العرب

    والشعر عنوان الادب

    Poetry is the Arabs' chronicle;

    And poetry is the emblem of literature.

  2. هو الذي قامت به

    في الشرق نهضة العرب

    It is what brought about

    The Arabs' awakening in the East.

  3. وهو الذي كان يخف

    ذائداً عن الحسب

    It was what would hasten,

    Defending ancestral honor.

  4. ويكشف الحق ان

    الحق عن العين احتجب

    It unveils the truth when

    The truth is hidden from sight.

  5. ويشعل النار التي

    في اول الحرب تشب

    And kindles the fire that

    Flares up at the outset of war.

  6. ويحفظ الاخلاق ان

    تمسها يد العطب

    And safeguards morals if

    The hand of ruin touches them.

  7. يصور الاحساس منهم في

    الرضى وفي الغضب

    It portrays their feelings in

    Contentment and in anger.

  8. يروع من يسمعه

    اذا اهاب او عتب

    It awes whoever hears it

    When it summons or reproaches.

  9. يذم من بماله

    ضن ويطرى من وهب

    It censures the man who, with his wealth,

    Is miserly, and extols the man who gives.

  10. اذا سمت قبيلة

    فانما هو السبب

    If a tribe rises high,

    It alone is the cause.

  11. قد شب يغذوه الشعو

    ر فاستوى منه القصب

    It grew, nourished by feeling,

    And its reed-stalks grew straight.

  12. ثم رنا ثم دنا

    ثم جثا ثم وثب

    Then it gazed, then drew near,

    Then knelt, then leapt.

  13. الشعر زهر عطر

    انبته أرض العرب

    Poetry is a fragrant blossom

    Grown by the land of the Arabs.

  14. والزهر في اشواكه

    كالعين حولها الهدب

    And the blossom amid its thorns

    Is like the eye surrounded by lashes.

  15. ما انقلبوا انقلابهم

    من قبل ان يرقى الادب

    They did not undergo their transformation

    Before literature had risen.

  16. وهو الذي اذكى الشعو

    ر بالظهور والغلب

    And it is what kindled the feeling

    Of ascendancy and victory.

  17. وهو الى الوحي يمت

    من قديم بالنسب

    And it is linked to revelation

    By kinship from ancient times.

  18. لقد روى وما افترى

    ولا غلا ولا كذب

    It has indeed recounted, never fabricated,

    Neither exaggerated nor lied.

  19. طوبى لمن ما رسه

    ومن رواه او كتب

    Blessed is whoever practices it,

    And whoever recites it or writes.

  20. الشعر اما سله

    حر فسيف ذو شطب

    Poetry, when drawn by

    A free man, is a sword with grooves.

  21. وانه لكاشف

    الغمات فراج الكرب

    And indeed it is a dispeller

    Of sorrows, a reliever of distress.

  22. جوابة الآفاق يطوي الارض

    من غير تعب

    A rover of horizons, it folds up the earth

    Without fatigue.

  23. اذا مشى يمشي العرضنى

    او مضى يمضي الحبب

    When it walks, it walks with a swagger;

    Or, moving onward, it goes at a quick trot.

  24. وسابق اذا عدا

    ولا حق اذا طلب

    A front-runner when it races,

    And an overtaker when it pursues.

  25. وهو سرور للذي

    فيه السرور قد نضب

    And it is joy for one

    Whose joy has run dry.

  26. ريحان من يرتشف الرضاب

    من بنت العنب

    Sweet basil for whoever sips the lip-dew

    From the grape's daughter.

  27. وانه لرحمة

    للناس ان امر حزب

    And indeed it is a mercy

    For people when trouble befalls them.

  28. ونقمة لمن عن الحق المبين

    قد نكب

    And a scourge upon whoever, from the manifest truth,

    Has turned aside.

  29. كم خاض في حرب وكم

    غالب جمعا فغلب

    How many wars it has plunged into, and how often

    It battled a host and prevailed!

  30. كم مرة افضى الى

    انقلاب شعب فانقلب

    How many times it has brought about

    A people's revolution—and the people rose!

  31. فياله من بطجل

    لم ينتكص على العقب

    What a hero it is,

    Who never turned back on its heels!

  32. السيف في يمينه

    ما ان نبا لما ضرب

    The sword in its right hand

    Never failed to cut when it struck.

  33. والشمس في جبينه

    يرسل عقيان اللهب

    And, with the sun upon its brow,

    It sends forth the pure gold of flame.

  34. وهو حديث في نهو

    ضه قديم في النسب

    It is young in its awakening,

    Ancient in its lineage.

  35. كأنه لم يك بالمولود

    من ام وأب

    As though it had not been born

    Of a mother and a father.

  36. لا يعرف الانسان كم

    مرت عليه من حقب

    No human knows how many

    Ages have passed over it.

  37. ان يكن النثر من الفضة

    فالشعر ذهب

    If prose is made of silver,

    Then poetry is gold.

  38. قال الذي قال فهل

    قضى جميع ما وجب

    So said the speaker; but has he

    Given all that was due?

  39. كلا فان الشعر يرجى منه

    فوق ما وهب

    No! For from poetry one hopes for

    More than it has given.

  40. ولا يزال الشعر يأ

    تي كل يوم بالعجب

    And poetry never ceases

    To bring wonders every day.

  41. يا ناقدي القريض بالباطل

    ما هذا الصخب

    O you who criticize verse unjustly,

    What is this clamor?

  42. ثوبوا إلى أنفسكم

    فقد أسأتم للادب

    Come back to your senses;

    For you have wronged literature.

  43. لا يحسن النقد جهو

    ل باساليب العرب

    No one can criticize well who is ignorant

    Of the Arabs' modes of expression.

  44. ما ان يضير بلبلا

    شدا غراب قد نعب

    A nightingale is not harmed,

    As it sings, by a raven that croaks.

  45. لا يعرف الشعر سوى

    من راضه حتى تعب

    None knows poetry except

    One who has labored to master it until weary.

  46. ليس الذي يرى من

    البعد كراء من كثب

    Not alike are one who sees from

    Afar and one who sees close by.

  47. ما انت نبع منه يا

    ناقده ولا غرب

    You are neither its bow-wood, O

    You who criticize it, nor its willow.

  48. يا حبذا النقد النزيه

    من اساليب الكذب

    How welcome is criticism kept free

    From the methods of falsehood!

  49. نعوذ باللَه معاً

    من غاسق اذا وقب

    Together we seek refuge in God

    From the dark night when it descends.

  50. ما الحقد في النقد السفيه

    غير نار في حطب

    Malice in foolish criticism is

    Nothing but fire in firewood,

  51. محرقة من شبها

    كأنه لها حصب

    Burning the one who kindled it,

    As though he were its fuel.

  52. قل ايها الشعر معي

    تبت يدا ابي لهب

    Say with me, O poetry:

    Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab!

  53. لم يغن عنه ماله

    في هلكه وما كسب

    His wealth did not avail him

    In his ruin, nor what he earned.

  54. يا ايها الشعر ودا

    عا فرحيلي اقترب

    O poetry, farewell—

    For my departure draws near.

  55. ان فراقي لك يا

    شعر فراق من احب

    Indeed, my parting from you, O

    Poetry, is parting from one I love.

  56. يا شعر انت خالد

    اليك لا يرقى العطب

    O poetry, you are immortal;

    Ruin cannot climb to you.

  57. اما انا فذاهب

    عنك كما غيري ذهب

    But I am departing

    From you, as others have departed.

  58. الموت خير من حيا

    ة كل ما فيها نصب

    Death is better than a life

    In which all is toil.