بلغ الشباب النزر من غاياتهم

اما الشيوخ فانهم قد اخفقوا

The young have attained a scant portion of their aims;

As for the old, they have already failed.

اغنم جديدك من حياتك انه

عما قليل من حياتك يخلق

Make the most of your life's freshness, for it

will wear out after a short span of your life.

الشيخ ينشد راحة ولعلها

امل وراء هلاكه يتحقق

The old man seeks rest, and perhaps it is

a hope that comes true after his death.

ان القميص به خروق جمة

فاذا رتقت فاي فتق ترتق

The shirt indeed has many holes;

so when you mend it, which tear will you mend?

ستنام تحت الارض في ملحودة

والشمس فوق الارض بعدك تشرق

You will sleep beneath the earth in a grave,

and the sun will rise above the earth after you are gone.

لاحسن عند النفس بعد زهوقها

والنفس الا مرة لا تزهق

There is no beauty for the soul after its departure,

and the soul departs only once.

اما العراق فانه لشقائه

ممن ترباهم لعون يرهق

As for Iraq, to its misfortune,

it is oppressed by those it reared to help it.

يا شعب لا تيأس فانك بالغ

نشزاً به يا شعب انت الا خلق

O people, do not despair, for you will reach

a height of which you, O people, are most worthy.

يا شعب سوف تكون دوحا جذعه

ضخم فانت اليوم خصن مورق

O people, you will become a great tree whose trunk

is massive, for today you are a leafy bough.

قد تفشل الاقوام في مجهودها

لكن اليها اليأس لا يتطرق

Peoples may fail in their efforts,

but despair finds no way into them.

ووددت لو اضحى شتاتك وحدة

او كان لا يتفرق المتفرق

And I wished your scattered parts would become one,

or that the already scattered would not scatter further.

يا شعب ان طريق مجدك واضح

فانهجه حثحاثا وانت موفق

O people, the road to your glory is clear;

so follow it swiftly, and you will succeed.

واذا الشعوب على ضؤولة شأنها

همت لاسباب التقدم تخلق

And when nations, despite their humble standing,

set their minds on the means of progress, they become worthy of it.

يا قومنا استقلالكم هو كاذب

لا مثلما قد صور المتملق

O our people, your independence is a lie,

not as the flatterer has portrayed it.

اني على الاوطان انفق مهجتي

اما الدخيل فاي شيء ينفق

I spend my lifeblood for the homelands;

as for the intruder, what does he spend?

قد يسكت المهضوم الا زفرة

منه والا عبرة تترقرق

The wronged man may be silent, save for a sigh

from him, and save for a tear that wells up.

من بعد ان خف الدجى في ليلتي

ما بال نجم الصبح لا يتألق

After the darkness in my night has thinned,

why does the morning star not shine?

ليلى التي انا منذ حين باسمها

في كل بيت من قصيدي اشهق

Layla, whose name I have for some time

sobbed out in every verse of my poetry,

ليست سوى وطني وما وطني سوى

شرفي الذي اسمو به واحلق

is nothing but my homeland, and my homeland nothing but

my honor, through which I rise and soar.

ليلى اجل ليلى التي اعززتها

هي كل ما انا في حياتي اعشق

Layla—yes, Layla, whom I have cherished—

she is all that I adore in my life.

شعري بما في القلب مني ناطق

واذا سكت فان دمعي ينطق

My poetry speaks of what lies within my heart,

and when I fall silent, my tears speak.

ما زال قلبي خافقا بولائه

ويظل ثم يظل قلبي يخفق

My heart still beats in loyalty to it,

and my heart will keep on, and keep on, beating.