1. تجلَّى على الأرضِ عدلُ السَّماء

    يرفُّ بأجنحةِ من ضياء

    Heaven's justice appeared upon the earth,

    fluttering with wings of light:

  2. ملاكٌ يمسُّ بكف الحنانِ

    جبينَ الشقيّ؛ فيمحو الشقاء

    an angel touching with compassion's palm

    the brow of the wretched, wiping misery away.

  3. ويخفضُ للضعفاء الجناحَ

    ويعصفُ كالريح بالأقوياء

    It lowers its wing to the weak,

    and buffets the strong like the wind.

  4. ألا إنما الناسُ من آدمٍ

    وآدمُ كلُّ بنيه سواء

    Behold, all people descend from Adam,

    and all Adam's children are equal.

  5. أصيغ امرؤٌ من نُضارٍ وطيبٍ

    وصيغ امرؤ من تراب وماء؟

    Was one man fashioned from gold and perfume,

    and another fashioned from dust and water?

  6. تباركتَ ربي! أأنت قسمت

    عبادك بين ذئابٍ وشاء؟

    Blessed are You, my Lord! Was it You who divided

    Your servants into wolves and sheep?

  7. أمِن بعض خلقك أنت صنعتَ

    عبيدًا، ومن بعضهم أمراء؟

    Did You fashion some of Your creatures

    into slaves, and others into princes?

  8. ودينُك دينُ المساواة وهْوَ

    من الطبقات لعمري براء

    Yet Your religion is the religion of equality, and it

    is free of class divisions, by my life.

  9. سننت الشرائعَ من أجلها

    وأرسلت من أجلها الأنبياء

    You ordained the laws for its sake,

    and for its sake You sent the prophets.

  10. أيبشَمُ بالزاد جوفٌ، وجوفٌ

    يعُزُّ عليه فتاتُ الغذاء؟

    Does one belly suffer from overeating, while another

    finds even crumbs of food beyond its reach?

  11. ويكرُع قوم عتيق المُدامِ

    وقومُ إلى كأس ماءٍ ظِماء؟

    And do some people gulp down aged wine,

    while others thirst for a cup of water?

  12. ويفترشُ الخَزَّ جنبٌ، وجنبٌ

    إذا نام لم يلق إلا العراء؟

    And does one body recline on silk, while another,

    when it sleeps, finds only the open ground?

  13. إذا الفقرُ كان جزاءَ الفقير

    فما بال أطفاله الأبرياء؟

    If poverty is the poor man's recompense,

    what, then, of his innocent children?

  14. وما ذنبُ طفلٍ تَخُطُّ الحياةُ

    له صفحةَ البؤس قبل اللقاء؟

    And what is a child's sin, that life should write

    for him a page of misery before they meet?

  15. وما فضل طفلٍ إذا ما استهلّ

    تلقتهُ في المهد أيدي الإماء؟

    And what merit has a child who, at his first cry,

    is greeted in his cradle by the hands of slave women?

  16. وما شاد هذا صروح السلامِ

    ولا اعتاد ذلك سفكَ الدماء

    This one has built no edifices of peace,

    nor has that one grown accustomed to shedding blood.

  17. ولو ساد في الأرض عدلُ السماءِ

    لعاش الأنام بها سعداء

    Had Heaven's justice prevailed on earth,

    all people would have lived there happily.

  18. لقد جلب الفقر حبُّ الغنى

    وعجَّل بالموتِ حبُّ البقاء

    The love of wealth has indeed brought poverty,

    and the love of survival has hastened death.

  19. وما ضنَّ بالدَّر ضرعُ السحاب

    ولا شحَّ بطنُ الثرى بالنَّماء

    The clouds' udder has not withheld its milk,

    nor has the earth's belly been stingy with growth.

  20. ولا شكَت الأرض من حملها

    ولا ضاق بالناس رحبُ الفضاء

    Nor has the earth complained of its burden,

    nor has vast open space grown cramped with people.

  21. ولكن تفشّى السُّعارُ، فكان

    ضحيَّةَ هذا السُّعار الرخاء

    But rabid greed spread, and

    prosperity became that greed's victim.

  22. تباركتَ يا بارئ الكائناتِ!

    لكَ الأرضُ تورثُها من تشاء

    Blessed are You, O Creator of all beings!

    The earth is Yours; You bequeath it to whomever You will.

  23. تحكَّم في أرضك المالكون

    وشنُّوا الحروب على الأُجراء

    The landowners held sway over Your earth,

    and waged wars against the wage laborers.

  24. فلما قضيتَ بردِّ الحقوق

    إلى أهلها، أجهَشُوا بالبُكاء

    Then, when You decreed the return of rights

    to their rightful holders, they burst into tears.

  25. لحُكمك هم أعلَنوا كارهين

    ولو قدرُوا ناصَبُوك العداء

    They declared their aversion to Your judgment,

    and, had they been able, would have shown You enmity.

  26. ألا أيُّها المالكون، كأنِّي

    بكم تتحدَّون حُكم القضاء

    Hear me, landowners: it is as though I

    see you defying the decree of fate.

  27. وللهِ في العدل سرٌّ خفيٌّ

    دعوني أُزلْ عنه بعضَ الخفاء

    And God has a hidden secret in justice;

    let me remove some of its obscurity.

  28. رضاءُ المكافح عنكم ثراءٌ

    إذا فاتكم فأنتٌ من ثراء

    The toiler's contentment with you is wealth;

    if it eludes you, then you are of wealth [wording unclear].

  29. ولن تأمنُوا شرَّهَ الجائعينَ

    إذا السُّخطُ حلَّ محلَّ الرضاء

    Nor will you be safe from the voracity of the hungry

    if resentment replaces contentment.

  30. وكم أهلك المالُ من حَازهُ

    إذا المالُ لم يقترن بالسخاء

    How often wealth has destroyed those who possessed it,

    when wealth was not coupled with generosity!

  31. دعُوا الأرض يملكُها الكادحون

    فما خُلقت لسوى هؤلاء

    Let the toilers own the earth,

    for it was created for none but them.

  32. هم استخرجوا التِّبر من بطنها

    وعاشوا على ظهرها أُسراء

    They extracted raw gold from its belly,

    and lived as captives upon its back.

  33. همو قطعٌ من ثراها تَدبُّ

    عليها، وهُم صحبُها الأوفياء

    They are pieces of its soil that move

    upon it, and they are its faithful companions.

  34. مساكنُم هي طول الحياةِ

    وأجداثُهم هي بعد الفناء

    It is their dwelling throughout life,

    and their graves after death,

  35. وشاطئهُم إذْ يحلُّ المصيفُ

    ومدفؤهم إذ يحلُّ الشتاء

    and their shore when summer arrives,

    and their warm refuge when winter arrives.

  36. وديوانهم هي عند الصباحِ

    ومضجعهم هي عند المساء

    It is their gathering place in the morning,

    and their bed in the evening.

  37. إذا ما غفوا فهْيَ نعم الوسادُ

    ونعم الوِطاءُ، ونعم الغطاء

    When they doze, what a fine pillow it is,

    what fine bedding, and what a fine covering!

  38. ومن تُربها يُنضجون الطعامَ

    ومن عشبها يَنسجون الرداء

    And from its soil they cook their food,

    and from its grasses they weave their clothing.

  39. يعيشون، ليس لهم في سواها

    ولا في سوى من دحاها رجاء

    They live with no hope in anything but it,

    nor in anyone but Him who spread it out.

  40. وإن أجهدت زراعًا أرضهُ

    فأعيا، شفته بطيب الهواء

    And if a farmer's land exhausts him,

    and he grows weary, it heals him with the freshness of its air.

  41. ولم يلتمس من سواها علاجًا

    فكانت هي الداءَ وهْي الدواء

    He seeks no cure from anything else,

    so it is his illness, and it is his cure.

  42. لأنعامها ودُّهُ صافيًا

    ويا رُبَّ ودٍ بغير صفاء

    His affection for its livestock is pure,

    and oh, how much affection lacks purity!

  43. وتهفو السَّوامُ إليه، كما

    هفا الأصدقاء إلى الأصدقاء

    The grazing herds yearn toward him, just as

    friends yearn toward friends.

  44. ويقنعُ من عيشه بالكفاف

    ويجزي عليه بحسن الثَّناء

    He is content with bare subsistence,

    and offers fine praise in return.

  45. ويدعو السماءَ لمن حرَّروهُ

    فتفتحُ أبوابها للدعاء

    He calls on Heaven for those who freed him,

    and it opens its gates to prayer.

  46. أيا حارثَ الأرض، ما نُؤتَ يومًا

    بما لو تحمَّله الطَّودُ ناء

    O tiller of the earth, you never once staggered

    under what would make a towering mountain stagger if it bore it.

  47. صبرتَ على عنت الدهر دهرًا

    طويلاً، فجُوزيتَ حُسن الجزاء!

    You endured the harshness of time for an age

    so long, and were richly rewarded!

  48. دعوتَ جمالاً، فلبَّى جمالٌ

    ومن كجمالٍ يلبِّي النداء؟

    You called to Jamal, and Jamal answered;

    and who answers the call like Jamal?

  49. إذا الضُّعفاء أهابوا به

    يَهبُّ إلى نجدة الضعفاء

    When the weak call upon him,

    he springs to the rescue of the weak.

  50. وتمضى به عزمةٌ من حديدٍ

    تُفسِّرُ للسهم معنى المضاء

    An iron resolve carries him onward,

    teaching the arrow the meaning of piercing force.

  51. إذا ما مشى قُدمًا في الطريق

    فلن يتلفَّتَ نحو الوراء

    When he walks forward along the road,

    he will never turn to look behind.