1. فاليومَ: لا قيصرٌ يطغى، ولا شاهُ

    لكل شعب رعاةٌ من رعاياهُ

    Today, then, no Caesar tyrannizes, nor any shah.

    Every people has shepherds drawn from its own subjects.

  2. ليس الولاةُ بأربابِ مصغَّرةِ

    يا رب مولى سوادُ الشعب مولاه

    Governors are not miniature gods.

    How many a master has the common people for his master!

  3. القومُ في مجلس الشُّورى سواسَية

    وَالعدلُ يأخذ بين القوام مجراه

    The people in the council of consultation are equals,

    And justice takes its course among those in charge.

  4. أبصرتُ عاملَهم في صف عاهِلهمْ

    لا حانيًا رأسهُ أو مطبقًا فاه

    I saw their worker in the same rank as their monarch,

    Neither bowing his head nor keeping his mouth shut.

  5. إن الحكومة في شتَّى مظاهرها

    خَلْقٌ تُصَوِّرُهُ للشعب كفاه

    Government, in its various forms,

    Is a creation the people's own two hands fashion for them.

  6. الشعب كالجسم؛ ما للجسم من أرب

    في الرأس وإن هو لم تحمله رجلاه

    The people are like a body: what need has the body

    Of a head if its two legs do not carry it?

  7. للناس في الفلك والطاووس موعظة

    كلاهما خيرُ ما فيه ذُناباه

    In a ship and a peacock, people have a lesson:

    The finest part of each is its tail.

  8. البحر يثلجُ صدري عند غفوته

    إذا تساوت بسطح البحر أمواه

    The sea cools my breast when it slumbers,

    When waters lie level on the surface of the sea.

  9. كم زُيْنَ اسمٌ بألقاب مكدَّسة

    وقد تجرَّد من زَيْن مُسماه

    How many a name has been adorned with heaped-up titles,

    Yet stripped of the grace of the one it names.

  10. شر الورى: عَقِبٌ، أطغاهمو لقبٌ

    إذا سألتهمو، قالوا: ورِثناه!

    The worst of humankind are descendants made tyrannical by a title;

    When you ask them, they say, 'We inherited it!'

  11. يتيه بالفضل ذو فضل فأمقته

    ما بال قوم بأسلاف لهم تاهوا؟

    A man of merit boasts of his merit, and I detest him;

    What is wrong with people who boast of their ancestors?

  12. من قسَّم الناس أجناسًا: فذاك له

    مجدٌ، وذلك لا مجد ولا جاه؟

    Who divided people into races: that one has

    Glory, while that other has neither glory nor standing?

  13. من قسمَّ الدَّمَ: هذا آسِن كَدِرٌ

    وذاك من نفحات المسك ربَّاه؟

    Who divided blood: this is stagnant and murky,

    And that was nurtured on wafts of musk?

  14. أبناءَ آدمَ، ما تلك الفوارقُ؟ هل

    منكم له ابنٌ، ومنكم من تبناه؟

    Children of Adam, what are these distinctions? Is

    One of you his son, and another one he adopted?

  15. لم يخلقُ الناس من در ومن خزَف

    الناس مهما عَلَوْا للنَّاس أشباه

    People were not created from pearls and earthenware;

    People, however high they rise, are other people's equals.

  16. لا تُغلِ نفسك أو ترخص أخاك، فقد

    سوَّاك ربك من طين وسواه

    Do not overvalue yourself or cheapen your brother, for

    Your Lord fashioned you from clay, and fashioned him too.

  17. ولا تقل: هذه أنثى وإن ضعفت

    أما تدبِّرُ مُلْكَ النحل أنثاه؟

    And do not say, 'This is a female,' even if she is weak;

    Does not the bees' female govern their kingdom?

  18. خير الحكومات: ما الشورى دعامته

    وما أقيم على الدستور مبناه

    The best governments are those whose pillar is consultation,

    And whose structure is founded on the constitution:

  19. حكم تَنَزَّه؛ لا يرمي إلى غرض

    في النفس؛ لكنّ محض الخير مرماه

    An untainted government that pursues no aim

    Of self-interest, but has pure good as its goal.

  20. أرسى قواعده شعبٌ له خُلُقٌ

    ذو صولة تتحدَّى من تَحَدَّاه

    A people of character laid its foundations,

    Possessed of might that defies whoever defies it.

  21. إن كان للفرد فيه مأرب، وقفت

    روحُ الجماعة ضدَّ الفرد تنهاه

    If an individual has a private aim within it, there stands

    The community's spirit against the individual, restraining him.

  22. ضعوا مقاليد أمر الشعب في يده

    ما صرَّفت أمرَهُ يمنى كيمناه

    Place the reins of the people's affairs in their own hand;

    No right hand has managed their affairs like their own.

  23. يطيبُ نفسًا إذا التوفيق حالَفَهُ

    ولا يلوم إذا التوفيق أخطاه

    They are glad at heart when success befriends them,

    And lay no blame when success eludes them.

  24. قد يُلحقُ بي غيري فيُسخطني

    وتُلحق الشرَّ بي نفسي فأرضاه

    Another may inflict harm on me and anger me,

    And my own self inflicts harm on me, and I accept it.

  25. قالوا: النيابة شرَّ، قلتُ: ربَّ أذَى

    نرضاه دفعًا لشرٍّ منه نخشاه

    They said, 'Representation is an evil.' I said, 'Many a harm

    We accept to avert a worse evil we fear.'

  26. مَنْ يطلبِ الخبر محضًا عزَّ مطلبُهُ

    فإنما فطرةُ الأشياء تأباه

    Whoever seeks unmixed good finds his quest hard,

    For the very nature of things rejects it.

  27. يا رُبَّ مُلك بنته كفُّ طاغيةٍ

    تحصى النجومُ، ولا تُحصى ضحاياه

    How many a kingdom a tyrant's hand has built—

    The stars can be counted, but its victims cannot!

  28. دم الضحايا طلاءٌ في جوانبه

    وهامُهمْ لَبِنَاتً في زواياه

    The victims' blood is paint upon its sides,

    And their skulls are bricks in its corners.

  29. لا يسلُم الحكمُ للجبار في وطن

    إلا إذا بات مقصوصًا جناحاه

    A tyrant's rule cannot stand secure in a homeland,

    Unless that homeland has had both its wings clipped.

  30. حكم إذا ساد، لم يُسمع لمتقدٍ

    صوت، ولم يقض ذوى شكوى بشكواه

    A rule that, when it prevails, lets no critic's

    Voice be heard, and grants no complainant redress for his grievance.

  31. الشعب يبقى ويبقى مجدُ دولتِهِ

    ودولة الفرد تُنْعى يومً منعاه!

    The people endure, and their state's glory endures,

    And one man's state is proclaimed dead the day his death is announced!