عاطني يا تونسي في نخبها

كأس صفو وبرياها اسقني

Pass me, O Tunisian, in a toast to her,

a cup of pure joy, and give me her fragrance to drink.

فهي ليلى وأنا قيس بها

ومن الإيمان حب الوطن

For she is Layla, and I am her Qays,

and love of the homeland is part of faith.

شهرتي في حبها شهرته

قل كفى هذا التغالي شرفا

My renown for loving her is his renown;

say, 'This excess of love is honor enough.'

وكذا قل غيرتي غيرته

فبحمد الله نحن الحلفا

Likewise say, 'My jealous ardor is his.'

So, praise be to God, we are allies.

فكلانا أينعت زهرته

وكلانا بالغرام اتصفا

For the blossom of each of us has ripened,

and both of us are marked by passionate love.

أبدا لا أنثني عن حبّها

فالهوى العذري قد لازمني

Never shall I turn away from loving her,

for chaste love has clung to me.

كيف أسو والمنى في كسبها

وهي نعم الكسب عند المقتني

How could I find solace, when my hopes lie in winning her?

And what an excellent gain she is to her possessor!

هي فوق الأرض فردوس يرى

من فراديس النعيم الأخروي

Upon the earth she is a visible paradise,

one of the paradises of bliss in the hereafter.

ماء عين في الأنابيب جرى

نحن والأشجار منه نرتوي

Spring water has flowed through the pipes;

we and the trees drink our fill from it.

ومن الأنوار سيّال سرى

كهربائيا بخط مستوي

And a current of light has flowed,

electrically along a straight line.

رحبت واتسعت بحسبها

وارتقت طبق ارتقاء الزمن

She grew spacious and expanded as befits her,

and rose in step with the progress of time.

جررت في التيه ذيل عجبها

وازدهت عن كل مصر مدني

She trailed, in haughty pride, the train of her self-admiration,

and shone above every civilized city.

من أناخ الركب في أبوابها

قال هذي غرم ذات العماد

Whoever made the caravan kneel at her gates

said, 'This is Iram of the pillars,'

إذ يرى الخضراء في أثوابها

بلدة كانت على وفق المراد

on seeing the Green One in her robes:

a town that was just as one would wish.

اعتلت شأنا على أترابها

اعتلاء الشأن في بانت سعاد

She rose in stature above her peers,

with the exalted stature found in 'Banat Su'ad.'

كم بها من ظبية في سربها

من ظبا الافرنج غصنا تنثني

How many a gazelle is there, within her herd,

one of the Franks' gazelles, bending like a bough.

رق منها الخصر ما في ثوبها

غير لطف بدلا من بدن

Her waist is slender; within her dress is nothing

but delicacy in place of a body.

يا لباب البحر فينا من كناس

تتجلى منه غزلان النقى

Oh, what a gazelles' covert Bab al-Bahr is among us!

From it the gazelles of the dunes appear in splendor.

تسلب الألباب من ذاك اللباس

فهي أزياء بها الحسن ارتقى

They steal away minds with that attire,

for these are fashions by which beauty has risen.

كم قلوب تحت أقدام تداس

كلما يبدو محيا مشرقا

How many hearts are trampled beneath feet

whenever a radiant face appears!

سيجت أنهاجه من قضبها

وعليها ذلك النور السني

Its avenues were hedged with her boughs,

and upon them shone that brilliant light.

وترامت سكك في تربها

حيث يجري الأفعوان المنحني

And railway tracks stretched across her soil,

where the curving serpent runs.

هو ذاك الرتل جواب القفار

محدث الأنفاق في جوف الجبال

It is that train, traverser of wastelands,

opening tunnels in the depths of mountains,

شامخ الأنف بأنفاس البخار

جهوري الصوت قوام الليالي

with nose held high, breathing steam,

resounding of voice, keeping vigil through the nights.

فهو كالبركان يرمي بالشرار

ينهب الأرض انتهابا باغتيال

For like a volcano it flings sparks,

plundering the earth, seizing it unawares.

مثله ذات العصي في سحبها

ذيل سلك فوق ذاك الغصن

Like it, the pole-bearing one draws

a wire's tail above that bough.

تتمشى الكهربا في قلبها

لتجد السير بالمستظعن

Electricity courses through its heart

to speed the traveler on his way.

وقصور شامخات زخرفت

تتناغى ناطحات للسحاب

And lofty palaces were adorned,

conversing softly, scraping the clouds.

وإدارات بها قد نظمت

وجرى تنظيمها مجرى الحساب

And administrations within her were organized,

their ordering following the rules of calculation.

وثنايا واضحات مهدت

ومماش ورياض ورحاب

And clear pathways were leveled,

and promenades, gardens, and open squares,

وكراسي صففت في جنبها

يستوي عنها الفقير والغني

and chairs were arrayed alongside them,

where poor and rich stand equal.

وشجيرات زهت بقربها

كاسيات حسنت للأعين

And little trees flourished nearby,

clad and lovely to the eyes.

وجنان قد تسمى البلفدير

جنة الفردوس قولوا باختصار

And gardens called Belvedere—

call them, in brief, the garden of paradise.

كللت أرجاؤه لا بالحرير

بل بأزهار كساها الازدهار

Its grounds were crowned, not with silk,

but with flowers robed in bloom.

وبه قصر فخيم كالسدير

قمر بالليل شمس بالنهار

Within it stands a splendid palace like al-Sadir,

a moon by night, a sun by day.

كم أماطت غيده لتربها

عن محيا فاتن مستحسن

How often its beauties unveiled for their companion

an enchanting, admired face,

يتلظى منه قلب صبها

حيث ذاك الحسن منشا الشجن

from which her lover's heart bursts into flame,

for that beauty is the source of sorrow.

يا كناس الريم يا مأوى الظبا

يا مقر الأنس يا روص السرور

O covert of white gazelles, O refuge of gazelles,

O abode of companionship, O meadow of delight!

كم على الاغصان هبت من صبا

كم ليال أطلعت فيك البدور

How often the east breeze blew upon the branches!

How many nights brought full moons to rise within you!

كم تلقّى في الهوى منك النبا

عاشق حنّت له فيك الطيور

How often have tidings been received from you in love

by a lover for whom the birds within you crooned yearningly!

كم أناس ذهلت عن لبّها

ورأت فيه مرائي الوسن

How many people forgot their reason

and saw within it the visions of slumber!

والهوى كالكهربا في جذبها

جرّنا للغيد جرّ الرسن

And love, like electricity in its attraction,

drew us to the beauties as a halter draws.

مالنا وللغواني والهوى

واحتسا الصهباء من جوف الدنان

What have we to do with lovely women and love,

and drinking tawny wine from the depths of wine-jars?

إنما حبّي لشعبي قد ثوى

في الحشا قل هكذا الحب المصان

Only my love for my people has settled

in my breast; say, 'Such is love safeguarded.'

فلتهزوا أيها القوم اللوا

في حمى الخضرا فوجه الحظّ بان

So wave the banner, O people,

in the Green One's sanctuary, for fortune's face has appeared.

تونس من شرقها لغربها

في ارتياح دل عن عيش هني

Tunis, from her east to her west,

rests in ease that speaks of a happy life.

زادها رب الورى في خصبها

لترى أبناءها ما تقتني

May the Lord of all creation increase her abundance,

so she may show her children what she possesses.

أيها الأقوام كونوا نبلا

وارفعوا بالله شأن التونسي

O peoples, be noble,

and, by God, raise the Tunisian's standing.

لا يكون المرء فيها رجلا

وهو ذو رأس بها منكس

No man is truly a man in her

while his head is bowed there.

فارتقوا بالفضل هامات العلا

وانشدوا ما قلت بالتحمس

So climb, through excellence, the summits of glory,

and chant what I have said with fervor: