عبد الإنسان أصنام البشر

فهو في عدم وذل محتقر

Man worshipped human idols,

So he was despised, in poverty and humiliation.

قيصر العسف وكسرى قيدا

منه جيدا ثم رجلا ويدا

Tyrannical Caesar and Khusrau shackled

His neck, then his leg and hand.

ومن القسيس والملك طلاب

بخراج الحقل والحقل خراب

And from priest and king came a demand

For tax on the field, though the field lay waste.

نصب الأشراك للصيد الضرع

بائع الجنة أسقف الخدع

Snares were laid for the helpless prey—

By the seller of Paradise, the bishop of deceit.

حقله قد عاث فيه البرهمن

ومجوس أحرقت ما قد خزن

The Brahmin had ravaged his field,

And Magians burned what he had stored.

أضعف الرق لديه الهمما

لحنه في عوده سال دما

Slavery weakened his aspirations;

His melody on his lute flowed as blood.

وأمينا بعث المولى به

سلم الحق إلى أصحابه

And the Lord sent forth a trustworthy one,

Who handed rights to their rightful holders.

رفع العبدان بالحق إلى

سرر الخاقان والزور قلى

Through truth he raised the slaves to

The khagan's thrones, and spurned falsehood.

بث في برد الرماد الشعلا

فعلى برويز فرهاد علا

He spread flames through the cold ashes;

So Farhad rose above Parviz.

سلب السلطان حزب الآمرين

فسما بالحق قدر العاملين

He stripped the ruling faction of power,

So, through truth, the workers' standing rose.

عزمه هد قديمات الصور

وبنى حصنا جديدا للبشر

His resolve shattered the ancient forms,

And built a new fortress for humankind.

بث روحا حيت الموتى بها

وافتدى الأعبد من أربابها

He imparted a spirit by which the dead came alive,

And redeemed the slaves from their masters.

مولد مات به العصر القديم

وبيوت النار والوثن حطيم

A birth with which the old era died,

And fire temples and idols lay shattered.

أزهر التحرير في روضته

هذه الصهباء من كرمته

Liberation blossomed in his garden;

This tawny wine comes from his vine.

عصرنا الألاء في أنواره

فتح الأعين في أحجاره

Our radiant age, in his light,

Opened its eyes in his lap.

خط في العالم سطرا مبدعا

أمة فاتحة قد أبدعا

He inscribed a wondrous line in the world;

He brought a conquering nation into being.

صدرها من وقدة الحق أضاء

ذرة منها أنارت في ذكاء

Its breast shone with the blaze of truth;

A mote of it shone within Dhukāʾ, the sun.

أشرق الكون بها إذ يبتنى

كعبات من بيوت الوثن

The universe shone through it, as there were built

Kaabas from the temples of idols.

ولدتها الأنبياء القدم

فإذا الأتقى لديها الأكرم

The prophets of old gave birth to it;

And behold: in its eyes, the most pious is the most honored.

إخوة فيها جميع المؤمنين

طينها حرية في العالمين

All believers are brothers within it;

Its clay is freedom throughout the worlds.

المساواة لديها فطرة

ومن التمييز فيها نفرة

Equality is its innate nature,

And within it is an aversion to discrimination.

نسلها كالسرو حر قد علا

عهدها أحكم من قالوا بلى

Its offspring, free like the cypress, have risen high;

Its covenant was made firm by those who said, “Yes.”