1. يا لقومٍ قَد تَناهى وانتَشَر

    غَيُّهم في كلِّ قُطرٍ واشتَهَر

    Oh, what a people! Grown extreme and widespread

    is their waywardness, notorious in every land.

  2. أَيُّها القومُ الذينَ انتَجَعوا

    نجعةَ الإِغواءِ حتى انفجعوا

    O people who sought pasture

    in temptation’s grazing grounds, until you were stricken,

  3. يا لَقومي هل لكم ان تَرجِعوا

    فلقد أَمسَت حكاياكم سَمَر

    oh, my people, will you turn back?

    For your tales have become evening talk.

  4. سلكوا وَعثَ الردى واقتحموا

    كل مَهوى فانهووا وانهَدَموا

    They trod the rough paths of ruin, and plunged into

    every abyss, then fell and collapsed.

  5. قد عَمُوا عقلاً فلو أن يَفهَموا

    أنَّهم عُميُ البصيرة والبَصَر

    Their minds are blind—if only they understood

    that they are blind in insight and sight.

  6. حِرتُ في ماذا أُسميهم وفي

    ايِّ شيءٍ نعتَهُم حقّاً افي

    I am at a loss what to call them, and

    with what description I can truly do them justice.

  7. أنا لا أختارُ ذِكراهُم بِفي

    ما لهم فِعلٌ جميلٌ يُذدَكَر

    I do not choose to name them with my mouth;

    they have no fine deed worth recalling.

  8. خالَفُوا اللَه ولم يُصغُوا لما

    نَصَّهُ الإِنجيلُ نصّاً مُحكَما

    They defied God and did not heed what

    the Gospel stated in firm, explicit terms

  9. عن وناسة بطرسَ الهامِ الهُما

    مِ العظيم القَدرِ قَدرٍ ذي قَدَرَ

    about Peter’s primacy [uncertain reading], the lofty, valiant—

    —one, great in rank and endowed with mighty worth.

  10. الرئيس الأرأَسُ الأُسُّ المَكِين

    صخرةُ الإِيمانِ ذو الحقِّ المبين

    The leader, the supreme head, the firm foundation,

    the rock of faith, possessor of manifest truth:

  11. من يسوعَ المُجتَبَى هذا الأمين

    صارَ رأساً للكنيسة مُشتهر

    this faithful one, chosen by Jesus,

    became the renowned head of the Church.

  12. أس بيعتهِ وراعيها الجليل

    والرئيسُ العامُ في جِيلٍ وجيل

    The foundation of his church and its exalted shepherd,

    and the universal leader from generation to generation.

  13. كلُّ من يأبي رئاستهُ دخيل

    بل زنيمٌ وهوَ سِقطٌ مُحتَقر

    Everyone who rejects his leadership is an outsider,

    nay, a baseborn intruder, a despised castoff.

  14. شأنُهُ فوقَ السَمواتِ سَما

    إذا دُعِي رأسَ الكنيسة وانسمى

    His station rose above the heavens,

    when he was called and named the head of the Church.

  15. فَهوَ قد حازَ مقاليدَ السَما

    ليسَ يدخلها الذي فيهِ كفر

    For he obtained the keys of heaven;

    whoever disbelieves in him cannot enter it.

  16. مِلَّةُ الرُومِ التي قد رَكِبَت

    فَرَسَ الغَيِّ لأَن فيها كَبَت

    The Greek communion, which mounted

    the steed of error—for upon it she stumbled—

  17. إِرحَمُوها إِنَّها قد نُكِبَت

    زالَ عنها كلُّ خيرٍ مُعتَبر

    have mercy on her: she has been stricken.

    All esteemed goodness has vanished from her.

  18. قد غَدَوا أَسرى عبيداً للأُمَم

    غَرَضاً مُستهدِفاً سهمَ النِقَم

    They have become captives, slaves to the nations,

    a target exposed to the arrow of vengeance.

  19. عَدِمُوا الخيرَ وهاتِيكَ النِعَم

    ذا جَزا الكُفرانِ شرٌّ مكفهر

    They have lost goodness and those blessings:

    this is unbelief’s reward, a darkly scowling evil.

  20. كيفَ لا تبكي عليهم يا سمير

    هاتفاً بالويلِ من أَقصى الضمير

    How can you not weep for them, O night companion,

    crying woe from the depths of your conscience?

  21. إِنَّهم قد غادروا الماءَ النمير

    وارتَضَوا بالوَحلِ نهلاً والكَدَر

    They have abandoned the sweet, pure water,

    and accepted mud and murk for their draught.

  22. أين هاتِيكَ الممالك والغِنَى

    اينَ ذاكَ الشأنُ مع ذاكَ السَنَى

    Where are those kingdoms and that wealth?

    Where is that eminence, with that radiance?

  23. ذهبَ الكُلُّ ولم يَبقَ لنا

    غيرُ أَشباهٍ وأَشباحِ الصُوَر

    Everything has gone, and nothing remains for us

    except semblances and ghosts of forms.

  24. اينَ هاتِيكَ العُلُومُ النَيِّره

    اين تِلكَ الرَهبَناتُ المُزهِره

    Where is that luminous learning?

    Where are those flourishing monastic orders?

  25. اينَ هاتيكَ الوُجوهُ المُسفِره

    ما تبَّقى غيرُ رسمٍ قد دَثَر

    Where are those radiant faces?

    Nothing remains but an effaced trace.

  26. غادَروا حُسنَ الحقائق والعلوم

    نَبَذُوها واستعاضوا بالرُسوم

    They abandoned the beauty of truths and learning,

    cast them aside and replaced them with forms.

  27. ما بِهِم إِلّا فتىً عاثٍ جَهُوم

    مستبيحُ المنهياتِ بلا حَذَر

    Among them is only a corrupt, sullen youth,

    who permits forbidden acts without a care.

  28. قُبرُصيُّ الأصلِ خرياطي الدِما

    خِلتُهُ لا رُوحَ فيهِ كالدُمَى

    Cypriot in origin, rustic in blood,

    I thought him spiritless, like a doll.

  29. لو بُلِي في حادثٍ لاستسلما

    ورَمى الدِينَ بمِقلاعِ الحَجَر

    If tested by some calamity, he would surrender,

    and pelt the faith with stones from a sling.

  30. سلكوا تِيهاً على هذا النمط

    خِلتُهم كالبَر بَريينَ الغطط

    They wandered astray after this fashion;

    I thought them like shaggy-haired barbarians.

  31. ان تَرُم تهذيبهم سُمتَ الشَطَط

    إذ همُ متغيرون كما القَمَر

    If you seek to reform them, you face an excessive demand,

    for they are changeable like the moon.

  32. قد غَوَوا إذ بالغَوايات امتَطَوا

    أَينُقَ الجهلِ فأَخطَوا وخَطَوا

    They went astray when, through seductions, they rode

    the she-camels of ignorance, erring and striding onward,

  33. وبسيفٍ أُمَيٍّ قد سَطَوا

    ليسَ بِدعاً إِنَّهم شعبٌ تَتَر

    and struck with an unlettered sword.

    No wonder: they are a people of Tatars.

  34. قد سَمِعنا اللَه عنهم شاهداً

    قد غَدا شَعبي قطيعاً شاردا

    We have heard God testify concerning them:

    My people have become a straying flock,

  35. من أجاج الكُفرِ أَمسى وارداً

    عن رُعاةٍ فازَ مَن عنهم صَدَر

    now drinking from the brine of unbelief,

    from shepherds—fortunate is whoever departs from them.

  36. فاطعين بسيف بغيٍ ظالمِ

    لا بكِلمة حقِّ ربٍّ راحمِ

    Cutting [uncertain reading] with the sword of unjust aggression,

    not with the truthful word of a merciful Lord,

  37. مستعينينَ بحدِّ الصارمِ

    إِنَّما سِيماؤُهم نفثُ الضَرَر

    seeking aid from the edge of a sharp sword:

    their only mark is the spitting forth of harm.

  38. قالتِ الأَشرارُ قَولاً مُعلنا

    نَقتُلُ العادل ليُشهَر فعلنا

    The wicked openly declared:

    “We will kill the righteous man, that our deed may be proclaimed;

  39. انهُ قد صارَ توبيخاً لَنا

    كاشفاً للناسِ عنا ما استتر

    he has become a reproach to us,

    revealing to people what we had concealed.”

  40. ان تَرُومُوا الحقَّ يا أهلَ اللَمَم

    إطرحوا من كفِّكم سيفَ الأُمَم

    If you seek truth, O people of petty sins,

    cast the sword of the nations from your hand.

  41. نحن لا سيفَ لنا إلا القَلَم

    عن كِتابِ اللَهِ نُملي ما ذَكَر

    We have no sword except the pen;

    from God’s book we dictate what it states.

  42. وَتعالَوا نَتَبارى بالمَقال

    ممتطينَ الفحصَ في شَوطِ الجِدال

    Come, let us compete in words,

    riding inquiry along the course of debate.

  43. إِنما نُورُ الهُدى يَنفِي الضَلال

    فالدجى يُجلى إذا الصبح جشر

    Only the light of guidance dispels error;

    for darkness clears when dawn breaks.

  44. هم بنو أُمي ولي عمداً غَزوا

    غادروها وإلى الغيرِ اعتَزَوا

    They are my mother’s sons, yet deliberately attacked me;

    they deserted her and claimed allegiance to others.

  45. قد عَزَوها للشَنارِ وما اختَزَوا

    هذهِ أَخبارُهم بالمُختَصَر

    They branded her with disgrace, and felt no shame.

    These are their doings, in brief.

  46. يا بحورَ الظُلمِ يا شوكَ القَتاد

    يا أَهيلَ الكُفرِ يا آل العِناد

    O seas of injustice, O thorns of qatad!

    O wretched folk of unbelief, O clan of obstinacy!

  47. شرُّكم قد نَمَّ في نَجدٍ وواد

    عمَّ اهلَ البدوِ ايضاً والحَضَر

    Your evil has spread through upland and valley,

    engulfing desert folk and townspeople alike.

  48. قد غَوَيتم إذ نُهاكم أَظلَما

    فاستجتم حلَّ ما قد حُرِّما

    You went astray when your reason grew dark,

    so you deemed lawful what had been forbidden.

  49. شأنُكم ضَرُّ الورى فكأَنَّما

    جُبِلَت منكم على الشر الفِطَر

    Your concern is to harm mankind, as though

    your very natures had been fashioned for evil.

  50. ويلكِ يا عَثرةً قد عَثَرَت

    في خَطاياها التي قد كَثُرَت

    Woe to you, O stumbling one that has stumbled

    in her sins, which have multiplied!

  51. قَطَّعَت أَسلاكَها وانتَشَرت

    فاغتَدَت بين الانام شَذَر مَذَر

    She snapped her strings and scattered,

    and was left among mankind, scattered far and wide.

  52. ويحكِ يا فئَةً قد ظَلَمَت

    من رُعاةٍ لنُهاها أَظلَمَت

    Alas for you, a faction that has done wrong,

    a band of shepherds whose reason has grown dark!

  53. لو بما قد حلَّ فيها عَلِمَت

    لاستهلَّ الدمعُ منها كالمطَر

    If it knew what had befallen it,

    its tears would stream like rain.

  54. جوهرُ العقلِ تَغشَّاهُ عَرض

    ظلمةٍ أثبتَ مَنشاها الغَرَض

    The substance of reason was covered by an accident

    of darkness, its source established by self-interest.

  55. حُبَّ جنسٍ اورث النفس المَرَض

    فلهذا حُلوُها اضحى مَقَر

    Love of one’s own people has diseased the soul,

    so that its sweetness has become bitter sap.

  56. رايُ لوتارٍ وكَلوينٍ لَقَد

    تَبِعُوهُ وهوَ رأيٌ مُنتَقَد

    The teaching of Luther and Calvin, indeed—

    they followed it, though it is a censured teaching.

  57. ما بِهِم إِلّا جَهُولٌ قد فَقَد

    رُشدَهُ حتى غدا أَعمى البَصَر

    Among them is only an ignoramus who has lost

    his sound judgment, until he became blind.

  58. قالتِ الأَوغادُ من شرِّ الغَلَط

    إِنَّ بثقَ الروحِ من آب فَقَط

    In the worst of error, the scoundrels said:

    “The Spirit proceeds from the Father alone.”

  59. أَنزَلُوا الإِبنَ عن الآبِ وقَط

    لم يَقُل ذا حازمٌ فيما غبر

    They lowered the Son beneath the Father; yet never

    did a discerning man say this in bygone days.

  60. أَغلظوا الأقوالَ فيما نَقَلوا

    عن نُفوس انَّهم ما كَمَلوا

    They made grave assertions in what they related

    about souls, saying they had not attained perfection.

  61. فليجيبونا إذا ما سُئِلوا

    ما أفادَ الناسَ موتُ المنتَظَر

    Let them answer us, then, when asked:

    what benefit did the death of the Awaited One bring mankind?

  62. جَحَدوا بالجهلِ تطهيرَ النُفوس

    دونَ إِسعافِ قرابينِ القُسُوس

    In ignorance they denied the purification of souls

    without the aid of priests’ offerings.

  63. ولهذي أنكروا لولا الفُلُوس

    وارتأوها كالأغاني والسِيَر

    And these they would deny, were it not for money,

    regarding them as songs and tales.

  64. زَعَموا التقديسَ بالخبزِ الفطير

    لم يَسُغ أصلاً ولكن بالخمير

    They claimed that consecration with unleavened bread

    was wholly impermissible, but allowed with leavened bread.

  65. إِنما الربُّ كما قالَ البشير

    حَفِظَ الناموسَ حسبُ بلا غِيَر

    The Lord, as the Evangelist said,

    merely observed the Law, without alteration.

  66. انكروا فعلَ الكلامِ الجوهري

    وَهوَ قولُ اللَهِ قولٌ جَهوَري

    They denied the efficacy of the essential words,

    though they are God’s utterance, a resounding utterance.

  67. فَتَعامَوا عن ضِيا الحقِّ الوَرِي

    وتَوارَوا عنهُ لمَّا ان حَسَر

    They feigned blindness to truth’s radiant light,

    and hid from it when it was unveiled.

  68. قَدَّسوا فُوتيوسَ الجاني الذي

    ما لهُ قُدسٌ سوى الكِبرِ القَذِي

    They sanctified Photius, the offender,

    who has no holiness, only filthy pride.

  69. طُرُقَ الشيطانِ فَهوَ المُحتذِي

    ما القداساتُ لها فيهِ أَثَر

    He follows the paths of Satan;

    the sacred rites have left no trace upon him.

  70. ثُمَّ بالاماسُ ينبوع البِدَع

    ذلكَ الفَدمُ الذي أَشقى البِيَع

    Then Palamas, the wellspring of heresies,

    that dullard who brought misery upon the churches:

  71. حَرَمتهُ الرومُ مع تلكَ الشِيَع

    في مجامعهم كما نصَّ الخَبَر

    the Greeks excommunicated him, along with those sects,

    in their councils, as the account expressly states.

  72. أَوقَدوا نِيرانَهم ذاتَ الخُمُود

    وَهيَ تُغذَى الشمعَ من تلكَ الفُنُود

    They kindled their fires, liable to die out,

    fed with wax, among those falsehoods,

  73. وَنَحوها بالعِبادة والسُجود

    ثم صاحوا نورُ مولانا ظَهَر

    and turned toward them in worship and prostration.

    Then they cried, “Our Lord’s light has appeared!”

  74. صيرتها أنبياءُ المخرقه

    نُورَ ربٍّ وهي نارٌ مُحرِقه

    The prophets of trickery made it

    the light of a Lord, though it is a burning fire.

  75. وبها حازوا الرِقَه بالسَرقه

    حَسبُهم دُخانُ نارٍ مع شَرَر

    Through it they gained silver by theft;

    let the smoke of fire and sparks suffice them.

  76. لا تَلُمني يا أراتيكي على

    ذَمِّ من قد أَسخَطوا رَبَّ العَلا

    Do not blame me, O heretic, for

    condemning those who angered the Lord on high.

  77. كِذبُهم زاحَ غِطاهُ وانجلى

    حِيلةٌ قد عُرِفَت عِندَ البَشَر

    Their deceit’s covering has slipped away, exposing it:

    a trick now known among mankind.

  78. عابِدوا النيران في تلكَ الطُقُوس

    قُل لنا ما هم قُسوسٌ ام مَجُوس

    Worshipers of fire in those rites—

    tell us, are they priests or Magi?

  79. طالما قد نُكِّست منهم رؤُوس

    عن وهجٍ رابَهم لمّا استَعَر

    How often their heads have been bowed

    away from a blaze that alarmed them when it flared!

  80. قَسماً بالنارِ ياذا الهربذُ

    انتَ فينا كاهنٌ ام مُوبَذُ

    I swear by fire, O herbad,

    are you a priest among us, or a mobad?

  81. قُل لنا يا صاحِ قبلاً تُؤخَذُ

    لِلظى عنا وينقطع الخبر

    Tell us, friend, before you are taken

    away from us to the blaze, and tidings cease.

  82. يا الهي بالرسولِ المصطفى

    رأسِ رُسلك بطرسَ الصخرِ الصَفا

    O my God, through the chosen apostle,

    the head of Your apostles, Peter, the solid rock,

  83. أَسقِنا من وِرد إيمانٍ صَفا

    وأَقلنا حرَّ نيرانِ سَفَر

    give us drink from the watering-place of pure faith,

    and spare us the heat of the fires of Saqar [uncertain reading].

  84. بالبَتُولِ البكرِ مَرقاةِ الصُعُود

    للعلا مَن حَمَلَت روحَ الوُجُود

    Through the Virgin maiden, the ladder of ascent

    to the heights, she who bore the spirit of existence,

  85. صَفوةَ اللَهِ ابنها بحرَ الوُرُود

    نَجِّنا مِمَّن أَذاهم قد زَخَر

    God’s chosen one, her son, a sea for those who come to drink,

    deliver us from those whose harm has surged.

  86. يا شفيعة جِنسِنا يومَ الزِحام

    إِمنَحِينا الصفحَ مع حُسنِ الخِتام

    O intercessor for our race on the day of thronging,

    grant us pardon and a good ending.

  87. إِن ذا أَقصى مرامي والسلام

    واخمِدي شَرَّ العِدى أهلِ الوَغَر

    This is my utmost desire; and peace.

    And quench the evil of the foes, the people of rancor.