1. ترجو اليهودُ بأَن يأتي المسيحُ وقد

    أَتَى وذَرَّت بإِيضاحٍ شَواهِدُهُ

    The Jews hope that the Messiah will come, yet he has

    Come, and his signs have shone forth clearly.

  2. إِذ زالَ منهم قضيبُ المُلكِ مُنتَزِعاً

    ولم تَعُد لَهُمُ ايضاً مقالِدُهُ

    Since the scepter of kingship was torn from them,

    And its reins did not return to them again.

  3. جازت أسابيعُ دانيلَ النبيِّ فهل

    مكذِّبٌ قولَهُ والحقُّ شاهِدُهُ

    The weeks of Daniel the prophet have passed; is there

    Anyone to deny his word, when truth bears witness to it?

  4. عاثَ الدَمارُ ببيتِ اللَهِ وانهَدَمَت

    حُصونُهُ المُنع واندكَّت اطابدهُ

    Destruction ravaged the house of God, and down fell

    Its impregnable fortresses, and its structures were crushed.

  5. إِجناحَهم تِيطُسُ المَلكُ الذي انبسطَت

    عليهمِ بِقَضا المَولى سواعِدُهُ

    Titus the king ravaged them, he whose

    Arms stretched over them by the Lord's decree.

  6. ما كانَ يَرغَبُ ذا لكنما نجعت

    منهُ على قَدَرٍ فيهم مكايِدهُ

    He did not desire this, but success attended

    His schemes against them, as decreed.

  7. ذا رابعُ السبي قال اللَه عنهُ وإن

    أعدت ما قبلهُ ذا لا أعاوِدُهُ

    This is the fourth captivity; God said of it, 'Though

    I repeated what preceded it, this I shall not repeat.'

  8. فلم تَعُد مُحرَقاتٌ بعدَ ذا لَهُمُ

    ولا بَخُورٌ وكَهنُوتٌ يُصاعِدُهُ

    So after this they no longer had burnt offerings,

    Nor incense, nor a priesthood to send it upward,

  9. ولا ضَحايا تُضحَّى عن مآثِمِهِم

    من بعدِ ما قُدسُهُم مادت مَوائِدهُ

    Nor victims sacrificed for their sins,

    After their sanctuary's tables had tottered.

  10. وزالَ بينَ الوَرَى قُربانُهُم وفَنِى

    كَهنُوتُ هرونَ وانحلَّت قلائِدُهُ

    Their offering vanished among humankind, and perished

    Aaron's priesthood, and its necklaces came undone.

  11. واستأصَلَ اللَهُ أصلاً كانَ أَنبَتَهُ

    واجتاحَهُ حينَما تَمَّت مَقاصِدُهُ

    God uprooted a root he had planted,

    And swept it away when his purposes were fulfilled.

  12. هُو شرعُ موسى الذي جفَّت مَغارسُهُ

    وانهارَ ميناهُ وانهالَت قواعدُهُ

    It is the law of Moses, whose plantings dried up,

    And its harbor collapsed, and its foundations crumbled.

  13. وقد غَدوا فِرَقاً كلٌّ يُرَى فَرِقاً

    يبغي لهُ نَفَقاً مِمَّا يكُابِدُهُ

    They have become factions, each one seen afraid,

    Seeking himself a tunnel out of what he endures.

  14. تَراهُ مرتجفاً خوفاً ومنطَرداً

    وهماً وليسَ لديهِ من يُطارِدُهُ

    You see him trembling with fear and driven to flight

    By delusion, though no one is pursuing him.

  15. يُرَى هَلُوعاً وكانت قبلُ تَرهَبُهُ

    أُسدُ الدِحالِ وتخشاهُ أَساوِدُهُ

    He is seen panic-stricken, though formerly he was feared by

    Lions of the lairs, and their black serpents dreaded him.

  16. شُوهُ الوجوهِ فما فيهم فتىً حَسَنٌ

    أَنى الجمالُ ورجزُ اللَهِ خامِدُهُ

    Ugly of face, with not one handsome young man among them;

    How could there be beauty when God's wrath quenches it?

  17. أَصحُوا فمَذهَبكم يا قوم قد ذهبت

    أَيامُهُ الغُرُّ وانحلت عقائِدُهُ

    Awake! For your creed, O people, gone are

    Its radiant days, and its doctrines have unraveled.

  18. فهل لكم مَسندٌ من بعدُ أو سَنَدٌ

    وشرعُ عهدِكُمُ أَقوَت مساندُهُ

    Have you any support or prop left afterward,

    When the supports of your covenant's law lie desolate?

  19. وهل لكم مَسجِدٌ خُصَّت عِبادتُكم

    فيهِ ومَقدِسُكم خَرَّت مساجدُهُ

    And have you a house of worship, your devotion reserved

    Within it, while your sanctuary's shrines have collapsed?

  20. مَن لي بنَعيٍ عليكم ما لهُ أَهَلٌ

    ومن نُواحٍ بكم لاقت قصائِدُهُ

    Who can give me a lament over you, with none qualified for it,

    Or mourning over you whose verses are fitting,

  21. إِلا مراثيَ إِرميَّا التي صَدَقَت

    فيكم فهلَّا تُباكبكم نَشائِدُهُ

    Except Jeremiah's lamentations, which proved true

    Of you? Why not let his songs weep with you?

  22. كفاكم العارُ يا سارينَ في ظُلَمٍ

    بذا الطريقِ الذي قد ضلَّ وافدُهُ

    Your shame is enough, O travelers through darkness,

    Along this road whose wayfarer has gone astray.

  23. هذا نَهارُ الهُدَى مُستوضِحاً لَكُمُ

    فامشُوا إذِا الليلُ تُغوِيكم فَراقدُهُ

    This is the daylight of guidance, shining clearly before you;

    So walk by it, if night's twin pole stars lead you astray.

  24. يا شعبَ مُوسى الذي لم يبقَ فيهِ سُوى

    رِعدِ يدِهِ عِندَ ما وَلَّت أَماجدُهُ

    O people of Moses, in whom nothing remains but

    The trembling of its hand, when its noble men departed.

  25. قَفَوتُمُ العِجلَ حتَّى قالَ حازمُكم

    هذا الإِلهُ الذي ما ضَلَّ عابدُهُ

    You followed the calf until your prudent one declared,

    'This is the god whose worshiper never goes astray.'

  26. جَحدتُمُ بَينكَمُ رِفدَ الإِلهِ لِذا

    لجُرحِكُم لم تَعُد تَنفَع رفائِدُهُ

    You denied God's bounty among yourselves; therefore

    His dressings no longer help your wound.

  27. وقد قَصَدتُم سِواهُ شَرَّ مُقتَصَدٍ

    وَهوَ الرحيمُ الذي ما خابَ قاصدُهُ

    You sought another besides him, the worst of goals,

    Though he is the Merciful One, whose seeker never fails.

  28. اعطاكمُ المَنَّ والسَلوى بلا تَعَبٍ

    كذلكَ الصخرُ رَوَّتكم مَواردُهُ

    He gave you manna and quail without toil;

    Likewise, the rock's springs quenched your thirst.

  29. وقد قتلتم الهَ العرشِ حينَ أَتَى

    مُستأنِساً حينَما حانَت مواعدُهُ

    And you killed the God of the throne when he came

    In human form, when his appointed times had come.

  30. رفعتموهُ على عُودٍ فسُرَّ بهِ

    أَعداؤهُ وتشفَّى فيهِ حاسدُهُ

    You raised him on a wooden beam, and at this rejoiced

    His enemies, while his envier sated his spite on him.

  31. آباؤُكم فتكوا بالأَنبياءِ فلا

    غَروٌ لِسارٍ كما قد سَارَ والدُهُ

    Your fathers slew the prophets; so there is no

    Wonder in one walking as his father walked.