طالِع تَواريخَ مَن في الدَهر قَد وُجِدوا

تَجِد خُطوباً تُسَلّي عَنكَ ما تَجِدُ

Read the annals of those who lived in times gone by

You’ll find there tribulations to make you forget your own

تَجِد أَكابِرَهُم قَد جُرِّعوا غُصَصاً

مِن الرَزايا بهاكم فُتِّتَت كَبِدُ

You’ll find their great ones were made to drink bitter drafts

Of calamities by which your livers would melt

عَزلٌ وَنَهبٌ وَضَربٌ بِالسياطِ وَحَب

سٌ ثُمَ قَتلٌ وَتَشريدٌ لِمَن وُلِدوا

Exile and plunder; floggings with whips and chains

Then murder and dispersal for those who were born

وَإِن وُقِيتَ بِحَمدِ اللَهِ شَرَّتَهُم

فَلتحمد اللَهَ فَالعُقبى لِمَن حَمِدُوا

And if, praise God, you are spared their evil

Then praise God, for grace comes to those who give praise