قُم لا تَقَع خَلِّ عَنكَ اليَأس كُن رَجُلا

وَأَيقظ فُؤادكَ وَأَكفُف مَدمَعاً هَملا

Arise, do not fall, rid yourself of despair, be a man

And awaken your heart, restrain your flowing tears

وَأَمسك جِراحَك لا تَهوي عَلى خَطَرٍ

فَكُلُ جَرحٍ إِذا داوَيتَهُ اِندَملا

Grasp your wounds, do not plunge into danger

For every wound will heal if you tend it

دَع لَطم خَديكَ إِنَّ اللَطمَ يوجعها

سُدىً كَمَن يَندُبُ الأَحجار وَالطَلا

Cease beating your cheeks, for such blows only hurt them

In vain, like one who laments rocks and hills

وَأَرفق بِذاتَكَ قَد أَوشَكتَ تَعدمها

قَلبي عَليكَ اِكتَوى وَالجسمُ قَد نحلا

Be gentle with yourself, you are near to losing yourself

My heart aches for you, and my body is worn out

وَأَنتَ قَلبكَ لَم يُشفق عَلَيكَ وَلَم

أَعهدهُ يَقسي إِذا ما حادِثٌ نَزَلا

Yet your heart has no pity for you, nor was it

Accustomed to cruelty when misfortune struck

أَو أَنتَ في الحُزن لَم تشفق عَلَيهِ لِذا

قَد ضَلَّ في ظُلماتِ الياسِ مُشتَعِلا

Or are you, in grief, without pity for it, so

It wanders lost in the darkness of despair, aflame

قَلبٌ بِهِ لِيَ قسمٌ لَستُ أَترُكَهُ

فَأَنتَ خَصمي إِذا أَورَثتَهُ العِلَلا

A heart that still has a place with me, I'll not abandon it

You are my adversary if you make it sick

لا بدع إِن ذابَ وَيَحي وَهُوَ مُتَقِدٌ

عَلى أَخٍ لَكَ لَا تَلقى لَهُ بَدَلا

There is no alternative, it must melt and revive while burning

For a brother like you, you'll find no substitute

ناداكَ لَما دَعاهُ صَوتُ خالِقِهِ

يَبغي وَداعكَ حالَ البُعدِ مُرتَحِلا

It called you when your Creator's voice summoned it

Seeking your farewell as it journeyed onward

فَاِعتاضَ باسمكَ زاداً وَهُوَ يَرسُمُهُ

ذِكراً عَلى شَفَتَيهِ حينَما اِنتَقَلا

So it took your name as provision, tracing it

As a memento on its lips as it passed away

فَكانَ لإِسمكَ حَظٌّ أَنتَ تَحسدُهُ

لِأَنَّهُ قَد جَنى مِن لَمسِهِ القُبُلا

Thus your name had the privilege you envy

For it gathered kisses from his touch

وَكُنتَ بِالروحِ تَسخى قَبل مَصرَعِهِ

لِكَي تَراهُ وَلَكنَّ القَضا بَخلا

You were generous of spirit before his death

That you might see him, but fate was miserly

إِن كُنتَ في غُربَةٍ تَشقى فَكُن أَبَداً

بِالحلم فيها غَريباً يُذهِلُ العُقلا

If you are suffering in exile, then forever

Be reasonable in it, an exile that dazzles the mind

مالي أَراكَ ضَعيف القَلب منسحقاً

وَطالَما كُنتَ تَنفي الحادِثَ الجَلَلا

Why do I see you, weak of heart, crushed

When you have so often denied tremendous calamities

تَبكي فَتىً في رَبيع العُمر مُنصَرِعاً

كَالغُصنِ منقَصِفاً في الرَوض قَد ذَبلا

You weep for a youth in the spring of life, struck down

Like a snapped branch in the garden, withered

تَبكي أَخاكَ سَليمَ المَوتِ يَلسَعَهُ

لا تَبكِ فَهُوَ سَليمٌ لِلجِنانِ عَلا

You weep for your brother, safe from death's sting

Do not weep, he is safe in the gardens on high

تَبكي عَلى عَضدٍ قَد بَتَّ تَندبهُ

تَبكي لِحادِثِ فَقدٍ خَيَّبَ الأَمَلا

You mourn an arm you kept lamenting was gone

You weep for a loss that disappointed hopes

وَالدَهرُ يَفتك بِالآمال مُشتَغِلاً

بِهَدم أَبراجِها لا يَعرِفُ المَلَلا

While fate remains busy destroying hopes

Demolishing their towers, tireless, without pause

هاجَتكَ يا صاحِ في الأَوطانِ نادِبَةٌ

ثَكلي تَنوحُ عَلى نجمٍ لَها أَفلا

Your keen wailing stirred the lands, mourning

"Alas for me!" it laments a star of its own now set

أُمٌّ تُناديكَ عَن بُعدٍ لِسَلوَتِها

وَمِن دَعاكَ لِكَشفِ الضَيم ما اِنخَذَلا

A mother calls you from afar for her consolation

And those who called you to redress wrongs were not let down

فَقُمتَ في مَصر تَهدي الشامَ عَن حَرَقٍ

مِن النواحِ حَنيناً يُقلِقُ الحللا

So you rose in Egypt to calm Syria's burning

With yearning laments that disturb resolute minds

تَسعى إِلى النيلِ ظَمأَناً فَتَحسَبَهُ

نَهراً مِن النارِ لا تَلقى بِهِ بَلَلا

You race to the Nile, thirsty, and imagine it

A river of fire where you find no drink at all

قَد هاجَمَتكَ خُطوبٌ لَستَ تَعرِفُها

فَاِعرف مِن الحَزم ما تَغدو بِهِ مَثَلا

Hardships unknown to you attacked

So learn through wisdom what example to set

آهاً فَذي المَرة الأُولى الَّتي سَكَبَت

عَلَيكَ في حَربِها هَولاً فَكُن بَطَلا

Alas, this first time it poured out on you

Horrors of its war, so be a hero

وَيَحي عَلَيكَ أَضَعتَ الرُشدَ مُنسَلِباً

سَكران لا بِالطَلا حَيران مُنذَهِلا

Live, you lost your senses, stripped of reason

Drunk, not on wine, confused and reckless

تَظن إِن وجود الناس منكبةً

لَهُم وَإِن نِظام الكَون ما اِكتَمَلا

You think people's existence is a burden to them

And the order of the universe remains incomplete

ماذا السوادُ وَما ذا الثَوبُ تَلبَسَهُ

كُلُّ امرءٍ في ظَلامِ البينِ قَد رَفَلا

What is this blackness? What is this garment you wear?

All men in the darkness of vision are masked

إِن كُنتَ تَبغي أَكدادَ النَفسِ في نَظَرٍ

فَاِنظُر إِلى الدَهر دَوماً تَلتَقي الوَجلا

If you seek sympathy look always to fate

You'll find a comrade for each affliction that befalls

إِمِلتَ إِذنكَ عَن صَوتِ الخَليلِ وَقَد

رامَ اِنتِباهُكَ حَتّى اِلتاعَ وَاِشتَعَلا

You turned your hearing from the voice of a friend and

Sought to hold its attention until it languished and burned

وَفَوقَ صَدرِكَ يا اِسكَندَراِنتَقَشَت

حَقايقٌ تَركَها يَستَوجِبُ الخَجَلا

And beneath your breast, O Iskander, truths are engraved

That your heedlessness calls for shame

لَئِن فَقَدتَ أَخاكَ اليَومَ وَا أَسَفاً

فَاِخضَع إِلى الحاكم الجَبار مُبتَهِلا

If today you lost your brother, what a pity!

Submit to the Almighty Judge, pleading

وَالحُزنُ ضَيفٌ ثَقيلٌ إِن عِشتَ بِهِ

وَإِن تَبَسَّمتَ حلاً هَبَّ وَاِنتَقَلا

And sorrow is a heavy guest - if you live with it

And smile, it will leave and move on

كَثيفُ طَبعٍ فَلا يَهوى اللَطيف لِذا

إِذا رَأى وَجه أُنسٍ باسِماً رَحَلا

Dense by nature, so it does not love the gentle, thus

When it sees a cheerful face, it departs

وَالصَبرُ يَلفى لِجَرح القَلب خَيرَ شِفا

فَكُلَمّا مَرَّ في طَيِّ القُلوبِ حَلا

Patience provides the best remedy for the heart's wound

So whenever it passes through the folds of hearts, it heals

وَالكُلُّ في الأَرضِ إِخوانٌ يُفَرِقُهُم

داعي المَنون وَلا مِن يَدفَع الأَجَلا

All on earth are brothers, separated only

By death's caller, and none can stop the appointed time