قَومي لَأَنتُم عِبرَة الأَقوامِ
هَل تُنسَبونَ لِيافِتٍ أَو سامِ
My people, you are an example for all peoples
Are you said to belong to Yafith or Shem?
أَبناءُ عَمّي مِن نِزارٍ وَيَغرُبٍ
لَيسوا بِأَعرابٍ وَلا أَعجامِ
The sons of my uncle from Nizar and Yagrob
Are neither Bedouin nor non-Arabs
يَتَرَسَّمونَ الغَربَ حَتّى يُوشِكوا
أَن يَعبُدوهُ عِبادَةَ الأَصنامِ
They emulate the West until they are about
To worship it with the worship of idols
ما قَلَّدوهُم مُبصِرينَ وَإِنَّما
تَبِعوا نِظامَهُمُ بِغَيرِ نِظامِ
They did not imitate its insight, but rather
Followed its system without a system
لِلغَربِ عاداتٌ كَغازاتٍ سَرَت
في الشَرقِ مَسرى الداءِ بِالأَجسامِ
The West has customs like gases that crept
Through the East in the manner of disease in bodies
لا تَأمَنوا المُستَعمِرينَ فَكَم لَهُم
حَربٌ تَقَنَّعَ وَجهُها بِسَلامِ
Do not trust the colonizers, for how often do they have
A war whose face is masked by peace?
حَربٌ عَلى لُغَةِ البِلادِ وَأَرضِها
لَيسَت تُشَنُّ بِمَدفَعٍ وَحُسامِ
A war on the language and land of the countries
It is not waged with cannon and sword
وَالشَعبُ إِن سَلِمَت لَهُ أَوطانُهُ
وَلِسانُهُ لَم يَخشَ قَطعَ الهامِ
And if its homelands are safe for a people
While its tongue is not, it fears the cutting of tents
لا أَعرِفُ العَرَبِيَّ يَلوى فَكَّهُ
إِنَّ هَمَّ يَوماً فَكُّهُ بِكَلامِ
I do not know an Arab twisting his jaw
If he ever did, his jaw would be with speech
إِن فاهَ تَسمَعُ لَكنَةً مَمقوتَةً
مَن فيهِ سَكسونِيَّة الأَنغامِ
If his mouth is heard with hated dialect
In it is the Saxon chanting of tunes
لَفظاً مِنَ الفُصحى وَآخَرَ نابِياً
كَالغازِ مَمزوجاً بِكَأسِ مُدامِ
A word of eloquence and another coarse
Like gas mixed in a cup of alcohol
لَهفي عَلى الفُصحى رَماها مَعشَرٌ
مِن أَهلِها شُلَّت يَمينُ الرامي
My anguish over eloquence, a group
Of its people paralyzed the thrower's right hand
لَم يَهتَدوا لِكُنوزِها فَإِذا بِهِم
يَرمونَها بِالفَقرِ وَالإِعدامِ
They did not find its treasures, so there they are
Throwing it into poverty and extinction
الدَرُّ في طَيِّ البُحورِ مُخَبَّأٌ
وَالتِّبرُ إِن تَنشدهُ تَحتَ رُغامِ
The pearls are hidden in the folds of the sea
And the gold, if you wish it, beneath the sand dunes
لَن يَستَعيدَ العُربُ سالِفَ مَجدِهِم
وَلِسانُهُم غَرَضٌ لِرَميِ سِهامي
The Arabs will not regain their past glory
While their tongue is the target of my arrows
أَن يَرفَعوا ما اِنقَضَّ مِن بُنيانِهِم
فَالضادُ أَوَّلُ حائِطٍ وَدعامِ
To rebuild what crumbled of their structure
The “d” is the first wall and pillar
إِن يَزهُ شَرقِيٌّ بِغَيرِ العُربِ مِن
أَجدادِهِ الأَتراكِ وَالأَروامِ
If an Easterner boasts of other than Arabs
His ancestors the Turks and Byzantines
فَأَنا الفَخورُ بِأَنَّني لا يَنتَمي
لِلعُجمِ أَخوالي وَلا أَعمامي
Then I am proud that I do not belong
To the non-Arabs, my uncles and paternal uncles
إِن تَسأَلوا عَنّي إِلى مَن أَنتَمي
فَإلى رُعاةَ النوقِ وَالأَغنامِ
If you ask about me, to whom do I belong?
To the shepherds of camels and sheep
أَبِغَيرِ مَجدِ بَني نِزارَ وَيَعرُبٍ
يُزهى عِراقِيٌّ وَيَفخَرُ شامي
Is glory sought without the glory of the sons of Nizar and Yagrob?
An Iraqi boasts and a Levantine is proud
