شِرْذِمَةٌ مَأْبُونَهْ

فِي جَهْلِهَا مَسْجُونَهْ

A wayward fool imprisoned in her ignorance

A vile and depraved gang,

Finds in her Lord no guidance or support

Imprisoned in its own ignorance,

لَمْ تَكْتَسِبْ مِنْ رَبِّنَا

رُشْداً وَلاَ مَعُونَهْ

Her wretched self rebels though steeped in vice

Having gained nothing from our Lord

And sees her morals utterly cut off

Of right guidance or assistance;

تَبَرَّأَتْ وَقْدْ غَثَتْ

أَنْفُسُهَا الْمَلْعُو نَهْ

Humiliation wraps her youth and strength

They turned away, having grown foul

And arrogance still sings her wanton tunes

In their accursed souls,

وَقَدْ رَأَتْ عَرُوضَهَا

مَقْطُوعَةً مَخْبُونَهْ

Of people filled with guile and trickery

And having seen their poetic meters

Whose prosperity was but illusion

Cut short and fundamentally flawed,

وَالذُّلُّ قَدْ حَفَّ بِهَا

أَبْكَارَهُ وَعُونَهْ

When they donned power, dignity, renown

With humiliation enveloping

And claimed a land their valor had redeemed

Its young virgins and older matrons;

وَالْعُجْبُ يَتْلُو نَحْوَهَا

مِنَ الْغَبَا فُنونَهْ

Made smooth its ways and soothed its discontents

While arrogance recites to them

Should drought of kindness make it dry, their grace

Its various arts of stupidity.

مِنْ مَعْشَرٍ ذِي غُرَرٍ

زَاهِرَةٍ مَيْمُونَهْ

Would render it fertile once again

Severed from an illustrious company,

Virtue is not beyond them, nor exceed their grasp

Radiant and blessed,

مِنْ كُلَّ مَنْ هِمَّتُهُ

مِنَ الْخَنَى مَصُونَهْ

May God preserve them for the sake

Composed of those whose ambition

Of faith they keep alive and tend

Is protected from obscenity;

إذْ سُرْبِلُوا بِالْعِزِّ وَال

وَقَارِ وَاللُّدُونَهْ

And knowledge whose keen judgment guides their steps

For they were cloaked in glory and

And praise they utter and remembrance chant

In dignity and gentleness,

وَنُسِبُوا لِبَلَدٍ

هُمْ أَصْلَحُوا شُؤُونَهْ

Distinction is their mantle, not their quest

And they are ascribed to a land

They seek no more than what is justly theirs

Whose affairs they have reformed,

وَزَيَّنُوا سُهُولَهُ

وَسَهَّلُوا حُزُونَهْ

God grant them life to practice ideals true

Adorning its sweeping plains,

And wisdom's rule that they exemplify

And smoothing its rugged terrains;

وَهُمْ إِذَا أَجْدَبَ بِالْ

إِحْسَانِ يُخْصِبُونَهْ

And grace to chant His praise and thanks renew

And when it suffers drought, with

Benevolence they make it fertile;

فَالْفَضْلُ لاَ يَعْدُوهُمُ

وَهُمُ لاَ يَعْدُونَهْ

Thus, merit does not bypass them,

Nor do they bypass it.

أَبْقَاهُمُ اللهُ لِمَا

مِنْ دِينِهِ يَحْيُونَهْ

May God preserve them for what

They revive of His religion,

وَلِلَّذِي مِنْ عِلْمِهِ

وَحُكْمِهِ يَدْرُونَهْ

And for what of His knowledge

And His wisdom they comprehend,

وَلِلَّذِي مِنْ ذِكْرِهِ

وَشُكْرِهِ يَتْلُونَهْ

And for what of His remembrance

And gratitude they recite.