أَتنامُ عَينُكَ والعُيونُ سُهادُ
ويقَرُّ جنبُكَ والجُنوبُ قَتادُ
Do your eyes sleep while eyes around you slumber?
Does your side rest while sides around you wander?
قُمْ للدّفاعِ فما لقومكَ مُنْصِفٌ
يُرجَى ليومِ ظَلامةٍ ويُرادُ
Rise to defend, for your people have no justice.
On a day of darkness, none can be hoped or expected.
الحقُّ بعدك مأتمٌ يُطوَى به
عِلمُ الشرّيعةِ والقضاءُ حِدادُ
After you, truth is mourning, shrouded by it.
Knowledge of sacred law and justice are grieving.
والعدلُ سارٍ لا يُضيءُ سبيلَه
نورٌ ولا ينجابُ عنه سوادُ
Justice travels unveiled, no light shows its path,
Nor any darkness overshadows its track.
وَمِنَ المدارهِ للقُضاةِ إذا التَوَتْ
سُبلُ الظنونِ بهم هُدىً ورشادُ
When judges go astray, conjectures about them
Become guidance and counsel, rightly or wrongly.
ضجّت لمصرعك الكنانةُ ضجّةً
كادت تميد لهولها الأطوادُ
At your death the keening of women was such
It nearly demolished their huts as they wailed.
لمّا نُعِيتَ إلى الممالكِ أَجفلتْ
أمُّ القُرى وتفزّعتْ بغدادُ
When word reached nations, Mecca was shaken
And Baghdad was in chaos, distraught and bewildered
حملوا على الأعوادِ منك بقيّةً
خَشعتْ لفرطِ جلالها الأعوادُ
They carried your remains on biers bowed down
By the glory and splendor too great for their wood.
ومضوا بعهدٍ للمُروءة صالحٍ
ألوَى بِنَضرتهِ بِلىً ونفادُ
They swore a just covenant, its new leaves
Healing decay and making waste flourish anew.
فإذا العَتادُ الضَّخمُ لوعةُ جازعٍ
وإذا الذَّخيرةُ حُفرةٌ ورَمادُ
But see, your huge armory lies dejected,
Your arsenal now a pit with cold ashes.
مَن للبريءِ إذا تَوثَّبَ ظالمٌ
يبغي الفريسةَ وانبرَى يرتادُ
Who protects the innocent when oppressors attack,
Seeking victims, resolved to strike without hesitation?
وطغَى على الوادي فأصبحتِ الرُّبَى
وكأنَّها تحت العُبابِ وِهادُ
When bullies roam the valley, once pasture for sheep
It becomes, under clouds, a desolate wasteland.
مَن يدفعِ الطُّوفانَ لا يعتاقُه
سُورٌ ولا يُعْدَى عليه مَصادُ
Who wards off floods when no dams can restrain them,
When no weapons or armies stand in their way?
مَن للبلادِ إذا الخطوبُ تألّبتْ
وتفرّقتْ من حولها الأجنادُ
Who defends our land when perils surround it,
And armies in panic scatter in disarray?
وأبى الحماةُ فما يُصانُ لها حِمىً
تحت العَجاجِ ولا يُصابُ عَتادُ
Protectors who flee leave no refuge secure,
No forts to be manned, no camps to be made.
أين الكتائبُ في البلادِ مُغيرةً
ما للفتوحِ وما لهنَّ عِدادُ
Where are the brigades who alarmed our foes,
When conquest awaited and glory pervaded?
ولِمَن نُفوسٌ رِيعَ من صَعَقاتها
عِزريلُ مُنطلقاً بها ينطادُ
Who now has the souls the executioner severs,
Which Azrael releases for slaughter each day?
بكر التِّجارُ بها فما سطع الضُّحى
حتّى اشتراها منهمُ الجلّادُ
Traders sell them cheaply at dawn, and by dusk
The torturer has purchased them all, I would say.
كسدت على أيدي الدُّعاةِ وما بها
لولا مُساومةُ الدُّعاةِ كسادُ
These who call to God get no price for their work,
Their trade prospers only through pleas and through bribes.
لم أدرِ أهْيَ بِضاعةٌ مجلوبةٌ
أم أمّةٌ محروبةٌ وبلادُ
Are these captured spoils or an oppressed people?
Are these foreign goods or our plundered tribes?
داءُ الممالكِ أن تُصابَ بقادةٍ
تُزْجَى على حُكم الهوى وتُقادُ
The flaw of a nation led by those who are tempted
To rule by their whims, by the fancies that swayed.
انظُرْ إلى عُقبى الأمور وما جَنى
قومٌ سياستُهم أذىً وفسادُ
Consider the outcome when leaders play games —
No people so ruled shall have comfort or aid.
وسَلِ الكنانةَ هل قَنعتِ بما ارتضَى
بعد الإِباءِ حُماتُكِ الزُّهّادُ
Ask the nobles: are they content without
The integrity shown by their virtuous kin?
حُرّيَةُ الدُّستورِ رَوَّعَ سربَها
عَسَفٌ وأرهق حزبَها استعبادُ
Freedom of law startled and scattered its flock,
Oppressed its own partisans, made justice decline.
لا يهتفُ الدّاعِي بحقّ بلادهِ
إلا طغى صَلَفٌ ولجَّ عِنادُ
No voice dares to speak for the rights of our land
But is silenced by tyrants obsessed with their pride.
وكأنّما السّودانُ في أسماعهم
خَطبٌ تذوبُ لذكرِه الأكبادُ
The Sudan's to them but vain words without meaning,
Though minds melt like wax when that name is cried.
أخذوا الحديثَ فزخرفوه وعندهم
أنّ الحديثَ مضَى فليس يُعادُ
They took fine words and adorned them, but to them
What is said is done, not to be reused.
النّيلُ مُشتركُ المرافقِ بيننا
والقومُ لا شَططٌ ولا استبدادُ
The Nile is a resource shared by us together,
No excess or injustice was asked or excused.
نحن الضّعافُ فهل تَورّعَ غالبٌ
وَانْقادَ للعاني الضَّعيفِ مُراد
Though we are the weak, did the mighty show care,
Bowing to the truth that our feeble voice carried?
ملكوا بني الدنيا فلولا عَدْلُهم
ذهبوا كما ذَهبتْ ثمودُ وعادُ
They own all the riches of life, their justice
Alone stays their hand from the fate of `Aad's ruins.
لا يطمعِ المغرورُ ما لِثوائهم
أَجَلٌ ولا لجلائهم ميعادُ
Let no fool think their feast is open to all.
No deadline awaits their oasis of ease.
تلك الوُصاةُ فهل لمن يَبغي الهُدَى
في مِصرَ سَمْعٌ صادقٌ وفُؤادُ
Are those their advisors? Does one seeking guidance
Find in Egypt an ear that is open and pure?
من لي بأحمدَ في العظائمِ مُقدِماً
يَرِدُ الغِمارَ تعافُها الوُرّادُ
Where is Ahmad when perils surround us,
To dispel the clouds, whom sharp swords cannot endure?
هل كان إلا للكِنانةِ نجدةً
إن صيحَ أين حماتُها الأنجادُ
To whom but his people did the hero bring glory,
If they call, where are kin to rush forth with their aid?
شيخُ النيابةِ حال بينهما الأُلى
دَسُّوا الدَّسائِسَ للرّجالِ وكادوا
Though elders stood between you, intrigues undermined,
They spun webs to entrap men of honor, undone.
عقدوا العُهودَ عُرىً كواذِبُها الأَذى
وحِبالُها الأضغانُ والأحقادُ
Their treaties were ropes made of malice and lies,
Their cords were of hates and of burdens unfair.
جُرْحٌ بأحشاءِ الكِنانةِ ما له
أبداً سِوَى كَفَنِ الجَريحِ ضِمادُ
No balm exists for the deep wounds they gave
Except the martyr's shroud to cover his cares.
صَدَق المُخادِعُ ما لأحمدَ في الأُلى
أخذوا الأرائكَ خِلْسَةً أندادُ
The deceiver spoke truly: Ahmad was not helped
By his comrades who stole all the thrones for their lair.
لولا حميّتُه لكان محَلُّهُ
فيهم محلَّ اللَّيْثِ حيثُ يُصادُ
But for his defiance he too would have been
Hunted down like a lion pursued in its layer.
أرأريتَ إذ تُلقَى السُّيوفُ بواتراً
عند اللقاءِ وتُحمَلُ الأغمادُ
Have you seen when swords flashes and scabbards sway
As warriors close in and blood debt is to be paid?
وشَهِدتَ حين جَرى القَضاءُ فأصبحت
تُقْصَى الكُماةُ عن الوغَى وتُذادُ
Have you seen justice pour forth till the violent yield,
And regret their rash deeds and wild disarray?
إنّ الذي زرعَ الإِباءَ لقومهِ
أودى به قبل الأوانِ حَصادُ
He who planted courage was felled before harvest.
When goodness sprouts here, soon sickles appear.
أَوَ كلّما نَبتَ الصّلاحُ بأرضِنا
نَبتتْ مَناجلُ للفسادِ حِدادُ
Say to elders: sheathe swords, prepare yourselves now,
True men are arming, and conflict is near.
قُلْ للأُلى وَضعوا السِّلاحَ تأهَّبوا
إنّ الرِّجالَ تأهُّبٌ فجهادُ
You shunned battle while archers stood ready.
The warriors advanced, though you cowered in fear.
لستُم كمن جَدَّ الرُّماةُ فأعرضوا
ومضى الكُماةُ مُغامرِين فحادوا
The Nile watches for where its leaders have gone.
Did you shield it or flee, or were you unclear?
النّيلُ ينظرُ أين قَادَتُه الأُلى
مَنعوا الحِمَى أَتفرَّقوا أم بادوا
Now it seems you defended it not, your alleged
Stout blows and stabs were but empty and vain.
أَمْسَى كأن لم يمنعوهُ ولم يكن
ضَرْبٌ وطَعْنٌ صادقٌ وجِلادُ
When the trusted took power, and then were deposed,
The lion's den crumbled; its cubs wandered, distressed.
لما استقلَّ أولو الحِفاظِ فغُيِّبوا
نُكِبَ العَرينُ وريعتِ الآسادُ
The Nile Valley was ravaged, its serenity gone,
Usurpers exulting, their dominance plain.
وتُنوزِعَ الوادي فذَلَّ قطينُه
واعتزَّ فيه الغاصِبونَ وسادوا
While prisoners languish in chains and in woe,
Their chains and their shackles protest and complain.
يلهو المُصفَّدُ بالقُيودِ وقد بَكَتْ
منه القُيودُ وضجّتِ الأصفادُ
Is this calamity final, or can our nation
Regain its lost way, have its honor again?
تلك البليَّةُ أو يكونَ لقومِنا
بعد الغَوايةِ مرجعٌ ومَعادُ
