مَتى يَنهضُ الشَرقُ مِن كَبوَتِهْ
وَحَتّى مَتى هوَ في غَفوَتِهْ
When will the East rise from its humiliation?
How long will it remain in its slumber?
كَبا وَكذلك يَكبو الجَوادُ
براكبهِ وهوَ في حلبتِه
It fell just as a steed falls with its rider,
While still in its prime.
وَنامَ كَما نامَ ذو كُربَةٍ
تَملَّكَهُ اليَأسُ في كُربَتِه
It slept like one in utter despair,
Overtaken by hopelessness in his grief.
وَهى عَزمُه ما يُطيقُ الحِراكَ
وَقَد كانَ كالليثِ في وَثبتِه
Its will is no longer able to stir,
Though once it was like a lion in its pounce.
تجرُّ عَلَيهِ عَوادِي الخُطوب
كلاكِلَها وَهوَ في غَفلَتِه
Misfortunes have dragged on against it,
Engulfing it while in its neglect.
نَواهِبَ ما كانَ مِن مَجده
سَوالبَ ما كانَ مِن عِزَّتِه
It has lost the glory it once had,
And forfeited the honor that was its own.
فَلا هوَ يَدفَعُ عَن حَوضِهِ
وَلا هوَ يَمنعُ مِن حَوزتِه
It no longer defends its own domain,
Nor protects what was once in its keeping.
لَعاً أَيّها الشرقُ مِن عَثرَةٍ
بِها نَهضَ الغَربُ مِن عَثرتِه
Woe to you, O East, for the stumbling
By which the West rose from its own stumbling.
لَقَد كُنتَ تَسبقُهُ أَعصُراً
وَقَد كانَ يَظلُعُ في مِشيتِه
Once you were ahead of it by ages,
While it stumbled unsure in its pace.
إِلى المَجدِ حِينَ تَذرَّيته
وَحينَ تَضاءلَ عَن ذِروتِه
To glory, when you shed its burden,
And as it fell short of your peak.
سَما الغَربُ وَاعتزَّ بَعد الَّذي
رَأى القَومُ ما كانَ مِن ذِلَّتِه
The West took lofty aims and grew proud
When people saw how low it had fallen.
وَجَدَّ يَرومُ كبارَ الأُمورِ
فَقَد أَصبحت وَهيَ مِن بُغيَتِه
It set its mind to the greatest enterprises;
To it they seemed simple and light.
فَأَدركَ ما أَعجزَ المُدركين
وَلَم يَثنِ ذَلِكَ مِن هِمَّتِه
It achieved what had baffled the achievers,
Undeterred by difficulty and toil.
بَلى هوَ في سَعيهِ دائِبٌ
تزيدُ الكَوارِثُ في قُوَّتِه
Nay, it pursues its aims tirelessly;
Disasters but increase its strength.
إِذا نابَهُ حادِثٌ رائعٌ
تَخورُ العَزائمُ مِن خَشيتِه
When faced with an awesome event,
Men’s resolves quail from fear of it.
دَعا مِن بَنيهِ مُطاعٌ مُجاب
تَخفُّ الجُموعُ لَدى دَعوَتِه
It summons obedient, rallying sons,
Multitudes hush at its call.
كِراماً يَكرُّون مُسترسِلينَ
كَمُبتدرِ الغنمِ في كرَّتِه
Honorable men, rushing headlong forth
Like sheep bolting out of their pen.
هم يَجبرون المَهيضَ الكسيرَ
إِذا فلَّلَ الدَهرُ مِن شَوكَتِه
They strengthen the weak, tottering state
When time has sapped its strength.
وَهم يُكرِمونَ السَريَّ الكَريم
وَلا يَحمدونُ سِوى سِيرتِه
They honor the noble, the generous,
Praising only his conduct and repute.
وَهم يُنصِفونَ وَلا يَظلمون
كَمَن أَصبحَ الظُلمُ مِن شِيمتِه
Wronging none, they judge justly,
Unlike those whose nature is tyranny.
فَلا يُرفَعُ المَرءُ عَن قَدرِهِ
وَلا يُخفَضُ الشَيءُ عَن قيمتِه
None is raised above his rightful place,
Nor lowered from his proper worth.
خِلالٌ غَدَت غُرَّةً لِلخلال
وَهَل حُسنُ شَيءٍ سِوى غُرَّتِه
Virtues have become flaws in the flawed,
For can a thing be good apart from its virtue?
تَحَلّى بِها الغربُ سُقياً لَهُ
وَبُورِكَ فيهِ وفي حِليتِه
The West adorned itself with them, gaining strength;
Blessings rained upon it and its ornaments.
لَقَد كانَ في حُفرَةٍ ثاوياً
وَلَكن ثَوى الشرقُ في حُفرتِه
Once it cowered in a pit,
While the East still slept in its own.
فَيا لَهفَ قَلبي لمجدٍ مَضى
وَيا شَوقَ نَفسي إِلى عَودتِه
Oh how my heart longs for a vanished glory,
And how my soul yearns for its return!
وَيا لَهفَ آبائِنا الأَوّلين
على الشرق إن ظلَّ في نكبتِه
Oh how our earliest forebears pined
For the East, should it remain in defeat.
همو غادروه كرَوضٍ أريضٍ
تَتوقُ النُفوسُ إِلى نَضرتِه
They departed, leaving it a lovely garden
Whose charm souls pine for.
وَنَحنُ تَركناهُ للعاديات
وَلم نَرعَ ما ضاعَ مِن حُرمَتِه
We abandoned it to ravages,
Heedless of harm to its sanctity.
فَأَذهَبنَ ما كانَ من حُسنِه
وَأَفنَينَ ما كانَ مِن بَهجتِه
Destroying its beauty, ending its joy;
Is any heed paid to cry of tomb-dwellers,
فَهَل يُسمعُ القولَ أَهلَ القُبورِ
خَطيبٌ فَيُسهِبُ في خُطبتِه
As the orator declaims in his sermon:
“Why this long slumber?”
يُناديهمُ فِيمَ هَذا الرقاد
كَفى ما دَهى الشَرقَ مِن رَقدتِه
After you grandeur faded away,
And every blame clung to your precincts.
لَقَد ضاعَ بَعدكُمُ مَجدُهُ
وَكُلُّ المَثالبِ في ضَيعتِه
You were men of mettle and hardy resolve;
Rise today and succor it!
وَأَنتُم رِجالٌ ذَوُو نَجدَةٍ
فَلا تقعُدوا اليَومَ عَن نَجدتِه
Your spirits stern and unbending
Before which Epochs themselves grow gentle.
لَكُم عَزَماتٌ صِلابٌ شِداد
يَلِينُ لَها الدَهرُ في شدَّتِه
You snap the insolent aggressor’s bones,
You shield from his onslaught and fury.
قَواصمُ لِلمُعتَدي المُستَطيل
عَواصِمُ يَحمِينَ مِن صَولَتِه
By you the East will achieve its vengeance
And heal, saved from its misery.
بِها يُدرِكُ الشَرقُ ثاراتِهِ
فَيُشفى وَيَنقَعُ مِن غُلَّتِه
May God water the dwellers of those tombs
With copious pouring of His mercy,
سَقى اللَه سُكانَ تِلكَ القُبورِ
غُيوثاً هَوامِعَ مِن رَحمَتِه
And console the Easterners for their lost glory,
And bless the West with its nation.
وَعَزّى بَني الشَرقِ عَن مَجدِهِ
وَبارك لِلغَرب في أُمَّتِه
