قِف بِروما وَشاهِدِ الأَمرَ وَاِشهَد
أَنَّ لِلمُلكِ مالِكاً سُبحانَه
Stand in Rome and behold the matter and bear witness
That the King has a Sublime Owner
دَولَةٌ في الثَرى وَأَنقاضُ مُلكٍ
هَدَمَ الدَهرُ في العُلا بُنيانَه
A state in the earth and ruins of a kingdom
Time has demolished its lofty structure
مَزَّقَت تاجَهُ الخُطوبُ وَأَلقَت
في التُرابِ الَّذي أَرى صَولَجانَه
Its crown was ripped by calamities and cast
In the dust where I see its turban
طَلَلٌ عِندَ دِمنَةٍ عِندَ رَسمٍ
كَكِتابٍ مَحا البِلى عُنوانَه
Ruins near a garbage dump near an imprint
Like a book whose title time has erased
وَتَماثيلُ كَالحَقائِقِ تَزدا
دُ وُضوحاً عَلى المَدى وَإِبّانَه
And statues as if realities augment
In clarity over the horizon and make it distinct
مَن رَآها يَقولُ هَذي مُلوكُ
الدَهرِ هَذا وَقارُهُم وَالرَزانَه
Whoever sees them says these are the kings
Of time, this is their dignity and composure
وَبَقايا هَياكِلٍ وَقُصورٍ
بَينَ أَخذِ البِلى وَدَفعِ المَتانَه
And remnants of temples and palaces
Between the taking of dilapidation and the resistance of firmness
عَبَثَ الدَهرُ بِالحَوارِيِّ فيها
وَبَيلَيوسَ لَم يَهَب أُرجُوانَه
Time has toyed with the clergy therein
And Belisarius did not bestow its purple
وَجَرَت هاهُنا أُمورٌ كِبارٌ
واصَلَ الدَهرُ بَعدَها جَرَيانَه
And great events took place here
And time thereafter continued its course
راحَ دينٌ وَجاءَ دينٌ وَوَلّى
مُلكُ قَومٍ وَحَلَّ مَلِكٌ مَكانَه
A religion went and a religion came and
The rule of a people declined and a king took its place
وَالَّذي حَصَّلَ المُجِدّونَ إِهرا
قُ دِماءٍ خَليقَةٍ بِالصِيانَه
And those who amassed glory spilt
Blood of a despised people by preserving it
لَيتَ شِعري إِلامَ يَقتَتِلُ النا
سُ عَلى ذي الدَنِيَّةِ الفَتّانَه
I wonder why people fight
Over the base world of temptation
بَلَدٌ كانَ لِلنَصارى قَتاداً
صارَ مُلكَ القُسوسِ عَرشُ الدِيانَه
A land that was for Christians, fiefs
Became the throne of patriarchs and the seat of religion
وَشُعوبٌ يَمحونَ آيَةَ عيسى
ثُمَّ يُعلونَ في البَرِيَّةِ شانَه
And nations that erase Jesus' sign
Then exalt his glory in the wilderness
وَيُهينونَ صاحِبَ الروحِ مَيتاً
وَيُعِزّونَ بَعدَهُ أَكفانَه
And they insult the Master of the Soul dead
And honour his shroud after him
عالَمٌ قُلَّبٌ وَأَحلامُ خَلقٍ
تَتَبارى غَباوَةً وَفَطانَه
A topsy-turvy world and dreams of people
Competing in stupidity and wit
رَومَةُ الزَهوِ في الشَرائِعِ وَالحِك
مَةِ في الحُكمِ وَالهَوى وَالمَجانَه
The vanity of legislation in laws and wisdom in ruling, passions and pardons
And no limit was surpassed, no dear belittled
وَالتَناهي فَما تَعَدّى عَزيزاً
فيكِ عِزٌّ وَلا مَهيناً مَهانَه
Nor despised disgraced in you
No tribe untouched by you considers it
ما لِحَيٍّ لَم يُمسِ مِنكِ قَبيلٌ
أَو بِلادٌ يُعِدُّها أَوطانَه
Its homeland, people in you become
Lords and your servants see multitudes as their boys
يُصبِحُ الناسُ فيكِ مَولى وَعَبداً
وَيَرى عَبدُكِ الوَرى غِلمانَه
Where is an eastern or western kingdom lofty
That the sun envies its sultan at dawn
أَينَ مُلكٌ في الشَرقِ وَالغَربِ عالٍ
تَحسُدُ الشَمسُ في الضُحى سُلطانَه
Able to transform kingdoms into institutions and provide its vastness with helpers
Where is wealth whose collected land tax and subjects
قادِرٌ يَمسَخُ المَمالِكَ أَعما
لاً وَيُعطي وَسيعَها أَعوانَه
Are all treasurers while you are the treasury
Where are your nobles who tyrannized time
أَينَ مالٌ جَبَيتِهِ وَرَعايا
كُلُّهُم خازِنٌ وَأَنتِ الخَزانَه
Until it made them taste its tyranny
Where is your judge whose mount it hosted
أَينَ أَشرَافُكِ الَّذينَ طَغَوا في الدَه
رِ حَتّى أَذاقَهُم طُغيانَه
Where is your herald whose old age it respected
We have seen on you traces of sorrow
أَينَ قاضيكِ ما أَناخَ عَلَيهِ
أَينَ ناديكِ ما دَهى شَيخانَه
And from houses what you see are their griefs
Stop and ask time explicitly
قَد رَأَينا عَلَيكِ آثارَ حُزنٍ
وَمِنَ الدورِ ما تَرى أَحزانَه
Did it let its morn pass twice
Indeed, He who separated creations into nations
اِقصِري وَاِسأَلي عَنِ الدَهرِ مِصراً
هَل قَضَت مَرَّتَينِ مِنهُ اللُبانَه
Made justice among them its scale
Shed your nights you have spent mourning
إِنَّ مَن فَرَّقَ العِبادَ شُعوباً
جَعَلَ القِسطَ بَينَها ميزانَه
Rome's dominion shall not decline upon the earth
هَبكِ أَفنَيتِ بِالحِدادِ اللَيالي
لَن تَرَدّى عَلى الوَرى رومانَه
