أشَاقَكَ أن تمشي على الهَامِ والدِمَّا

وراعك أن تبكِيْ وأَن تتألما

You yearned to walk proudly and shed tears,

And you feared to weep and suffer.

عذيرُكَ هذا الدمعُ لو أنّ في البُكا

سِوى الذلِّ فاربَأْ أن تَذِلَّ لتُرحَما

These tears would be your excuse, if crying

Were anything but humiliation—so refuse to be abased in hopes of mercy.

صُنِ التاجَ من ذلّ الدموع فإنني

رأيتُ إباءَ النفسِ للتاج أكرَمَا

Guard the crown from the disgrace of tears, for I

Saw that a soul's dignity honors the crown.

ومِن نَكَدِ العرشِ الذي أَنت تاركٌ

على الرَّغمِ أن تبكِي وأن تتظلّما

And scorn the grief of a throne you've abandoned,

Though you weep and complain against your will.

أصاب رَشَاشُ الدمع والدّمُ قبلَه

ذُراه فسالت بالدموع وبالدما

The downpour of tears and blood struck it before you.

Its towers streamed with tears and blood.

فغادرتَهُ يَندَى بدمعك جانبٌ

ويقطر جنبٌ من ضحاياك عَندَما

You left one side crying your tears

While the other wept your victims' blood, whenever—

بكى ذِلةً عبدُ الحميد وراعَهُ

خَيَالُ الردى في خالِعِيه مجسَّما

‘Abd al-Hamid wept from humiliation, and he dreaded

The specter of ruin in his abdication embodied.

وهَزَّته خوفَ الموت رعشهُ قاتلٍ

رأى شبحَ المقتولِ منه تقدّما

The fear of lethal fate shook him, a killer's

Dread, when he saw the ghost of his victim approach.

فأَطبق عينيه مخافةَ أنْ يرى

وقال ليُخفي نَزوة القلب فيهما

So he closed his eyes, fearing to see,

And feigned indifference to his heart's caprice.

عجِبت له أن يعرِفَ الخوفَ قلبُه

ويا قلبَهُ ما أَنت لحماً ولا دَما

I marvel that his heart knows fear,

O his heart, it is neither flesh nor blood!

جرتْ دمعةٌ في مقلتيه وما جرى

سوى ذوبانٍ من فؤادٍ تضرما

A teardrop flowed in his eyelid—nothing more

Than a melting stream from a fiery core,

صَدَا عن حديدِ ذاب بين ضلوعه

وسالَ إلى عينيه كالدَّمع مُسْجَما

Blocked from the iron dissolving in his breast,

And pouring like tears to his eyes, repressed.

فقيلَ بكى عبدُ الحميد بكى بكى

فلم ينسكب دمع أذلَّ وأَلأَما

They said, “‘Abd al-Hamid wept, he wept!”

But no tear ever flowed so base and pained.

فيا لجلالِ الملك بالدمع ضائعاً

ويا لسناءِ التاج بالذُّل مُوصَما

Oh, what glory lies in the king's tears shed

And fame in a crown branded by disgrace!

نظرتُ إليه في الخلافة رابِضاً

فأغضَيتُ طرفي خاشِعاً متوجّما

I looked on him enthroned in the caliphate

And cast down my eyes, silently aggrieved.

وأكبرتُه أن يَلْمُسَ الوهمُ ذاتَه

فردَّ جلالُ الملكِ عنه التوهُّما

I honored him too much to let fancy touch him,

So the glory of kingship dispelled the fancy.

يقولون ظِلُّ الله في أرضِهِ وَلَوْ

أَرادَ يقولا فوقَ ذاكَ وأَعظما

They say, “God's shadow on earth”—and even if

They wanted to say more, that would suffice.

فيا أَيُّها الظِلُّ الذي كان دائماً

خفِياً عن الأبصار لكن منَّجما

O shadow that always hid from sight,

Though charted by the stars' predictiveness,

تحجّبْ كما تَهْوَى وصُلْ واحتكم ولا

تحاذرْ بَلاءً واغنَمِ العيشَ منعَما

Veil yourself as you wish, draw near and judge; fear no

Ordeal, but enjoy a blissful life.

فما هي إلا فرصة ثم تنقضي

ولذة دهرٍ ثم تصبحُ عَلقَما

For it is only an occasion, then gone,

A worldly joy, then bitter aloes.

إذا حَجبَ العزُّ المنَّعُ عاتياً

عن الناس لم يحجُبْهُ عَنْ غَضَبِ السما

When mighty pride defiantly hides

From people, it does not hide from heaven's wrath.

جرى قدَرُ الأيام فيه فلا العُلى

وقَتْ عرشَهُ السامي ولا جندهُ حمى

Fate took its course, so neither height

Nor its lofty throne or troops kept it safe.

هوى من سماهُ بالدموع مضرَّجاً

كما انحطَّ نَسْرٌ من عُلاه مُكَلَّما

It fell, blood-spattered with tears, from its summit,

Like a wounded eagle plummeting, its wings clipped.

فما هان ذو عرشِ كما هان صاغراً

ولا ذَلَّ عاتٍ كان أقسى وأظلما

No throne fell so low as it fell humbled,

No rebel's pride was harder or darker.

بكى فبكى بِرّاً به نجلُه الفتى

فيا لشقاءِ ابنٍ عليه تألمّا

The noble youth, its son, wept for it—

Oh what misery for a son to grieve it!

فتىً كملاكِ الوَحْيِ لم يعرِف الأسى

ولم يتعوَّدْ غيرَ أن يتنعّما

An angel-like boy who never knew sorrow

And was used to nothing but bliss.

ترفّه حتى لم يمَسَّ جبينَه

نسيمٌ ولم تلمح له الشمسُ مَبْسِمَا

He was pampered until no breeze touched his brow

Or sun smiled at him, however it beamed.

إذا نَفَحاتُ الزهر راعت فؤادَهُ

بطيب شذاهُ عُوقِبَ الزهرُ مجرِما

When wafts of flowers delighted his heart

With their fragrance, the flowers were blamed as criminal.

أحبَّ أَباه والفتى غيرُ واجدٍ

أَبرّ فؤاداً من أَبيه وأرحما

He loved his father, and that boy had never known

A kinder heart or more tender core.

رُويدَك يا عبدَ الرحيمِ ولا تكُنْ

جَزوعاً وحاذِرْ أن ترقَّ وترحما

Gently, ‘Abd al-Rahim! Don't despair,

And beware of melting into tears.

أبوك جنى والشعب عاقبه على

جناياته فليلقَ عدلاً عقابَ ما

Your father did wrong, and the people punished

His crimes. Let him face justice and pay for them.

أبوك أهان الملك فاقرأ حياته

تجد مِلأَها ويلاً وظلماً ومغرما

Your father disgraced the crown—read his life's history:

Nothing but woe, injustice, profligacy.

أبوك أذلّ العرش فانظر لعرشه

تجدْه كما شاء الشقاء مهدما

Your father debased the throne—look at his throne:

However fate willed, it was toppled and ruined.

أبوك بلى هذا أبوك وهذه

معاصيه فامسح من دموعك ما همى

Yes, that was your father, those were his sins,

So wipe away the tears that burn for him.

وقل يا أبي الملك لله وحده

وللشَّعب هذا العرش فاخلَعه مرغَما

Say: O father, the kingdom belongs to God alone

And this throne to the people. Abdicate, compelled.

أعِدْ تاج عُثمانٍ لرأس محمدٍ

يَعُدْ مجدُه البالي أجلَّ وأفخما

Return Uthman's crown to Muhammad's head;

His faded glory will shine brighter than gems.

ورُدَّ له سيفَ الخلافَةِ إنني

رأيتُ أَخاك الحُرَّ أَمضى وأحزما

Give back to him the sword of caliphate, for I

Saw your noble brother more steadfast and bold.

إذا أنتَ لمْ تحفظ لعرشك مجدَهُ

فأهوِنْ بهذا العرش أن يتحطما

If you don't preserve your throne's glory yourself,

Think little of a throne that shatters and falls.

أمُستَرخِصَ الدمعِ العَصيّ أإتئد

فما عصِيَ الدمعُ الطغاةَ فُتعصَما

Do you think rebel tears come cheap? Will suppressed

Tears never defy tyrants? Will they go unshed?

يَهونُ على العرشِ الدماءُ التي جرت

فلا تبتدِعْ خُلقاً جديداً مذمَّما

For the throne, blood spilled was cheaper than tears.

So don't innovate a new cursed norm.

ولا تمتلئْ عيناكَ بالدمع إنني

أُحاذرُ أن يغشَى البُكا نَاظِرَيهما

Don't fill your eyes with tears—I'm anxious tears

Won't flood the vision when you look at me.

أجِلْ نظرةً تُبصرْ بقايا ممالكٍ

خَلاءً أَثارَ الظلمُ فيها جهنّما

Imagine gazing on the ruins of kingdoms

Laid waste, hellish traces of injustice on them.

ولا تنسَ عَهداً في ثلاثين حِجةً

سيحفَظُهُ التاريخُ أكمدَ أقتما

Don't forget the epoch of thirty pilgrimages

Whose history eternity will preserve, branded.

فلا أنتَ أرضيتَ النبيَّ محمداً

ولا مجدَ عثمانٍ حفظت مكرَّما

You pleased neither the Prophet Muhammad

Nor kept the glory of Uthman honoured.

أَفَرْقانِ في دينٍ وفي مجدِ أمةٍ

فعوقِبتَ تُركياً وعوقِبتَ مُسلِما

You tore religions and a nation's glory apart,

So Turkey was punished—and Muslims with it.

أَطِلَّ على تايخِ غرناطةٍ تجد

مَليكاً لَهَا عن ملكه فتهدّما

Look on Granada's history and you'll find

A king who, for his reign, was toppled and destroyed.

فيا عاتياً لم يتّعظ بالُأَلى قضَوا

تَسلَّلْ بأنْ تأسى وأن تتندّما

O you tyrant, who refuses to learn from anguish,

Take care to grieve and regret what you did!