يا نَبَأَ سُرَّ بِهِ مَسمَعي

حَتّى تَمَنّى أَنَّهُ الناقِلُ

O news that has delighted my hearing

O tiding that brought joy to my hearing,

So much that the bearer wished it was he

Until it wished that it were the narrator;

أَنعَشَ في نَفسي المُنى مِثلَما

يُحيِ الجَديبَ الواكِفُ الهاطِلُ

It revived hope in my soul just as

It revived hopes within my soul, just as

The pouring rain revives the barren land

The pouring rain revives the barren earth.

عَرَفتُ مِنهُ أَنَّ ذاكَ الحِمى

بِالصَيدِ مِن فِطيانِنا آهِلُ

From it I learned that the fevered place

I learned from it that this sanctuary

Is rich with prey from our youth

Is inhabited by the lions among our youth;

عِصابَةٌ كَالعِقدِ في أَكرِنِ

يَعتَزُّ فيها الفَضلُ وَالفاضِلُ

A band as tight as a necklace

A band united like pearls in a necklace,

Where merit and the virtuous prevail

In whom virtue and the virtuous take pride.

مِن كُلِّ مِقدامٍ رَجيحِ النُهى

كَالسَيفِ إِذ يَصقُلُهُ الصقِلُ

Of every bold, rightly-guided one

Each one daring, of weighty intellect,

Like a sword when the polisher polishes it

Like a sword when honed by the polisher.

البَدرُ مِن أَزرارِهِ طالِعٌ

وَالغَيثُ مِن راحَتِهِ هامِلُ

The full moon of their buttons rising

The full moon rises from his visage,

And the rain of their hands pouring

And bountiful rain flows from his palm.

وَكُلُّ طَلقِ الوَجهِ مَوفورِهِ

في بُردَتَيهِ سَيِّدٌ مائِلُ

Every bright-faced and cheerful one

And every cheerful-faced one of ample merit,

A poised master in his cloak

Within his cloaks moves a master of grace.

شَبيهَةَ الشَرقِ اِنعَمي وَاِسلَمي

كَي تَسلَمَ الآمالُ وَالآمِلُ

Resembling the prosperity and peace of the East

O likeness of the East, live in grace and safety,

So hopes and the hopeful may be safe

That hopes and those who hope may be preserved.

بِكُم وَبِالراقينَ أَمثالِكُم

يَفتَخِرُ العالِمُ وَالعامِلُ

With you and others like you

In you, and in the high-minded like you,

The world and the worker take pride

Both the scholar and the worker take pride.

بَعَثتُمُ هَملِتَ مِن رَمسِهِ

فَهَملِتٌ بَينَكُم ماثِلُ

You roused an ambition that was dormant

You have resurrected Hamlet from his grave,

So ambition amongst you stands tall

And now Hamlet stands before you.

تَمشي وَيَمشي الطَيفُ ف إِثرِهِ

كلاهُما مِمّا بِهِ ذاهِلُ

It walks and the phantom walks in its tracks

He walks, and the ghost walks in his wake,

Both of them lost in thought

Both absent-minded in their plight.

لا يَضحَكُ السامِعُ مِن هَزلِهِ

كَم عِظَةٍ جاءَ بِها الهازِلُ

The listener doesn’t laugh at his joke

The listener does not laugh at his jesting;

See how many lessons the jester brings

For how often does the jester bring deep wisdom?

رِوايَةً يَظهَرُ فيها لَكُم

كَيفَ يُداجي الصادِقَ الخاتِلُ

A story in which is revealed to you

A narrative revealing to your eyes

How the truthful converses with the deceitful

How the deceiver cajoles the truthful soul,

وَتَنكُثُ المِرآةَ ميثاقَها

وَكَيفَ يُجزي المُجرِمُ القاتِلُ

And the mirror breaks its covenant

And how the mirror breaks its covenant,

And how the criminal is punished by the killer

And how the murderous criminal is requited.

وَإِنَّما الإِنسانُ أَخلاقُهُ

لا يَستَوي الناقِصُ وَالكامِلُ

Indeed, man is his manners

For a human is defined by his character;

The deficient and the perfect are not equal

The flawed and the perfect are not equal.

وَالنَفسُ كَالمِرآةِ إِن أُهمِلَت

يَعلو عَلَيها الصَدَءُ الآكِلُ

And the soul is like a mirror—if neglected

The soul is like a mirror: if neglected,

The eating rust rises upon it

Corrosive rust will cloud its face.

وَالناسُ أَدوارٌ فَذا صاعِدٌ

يُراوِدُ الشُهبَ وَذا نازِلُ

And people are cycles—so one ascending

People are roles: one ascends

Chasing the stars, and one descending

To court the stars, while another falls.

وَالدَهرُ حالاتٌ فَيَومٌ بِهِ

تَحُسُّ وَيَومٌ سَعدُهُ كامِلُ

And time is states—so one day

Time shifts in states: a day wherein you suffer,

You feel hope and one day your bliss is complete

And a day whose happiness is full.

فَمَثَّلوا الجَهلَ وَأَضرارِهِ

حَتّى يُعادي جَهلَهُ الجاهِلُ

So they exemplified ignorance and its harms

So portray ignorance and its perils,

Until even the ignorant oppose their ignorance

That the ignorant may come to loathe his state;

وَمَثَّلوا الفَضلَ وَآياتِهِ

كَي يَستَزيدَ الرَجُلُ الفاضِلُ

And they exemplified merit and its signs

And portray virtue and its noble signs,

So that the virtuous man may excel more

That the virtuous man may seek yet more.

وَصَوَّروا المَجدَ وَلَألائِهِ

عَسى يُفيقُ الهاجِعُ الغافِلُ

And they depicted glory and its splendors

And depict glory and its radiance,

Perhaps the sleeping wakeful one may awaken

That the heedless sleeper might awake,

وَيَرجِعُ الشَرقُ إِلى أَوجِهِ

كَما يَعودُ القَمَرُ الآفِلُ

And the East returns to its prime

And the East may return to its zenith,

Like the waning moon returns

Just as the waning moon returns to light.

وَاِبنوا إِلى الآتينَ مِن بَعدِكُم

يَبنِ لِمَن يَخلُفُهُ القابِلُ

And build for those who come after you

And build for those who come after you,

What the successor builds for the one he succeeds

As the successor builds for those to follow.

ما دُمتُمُ لِلحَقِّ أَنصارَهُ

هَيهاتَ أَن يَنتَصِرَ الباطِلُ

As long as you are the supporters of truth

So long as you remain champions of the Truth,

Never will falsehood prevail

Never shall Falsehood gain the victory.