ما عَزَّ مَن لَم يَصحَبِ الخَذِما

فَاِحطِم دَواتَكَ وَاِكسِرِ القَلَما

No honor for one who does not keep company with the ignoble

Glory belongs to no one who does not wield the sharp sword,

So break your inkwells and pens in two

So smash your inkwell and snap your pen in two.

وَاِرحَم صِباكَ الغَضَّ إِنَّهُمُ

لا يَحمِلونَ وَتَحمِلُ الأَلَما

And have mercy on your tender youth

Have mercy on your tender youth, for truly they

They cannot bear while you endure the pain

Bear no burdens, while you alone bear the pain.

كَم ذا تُنادِهِم وَقَد هَجَعوا

أَحَسِبتَ أَنَّكَ تُسمِعُ الرِمَما

Why do you call to them while asleep?

How long will you call out to them while they slumber?

Did you think your calls a lifeless thing could hear?

Did you imagine you could make decaying bones hear?

ما قامَ في آذانِهِم صَمَمٌ

وَكَأَنَّ في آذانِهِم صَمَما

Deafness has plugged their ears

It is not that deafness has struck their ears,

As if their ears were blocked to the brim

And yet, it is as though they are completely deaf.

القَومُ حاجاتُهُم إِلى هِمَمٍ

أَو أَنتَ مِمَّن يَخلِقُ الهِمَما

The people need enthusiasm

The people are in dire need of high ambition,

Or are you one who creates enthusiasm?

But are you one who can create ambition from nothing?

تَاللَهِ لَو كُنتَ اِبنَ ساعِدَةٍ

أَدَباً وَحاتِمَ طَيِّئٍ كَرَما

By God, if you were the son of Sa’ida

By God, even if you possessed the eloquence of Ibn Sa'ida,

In manners, and Hatem Tai in nobility

And the legendary generosity of Hatim al-Tai,

وَبَذَذتَ جالِنوسَ حِكمَتَهُ

وَالعِلمَ رِسطاطاليسَ وَالشِيَما

And you combined Galen’s wisdom

And if you surpassed Galen in his wisdom,

And the knowledge of Aristotle and virtues

And outstripped Aristotle in knowledge and character,

وَسَبَقتَ كُلُمبوسَ مُكتَشِفاً

وَشَأَوتَ آديسونَ مُعتَزِما

And you surpassed Euclid in discovery

And preceded Columbus in his discoveries,

And rivaled Edison in determination

And outpaced Edison in resolve and invention,

فَسَلَبتَ هَذا البَحرَ لُؤلُؤَةً

وَحَبوتَهُم إِيّاهُ مُنتَظَما

And you took from this sea a pearl

And if you snatched a rare pearl from this sea,

And threaded them to it in order

And presented it to them perfectly strung,

وَكَشَفتَ أَسرارَ الوُجودِ لَهُم

وَجَعَلتَ كُلَّ مُبَعَّدٍ أَمَما

And you unveiled to them the mysteries of existence

And unveiled the secrets of existence for their sake,

And made every remote thing come together

And brought every distant goal within close reach,

ما كُنتَ فيهِم غَيرَ مُتَّهَمٍ

إِنّي وَجَدتُ الحُرَّ مُتَّهَما

You would not be among them except accused

You would remain nothing to them but a suspect;

I have found the free man accused

For I have found that the free man is always accused.

هانوا عَلى الدُنيا فَلا نِعَماً

عَرَفَتهُمُ الدُنيا وَلا نِقَما

They became disdainful of the world, no blessings

They are worthless to the world; it grants them no blessings,

Did the world know them or curses?

Nor does it deem them worthy of its vengeance.

فَكَأَنَّما في غَيرِها خُلِقوا

وَكَأَنَّما قَد آثَروا العَدَما

So it is as if created for something else

It is as if they were created in a different realm,

And as if they chose nonexistence

And as if they have chosen the void of non-existence.

أَو ما تَراهُم كُلَّما اِنتَسَبوا

نَصَلوا فَلا عُرباً وَلا عَجَما

Or do you not see them, whenever they affiliate

Do you not see them, whenever they boast of lineage,

They rise neither as Arabs nor non-Arabs

They fade away, resembling neither Arabs nor foreigners?

لَيسوا ذَوي خَطَرٍ وَقَد زَعَموا

وَالغَربُ ذو خَطَرٍ وَما زَعَما

They are not people of danger though they claimed

They hold no real weight, though they claim otherwise,

And the West is dangerous but did not claim

While the West holds great weight without needing to boast.

مُتَخاذِلينَ عَلى جَهالَتِهِم

إِنَّ القَوِيَّ يَهونُ مُنقَسِما

Cowardly in their ignorance

They forsake one another in their ignorance;

The strong become despised when divided

For even the strong become weak when divided.

فَالبَحرُ يَعظُمُ وَهوَ مُجتَمِعٌ

وَتَراهُ أَهوَنَ ما يُرى دِيَما

The sea is mighty when united

The sea is mighty only when its waters are gathered,

And you see it weakest when flowing always

Yet you see it at its weakest when scattered as rain.

وَالسورُ ما يَنفَكُّ مُمتَنِعاً

فَإِذا يُناكِرُ بَعضَهُ اِنهَدَما

And a fence does not cease to be impenetrable

A wall remains an impregnable fortress,

Until part of it betrays so it collapses

But collapses if its stones refuse to hold one another.

وَالشَعبُ لَيسَ بِناهِضٍ أَبَداً

ما دامَ فيهِ الخُلفُ مُحتَكِما

And a people will never rise

A people will never rise to greatness

As long as disagreement rules among them

As long as discord reigns supreme among them.

يا لِلأَديبِ وَما يُكابِدُهُ

في أُمَّةٍ لا تُشبِهُ الأُمَما

Oh woe to the writer and what he endures

Oh, the pity for the man of letters and what he endures

Among a nation that does not resemble nations

Amongst a nation that resembles no other nation.

إِن باحَ لَم تَسلَم كَرامَتُهُ

وَالإِثمُ كُلُّ الإِثمِ إِن كَتَما

If he speaks his dignity is not safe

If he speaks out, his dignity is stripped away,

And silence, all silence, is sin if he conceals

Yet the greatest sin of all is if he remains silent.

يَبكي فَتَضحَكُ مِنهُ لاهِيَةً

وَالجَهلُ إِن يَبكِ الحِجى اِبتَسَما

He weeps so the heedless laugh at him

He weeps, and the nation laughs at him in distraction;

And ignorance smiles when the wise cry

For when Wisdom weeps, Ignorance merely smiles.

جاءَت وَما شَعَرَ الوُجودُ بِها

وَلَسَوفَ تَمضي وَهوَ ما عَلِما

It came but existence did not feel it

This nation entered existence without the world noticing,

And it will pass while unaware

And it shall pass away without the world ever knowing.

سارَ الشُعوبُ إِلى العُلى عَنَقاً

وَوَنَت فَلَم تَنقُل لَها قَدَما

Nations marched to the heights necks raised

Other peoples marched toward glory with swift strides,

But you faltered and did not move your feet

While this one languished, moving not a single foot.

ما أَحدَثَت في الدَهرِ طارِقَةً

تَبقى وَلَيسَ تَليدُها عَلَما

It did not create a striking event in time

It has not forged any momentous event in history

Remaining such that its track is no monument

That endures, nor is its ancient past a guiding beacon.

ضَعُفَت فَلا عَجَبٌ إِذا اِهتُضِمَت

اللَيثُ لَولا بَأسُهُ اِهتُضِما

It weakened so no wonder if subjugated

It grew weak, so it is no wonder it was oppressed;

The lion, without his might, would be subjugated

For even the lion, without his might, would be devoured.

فَلَقَد رَأَيتُ الكَونَ سُنَّتُهُ

كَالبَحرِ يَأكُلُ حوتُهُ البَلَما

I have seen the way of the universe

I have observed the law of the universe:

Like the sea where its whale eats its fish

It is like the sea, where the whale eats the minnow.

لا يَرحَمُ المِقدامُ ذا خَوَرٍ

أَو يَرحَمُ الضِرغامَةُ الغَنَما

No pity for one falling in battle

The bold show no mercy to the faint-hearted,

Or mercy by the wolf for the sheep

Just as the lion shows no mercy to the sheep.

يا صاحِبي وَهَواكَ يَجذُبُني

حَتّى لَأَحسَبُ بَينَنا رَحِما

My friend, your passion pulls me

O my friend, though my affection for you draws me close,

Until I feel a womb between us

Until I believe there is a bond of blood between us,

ما ضَرَّنا وَالوِدُّ مُلتَإِمٌ

أَن لا يَكونَ الشَملُ مُلتَإِما

It did not harm us though love brought us together

It does not harm us, while our friendship remains whole,

That unity was not also brought together

That our paths in life are not united.

الناسُ تَقرَءُ ما تُسَطِّرُهُ

حِبراً وَيَقرَءُهُ أَخوكَ دَما

People read what you compose

The people read what you write as mere ink,

In ink, and your brother reads it in blood

While your brother reads it as spilled blood.

فَاِستَبقِ نَفساً غَيرُ مُرجِعِها

عَضُّ الأَنامِلِ بَعدَها نَدَما

So vie for a soul with no return

So spare a soul that cannot be restored

The gnashing of fingers in regret afterward

By biting your fingertips in regret thereafter.

ما أَنتَ مُبدِلُهُم خَلائِقَهُم

حَتّى تَكونَ الأَرضُ وَهيَ سَما

You cannot change their nature

You cannot change their ingrained nature,

Until the earth becomes the heavens

Unless the earth itself turns into the sky.

زارَتكَ لَم تَهتِك مَعانيها

غَرّاءَ يَهتِكُ نورُها الظُلَما

She visited you, her meanings not violated

The verses visited you, their meanings intact and pure,

Dazzling, her light violates the darkness

Radiant words whose light shatters the darkness.

سَبَقَت يَدي فيها هَواجِسُهُم

وَنَطَقتُ لَمّا اِستَصحَبوا البُكُما

My apprehensions about them came first

My hand captured these thoughts before theirs could,

And I spoke when they fell mute

And I spoke out while they chose the company of silence.

إِذا تُقاسُ إِلى رَوائِعِهِم

كانَت رَوائِعُهُم لَها خَدَما

Measured next to their masterpieces

If my words are measured against their masterpieces,

Their masterpieces are to it servants

Their masterpieces would merely serve as handmaidens to mine.

كَالراحِ لَم أَرَ قَبلَ سامِعِها

سَكرانَ هِدَّ السُكرِ مُحتَشِما

Like the wind, I never saw before hearing it

Like wine—never before have I seen one listening to it

A drunk made sober by its intoxication

Who became drunk with ecstasy, yet remained dignified.

يَخدُ القِفارَ بِها أَخو لَجَبٍ

يُنسي القِفارَ الأَينَقُ الرَسما

It plays the deserts, a smooth brother

The traveler traverses the wastelands chanting it,

Makes the deserts forget the exquisite engraving

Making his camels forget the weariness of the desert track.

أَقبَستُهُ شَوقي فَأَضلُعُهُ

كَأَضالِعي مَملوأَةٌ ضَرَما

I took its passion so my ribs

I ignited him with my longing, so his ribs

Became like my ribs filled with wounds

Became like mine, filled with burning fire.

إِنَّ الكَواكِبَ في مَنازِلِها

لَو شِئتُ لَاِستَنزَلتُها كَلِما

The stars in their positions

Verily, the stars in their celestial spheres—

If I wished I could bring them down word by word

Had I wished, I could have brought them down as words.