طُوِيَ العامُ كَما يُطوى الرَقيم

وَهَوى في لُجَّةِ الماضي البَعيد

The year was folded like a scroll

The year has been folded away just as a scroll is folded,

And fell into the abyss of the distant past

And it has fallen into the abyss of the distant past.

لَم يَكُن بَل كانَ لَكِن ذَهَبا

وَاِنقَضى حَتّى كَأَن لَم يَكُنِ

It did not just happen, but it went away

It was not—nay, it was—but it has departed,

Until it was as if it had never been

And it has passed, as though it never existed.

لَو دَرى حينَ أَتى المُنقَلَبا

لَتَمَنّى أَنَّهُ لَم يَبِنِ

If it had known when destruction came

Had it known, when it arrived at its turning point,

It would have wished it had never existed

It would have wished never to have dawned.

أَيُّ نَجمٍ شارِقٍ ما غَرَبا

أَيُّ قَلبٍ خافِقٍ لَم يَسكُنِ

What shining star has ever set

What rising star is there that has not set?

What throbbing heart has ever stilled

What beating heart is there that has not stilled?

جاهِلٌ مَن حَسِبَ الآتي يَدوم

أَحمَقٌ مَن حَسِبَ الماضي يَعود

Ignorant is he who thinks the future will last

Ignorant is he who thinks the future will endure,

A fool is he who hopes the past will return

Foolish is he who thinks the past will return.

ما لَنا يَأخُذُ مِنّا الطَرَبُ

كُلَّما عامٌ تَلاشى وَاِضمَحَل

Why does sadness overtake us

What ails us, that we are seized by delight

Whenever a year fades away and withers

Whenever a year vanishes and fades away?

أَفَرِحنا أَنَّنا نَقتَرِبُ

مِن غَدٍ إِنَّ غَداً فيهِ الأَجَل

We rejoice that we draw near

Do we rejoice that we are drawing closer

To a tomorrow that contains death

To a tomorrow that holds our appointed end?

عَجَبٌ هَذا وَمِنهُ أَعجَبُ

إِنَّنا نَفنى وَلا يَفنى الأَمَل

Wondrous is this, and more wondrous

This is a wonder, yet even more wondrous

Is that we perish yet hope does not

Is that we perish, yet hope does not perish.

فَكَأَنّا ما سَمِعنا بِالحُتوم

أَو كَأَنّا قَد نَعِمنا بِالوُجود

It is as if we never heard of death

It is as if we have never heard of inevitable decrees,

Or as if we enjoyed immortality

Or as if we have been granted eternal existence.

يا رَعاهُ اللَهِ مِن عامٍ خَلا

فَلَقَد كانَ سَلاما وَأَمان

O God, protect this past year

May God watch over that year which has passed,

For it was peaceful and safe

For truly it was a time of peace and safety.

صافَحَ الجَحفَلُ فيهِ الجَحفَلا

وَاِستَراحَ السَيفُ فيه وَالسِنان

In it, rivals made peace with rivals

In it, army shook hands with army,

And the sword and spears found rest

And in it, the sword and the spearhead found rest.

ما اِنجَلى حَتّى رَأى النَعَ اِنجَلى

وَخَبَت نارُ الوَغى في البَلِقان

Dawn never came but it saw the lamps lit

It did not depart until it saw the dust of battle settle,

And the fires of turmoil died down in the Balkans

And the fire of war was extinguished in the Balkans.

لَستُ أَنسى نَهضَةَ الشَعبِ النَأوم

إِنَّ فيها عِبرَةً لِلمُستَفيد

I shall not forget the awakening of the sleeping people

I shall not forget the awakening of the slumbering people;

For in it is a lesson for those who would learn

Truly, therein lies a lesson for those who would learn.

وَاِلتَقى البَحرانِ فيهِ بَعدَما

مَرَّتِ الأَجيالُ لا يَلتَقِيان

And the two seas met after

And the two seas met therein, after

Generations had passed without meeting

Generations had passed while they remained apart.

أَصبَحَ السَدُّ الَّذي بَينَهُما

تُرعَةً يَزخَرُ فيها الأَزرَقان

The dam between them became

The barrier that stood between them became

A pond where both blues gather

A canal wherein the two blue waters surge together.

فَلتَدُم آمِرِكا ما اِلتَطَما

ما لِهَذا الفَتحِ في التاريخِ ثان

So may America last, for she has no peer

So long may America endure, for as long as the waves crash—

In this feat in history

This conquest has no equal in all of history.

وَلتَعِش رايَتُها ذاتُ النُجوم

أَجمَلُ الراياتِ أَولى بِالخُلو

And may her flag with the stars flutter

And long live her banner, adorned with stars,

The most beautiful of flags is deserving of glory

The most beautiful of banners, most worthy of immortality.

وَاِعتَلى الناسُ بِهِ مَتنَ الهَواء

فَهُمُ حَولَ الدَراري يَمرَحون

And the people rode high on the wings of air

And in that year, men mounted the back of the air,

Playing around balloons

Frolicking there around the shining stars.

يَمخُرُ المِنطادُ فيهِم في الفَضاء

مِثلَما يَمخُرُ في البَحرِ السَفين

The balloon sails among them in the sky

The airship cleaves through space with them,

As ships sail on the sea

Just as ships cleave through the sea.

مُعجِزاتٍ ما أَتاها الأَنبِياء

لا وَلَم يَطمَح إِلَيها الأَقدَمون

Miracles not achieved by prophets

Miracles that the prophets did not perform,

Nor aspired to by ancients

Nay, nor did the ancients even aspire to them.

سَخَّرَ العِلمُ لَهُم حَتّى الغُيوم

فَهُم مِثلَهُمُ فَوقَ الصَعيد

Science has harnessed even the clouds for them

Science has subjugated even the clouds for them,

And they are above the land like the clouds

So they have become like the clouds above the highlands.

حَلَّقَ الغَربِيُّ فَوقَ السَمَواتِ

وَلَبِثنا نَندُبُ الرَسمَ المَحيل

The Westerners flew high in the heavens

The Westerner has soared above the heavens,

While we lamented the unfair destiny

While we remained behind, weeping over desolate ruins.

فَإِذا ما قالَ أَهلُ المَكرُمات

ما وَجَدنا وَأَبيكُم ما نَقول

For when the fortunate ones said:

So when the men of noble achievements ask,

“We found and you say nothing”

"What have we found?"—by your father, we have nothing to say.

لَو فَقِهنا مِثلَهُم مَعنى الحَياة

ما أَضَعناها بُكاءً في الطُلول

Had we understood life’s meaning like them

Had we understood the meaning of life as they did,

We would not have wasted it in weeping

We would not have wasted it weeping over traces of the past.

أَلِفَت أَنفُسُنا الضَيمَ المُقيم

مِثلَما يَستَعذِبُ الظَبيُ الهَبيد

Our souls are accustomed to constant injustice

Our souls have grown accustomed to enduring injustice,

As the deer is habituated to salty plants

Just as the gazelle finds the bitter desert plant sweet.

أَدرَكَت غاياتِها كُلُّ الشُعوب

نَهَضَ الصينِي وَما زِلنا نِيام

All nations have attained their goal

All nations have attained their goals;

The Chinese arose while we still sleep

The Chinese have risen, while we remain asleep.

عَبِثَت فينا الرَزايا وَالخُطوب

مِثلَما يَعبَثُ بِالحُرِّ اللِئام

Misfortunes and disasters toyed with us

Calamities and misfortunes have toyed with us,

As the wicked toy with the free

Just as villains toy with a free man.

صودِرَ الكاتِبُ مِنّا وَالخَطيب

مُنِعَت أَلسُنُنا حَتّى الكَلام

The writer and orator are banned among us

Our writers and orators have been silenced,

Our tongues are forbidden even to speak

Our tongues forbidden even from speaking.

نَحنُ في الغَفلَةِ أَصحابُ الرَقيم

نَحنُ في الذَلَّةِ إِخوانُ اليَهود

We are the people of the scroll

In our heedlessness, we are like the Sleepers of the Cave;

We are like the Jewish brethren in humiliation

In our humiliation, we are brothers to the Jews.

لَيتَ أَنا حينَ ماتَ الشَمَمُ

لَحِقَت أَرواحَنا بِالغابِرين

Would that when tyranny died

Would that we, when our dignity died,

Our spirits had joined the departed

Had let our souls join those who passed long ago.

ما تَمَرَّدنا عَلى مَن ظَلَموا

لا وَلَم نَفكُك وِثاقاً عَن سَجين

We did not rebel against the oppressors

We did not rebel against those who oppressed us,

Nor did we unchain a single prisoner

Nay, nor did we loosen the bonds of a single prisoner.

لَيسَ يَمحو عارَنا إِلّا الدَمُ

فَإِلى كَم نَذرِفُ الدَمعَ السَخين

Only blood will erase our shame

Nothing shall wipe away our shame but blood;

How long will we shed scalding tears?

So how long shall we shed these hot tears?

قامَ فينا أَلفُ جَبّارٍ غَشوم

غَيرَ أَنّا لَم يَمُت مِنّا شَهيد

A thousand tyrants rose over us

A thousand brutal tyrants have risen among us,

Though not one of us died a martyr

Yet not a single martyr among us has died resisting.

يا لِقَومي بَلَغَ السَيلُ الذُبى

وَاِستَطالَ البَغي وَاِستَشرى الفَساد

Oh my people, the flood reached the helms

O my people, the flood has reached the highest peaks;

And injustice spread and corruption mounted

Oppression has grown tall, and corruption has spread rampant.

فَاِجعَلوا أَقلامَكُم بيضَ الظُبى

وَاِستَعيروا مِن دَمِ الباغي المِداد

So make your pens white as camels

So turn your pens into sharp, gleaming swords,

And borrow your ink from the blood of oppressors

And draw your ink from the blood of the oppressor.

كَتَبَ السَيفُ اِقرَأوا ما كَتَبا

لا يُنالُ المَجدُ إِلّا بِالجِهادِ

The sword has written, so read what it wrote

The sword has written—read what it has inscribed:

Glory cannot be won but by sacrifice

"Glory is not attained except through struggle."

أَيُّ رِجالَ الشَرقِ أَبناءَ القُروم

لا تَناموا آفَةُ الماءِ الرُكود

Men of the East, sons of great men

O men of the East, sons of noble chiefs,

Do not sleep, the plague is stagnation

Do not slumber, for the bane of water is stagnation.