ما بالُهُم نَقَضوا العُهودَ جَهارا
وَتَعَمَّدوا الإِذاء وَالإِضرارا
What ails them that they shattered their covenants so openly,
And deliberately inflicted harm and injury?
وَاِستَأسَدوا لَمّا رَأوا لَيثَ الشَرى
عافَ الزَئير وَقَلَّمَ الأَظفارا
They feigned the courage of lions only when they saw the Lion of the Thicket
Refraining from roaring, having trimmed his own claws.
داروا بِه وَالشَرُّ في أَحداقِهِم
ذا يَدَّعي حَقّا وَذَلِكَ ثارا
They circled him with malice gleaming in their eyes,
This one claiming a right, and that one demanding revenge.
لُؤمٌ لَعَمرُ أَبيكَ لَم يَرَ مِثلَهُ
التاريخُ مُنذُ اِستَقرَأَ الأَخبارا
A baseness—by your father's life—the likes of which
History has not witnessed since it began to chronicle the news.
وَخِيانَةٌ ما جائَها القَومُ الأُلى
تَخِذوا مَعَ الوَحشِ القِفارَ دِيارا
A treachery never committed by the ancients of old,
Who made their homes in the wastelands alongside wild beasts.
أَمسى يُحَرِّضُ عاهِلَ الأَلمانِ عَن
أَمسى يُحَرِّضُ في الخَفا البُلغارا
He spent the evening inciting the German Monarch,
Just as he secretly incited the Bulgarians.
أَمُعاشِرَ الإِفرَنجِ لَيسَ شَهامَةً
ما تَفعَلونَ إِذا أَمِنتُم عارا
O assembly of Franks, it is no act of chivalry
To do what you do simply because you feel safe from disgrace.
أَمِنَ المُروأَةِ أَن يُساءَ جِوارُنا
في حينِ أَنّا لا نُسيءُ جِوارا
Does honor allow that our neighborly rights be abused,
At the very time we abuse no neighbor's right?
أَمِنَ المُروأَةِ أَن يُطَأطِئَ تاجَهُ
مَلِكٌ لِيَملُكَ في الثَرى أَشبارا
Does honor allow a king to lower his crown in shame,
Merely to possess a few spans of dust?
البَغيُ مَرتَعُهُ وَخيمٌ فَاِعلَموا
وَالظُلمُ يُعقَبُ لِلظَلومِ دَمارا
The grazing ground of tyranny is noxious, so take heed:
Injustice yields only destruction for the oppressor.
إِن تُحرِجوا الرِئبالَ في عَرينِهِ
يَذَرُ السُكوت وَيَركَبُ الأَخطارا
If you corner the fierce lion within his den,
He forsakes silence and rides upon perils.
وَكَما عَلِمتُم ذَلِكَ الجَيشُ الَّذي
يَأبى وَيَأنَفُ أَن يُرى خَوّارا
And as you well know, this is that very army
That refuses with disdain to be seen as feeble.
فَالوَيلُ لِلدُنيا إِذا نَفَضَ الكَرى
وَالوَيلُ لِلأَيّامِ إِمّا ثارا
So woe to the world if it shakes off its slumber,
And woe to the days should it rise in vengeance.
إِنّي أَرى لَيلاً يُخَيِّمُ فَوقَنا
لا يَنجَلي حَتّى يُشَبَّ النارا
I see a darkness pitching its tent above us,
That will not lift until the fires are kindled.
فَحَذارِ ثُمَّ حَذارِ مِن يَومٍ بِهِ
يَجري انَجيعُ عَلى الثَرى أَنهارا
So beware, and beware again, of a day wherein
Spilled blood flows upon the earth in rivers.
يَومٌ تُباعُ بِهِ النُفوسُ رَخيصَةً
يَومٌ يُقَصِّرُ هَولَهُ الأَعمارا
A day in which souls are sold for a cheap price,
A day whose terror cuts short the span of lives.
يَومٌ يَكونُ بِهِ الجَميعُ عَساكِراً
وَالكُلُّ يَدخُلُ في الوَغى مُختارا
A day when the entire people becomes an army,
And all enter the tumult of war by their own choice.
