لا تَلُم كَفّي إِذا السَيفُ نَبا

صَحَّ مِنّي العَزمُ وَالدَهرُ أَبى

Do not blame my hand if the sword failed to strike.

My resolve proved sound, but fate refused.

رُبَّ ساعٍ مُبصِرٍ في سَعيِهِ

أَخطَأَ التَوفيقَ فيما طَلَبا

Many a clear-sighted striver, in his striving,

has missed success in what he sought.

مَرحَباً بِالخَطبِ يَبلوني إِذا

كانَتِ العَلياءُ فيهِ السَبَبا

Welcome the ordeal when it tries me,

if lofty glory is its cause.

عَقَّني الدَهرُ وَلَولا أَنَّني

أوثِرُ الحُسنى عَقَقتُ الأَدَبا

Time has wronged me; had I not

preferred the noble course, I would have wronged decorum.

إيهِ يا دُنيا اِعبِسي أَو فَاِبسِمي

لا أَرى بَرقَكِ إِلّا خُلَّبا

Ah, world—frown, or else smile;

I see your lightning only as a false flash.

أَنا لَولا أَنَّ لي مِن أُمَّتي

خاذِلاً ما بِتُّ أَشكو النُوَبا

Were it not that, among my nation, I have

one who forsakes me, I would not spend the night lamenting calamities.

أُمَّةً قَد فَتَّ في ساعِدِها

بُغضُها الأَهلَ وَحُبُّ الغُرَبا

A nation whose arm has been weakened

by hatred of its own and love of foreigners;

تَعشَقُ الأَلقابَ في غَيرِ العُلا

وَتُفَدّي بِالنُفوسِ الرُتَبا

it adores titles where no true eminence lies,

and ransoms ranks with lives.

وَهيَ وَالأَحداثُ تَستَهدِفُها

تَعشَقُ اللَهوَ وَتَهوى الطَرَبا

Feeble, while events take aim at it,

it loves diversion and delights in revelry.

لا تُبالي لَعِبَ القَومُ بِها

أَم بِها صَرفُ اللَيالي لَعِبا

It cares not whether the people play with it,

or the vicissitudes of nights make it their plaything.

لَيتَها تَسمَعُ مِنّي قِصَّةً

ذاتَ شَجوٍ وَحَديثاً عَجَبا

Would that it heard from me a tale

of sorrow, and a wondrous account.

كُنتُ أَهوى في زَماني غادَةً

وَهَبَ اللَهُ لَها ما وَهَبا

In my day I loved a maiden

to whom God had granted all that He granted:

ذاتَ وَجهٍ مَزَجَ الحُسنُ بِهِ

صُفرَةً تُنسي اليَهودَ الذَهَبا

a face in which beauty had mingled

a pallor that made the Jews forget gold.

حَمَلَت لي ذاتَ يَومٍ نَبَأً

لا رَعاكَ اللَهُ يا ذاكَ النَبا

One day she brought me news—

God preserve you not, O news!

وَأَتَت تَخطِرُ وَاللَيلُ فَتىً

وَهِلالُ الأُفقِ في الأُفقِ حَبا

She came swaying while the night was young,

and the horizon’s crescent crawled along the sky.

ثُمَّ قالَت لي بِثَغرٍ باسِمٍ

نَظَمَ الدُرَّ بِهِ وَالحَبَبا

Then she said to me with a smiling mouth

that strung together pearls and bubbles of saliva:

نَبِّؤوني بِرَحيلٍ عاجِلٍ

لا أَرى لي بَعدَهُ مُنقَلِبا

“They have told me of an imminent departure;

I see no return for me after it.

وَدَعاني مَوطِني أَن أَغتَدي

عَلَّني أَقضي لَهُ ما وَجَبا

My homeland has called me to set forth,

that perhaps I may discharge what I owe it.

نَذبَحُ الدُبَّ وَنَفري جِلدَهُ

أَيَظُنُّ الدُبُّ أَلّا يُغلَبا

We shall slaughter the bear and flay its hide—

does the bear think it cannot be defeated?”

قُلتُ وَالآلامُ تَفري مُهجَتي

وَيكِ ما تَصنَعُ في الحَربِ الظِبا

I said, while anguish tore my heart:

“Woe to you! What can gazelles do in war?

ما عَهِدناها لِظَبيٍ مَسرَحاً

يَبتَغي مُلهىً بِهِ أَو مَلعَبا

Never have we known it as a pasture for a gazelle

seeking there some diversion or playground.

لَيسَتِ الحَربُ نُفوساً تُشتَرى

بِالتَمَنّي أَو عُقولاً تُستَبى

War is not lives that can be bought

with wishful thinking, nor minds to be taken captive.

أَحَسِبتِ القَدِّ مِن عُدَّتِها

أَم ظَنَنتِ اللَحظَ فيها كَالشَبا

Did you think the slender figure part of its equipment,

or suppose that glances there were like sword-blades?

فَسَليني إِنَّني مارَستُها

وَرَكِبتُ الهَولَ فيها مَركَبا

Ask me—I have practiced war,

and ridden terror in it as my mount.

وَتَقَحَّمتُ الرَدى في غارَةٍ

أَسدَلَ النَقعُ عَلَيها هَيدَبا

I plunged into death in a raid

over which the dust-cloud dropped a shaggy veil.

قَطَّبَت ما بَينَ عَينَيها لَنا

فَرَأَيتُ المَوتَ فيها قَطَّبا

It frowned upon us, knitting its brow,

and I saw death within it, frowning.

جالَ عِزرائيلُ في أَنحائِها

تَحتَ ذاكَ النَقعِ يَمشي الهَيذَبى

Azrael roamed throughout its reaches,

and beneath that dust the bristling lion strode.

فَدَعيها لِلَّذي يَعرِفُها

وَاِلزَمي يا ظَبيَةَ البانِ الخِبا

So leave war to one who knows it,

and keep, O gazelle of the bān groves, to the tent.”

فَأَجابَتني بِصَوتٍ راعَني

وَأَرَتني الظَبيَ لَيثاً أَغلَبا

She answered me in a voice that startled me,

and showed me the gazelle transformed into an indomitable lion:

إِنَّ قَومي اسِتَعذَبوا وِردَ الرَدى

كَيفَ تَدعونِيَ أَلّا أَشرَبا

“My people have found sweet the watering-place of death;

how can you call on me not to drink?

أَنا يابانِيَّةٌ لا أَنثَني

عَن مُرادي أَو أَذوقَ العَطَبا

I am Japanese; I do not turn

from my purpose—or else I taste destruction.

أَنا إِن لَم أُحسِنِ الرَميَ وَلَم

تَستَطِع كَفّايَ تَقليبَ الظُبا

If I cannot shoot well, and

my hands cannot wield the blades,

أَخدِمُ الجَرحى وَأَقضي حَقَّهُم

وَأُواسي في الوَغى مَن نُكِبا

I shall tend the wounded and fulfill their due,

and comfort in battle whoever is struck down.

هَكَذا الميكادُ قَد عَلَّمَنا

أَن نَرى الأَوطانَ أُمّاً وَأَبا

Thus the Mikado has taught us:

to regard our homelands as mother and father.

مَلِكٌ يَكفيكَ مِنهُ أَنَّهُ

أَنهَضَ الشَرقَ فَهَزَّ المَغرِبا

A king of whom it is enough for you to know

that he awakened the East and shook the West.

وَإِذا مارَستَهُ أَلفَيتَهُ

حُوَّلاً في كُلِّ أَمرٍ قُلَّبا

When you put him to the test, you find him

resourceful, turning every matter every way.

كانَ وَالتاجُ صَغيرَينِ مَعاً

وَجَلالُ المُلكِ في مَهدِ الصِبا

He and the crown were both young together,

and royal majesty was in the cradle of youth.

فَغَدا هَذا سَماءً لِلعُلا

وَغَدا ذَلِكَ فيها كَوكَبا

So this became a heaven for lofty glory,

and that, within it, became a star.

بَعَثَ الأُمَّةَ مِن مَرقَدِها

وَدَعاها لِلعُلا أَن تَدأَبا

He roused the nation from its sleep,

and called it to strive unceasingly for the heights.

فَسَمَت لِلمَجدِ تَبغي شَأوَهُ

وَقَضَت مِن كُلِّ شَيءٍ مَأرَبا

It rose toward glory, seeking its farthest reach,

and won from every people what it sought.