قَد غَفَونا وَاِنتَبَهنا فَإِذا

نَحنُ غَرقى وَإِذا المَوتُ أَمَم

We slept and woke to find ourselves drowning,

And death was lurking close at hand,

ثُمَّ كانَت فَترَةٌ مَقدورَةٌ

غَرَّ فينا الدَهرُ ضَعفٌ فَهَجَم

Then came a destined respite

In which time worked its wiles and struck in our weakness.

فَتَماسَكنا فَكانَت قُوَّةٌ

زَلزَلَت رُكنَ اللَيالي فَاِنهَدَم

We pulled ourselves together and found new strength

To shake the pillars of the nights, and they collapsed.

كانَ في الأَنفُسِ جُرحٌ مِن هَوىً

نَظَرَ اللَهُ إِلَيهِ فَاِلتَأَم

There was a wound of love lodged in our souls,

God looked on it, and it healed.

فَنَشَدنا العَيشَ حُرّاً طَلَقاً

تَحتَ ظِلِّ اللَهِ لا ظِلِّ الأُمَم

We sought a free and unfettered life

Beneath God's shade, not the shade of nations.

وَحَقيقٌ أَن يُوَفّى حَقَّهُ

مَن بِحَبلِ اللَهِ وَالصَبرِ اِعتَصَم

And truly, those threads will not unravel

Who cling to God's cord and are garmented in patience.

آفَةُ المَرءِ إِذا المَرءُ وَنى

آفَةُ الشَعبِ إِذا الشَعبُ اِنقَسَم

A man's own conceit spells his ruin

Dissension spells ruin for a people.

لَيسَ مِنّاً مَن يَني أَو يَنثَني

أَو يَعُقُّ النيلَ في رَعيِ الذِمَم

None among us turns tail or veers sideways

Or dams the Nile to flood the meadows.

نَشءَ مِصرٍ نَبِّئوا مِصراً بِكَم

تَشتَرونَ المَقصِدَ الأَسمى بِكَم

O youth of Egypt, tell Egypt what you were sold for,

Tell it what grand ideals go for these days.

بِنِضالٍ يُصقَلُ العَزمُ بِهِ

وَسُهادٍ في العُلا حُلوِ الأَلَم

With struggle does the will grow keener

With vigilance atop the heights is rest made sweet.

أَنا لا أَفخَرُ بِالماضي وَلا

أَحسَبُ الحاضِرَ يُطرى أَو يُذَم

I boast not of the past, nor count the present

Mean or sublime in fortune's fickle gaze.

كُلُّ هَمّي أَن أَراكُم في غَدٍ

مِثلَ ما كُنتُم أُسوداً في أَجَم

My sole concern is that I see you tomorrow

Lions still, as you were in the jungles of yore.

فَالفَتى كُلُّ الفَتى مَن لَو رَأى

في اِقتِحامِ النارِ عِزّاً لَاِقتَحَم

The only youth deserving of the name

Is he who'd plunge into the fire for glory.

لا تَظُنّوا العَيشَ أَحلامَ المُنى

ذاكَ عَهدٌ قَد تَوَلّى وَاِنصَرَم

Do not imagine, life is but the pursuit of dreams,

Those days are done, dead and gone.

هُوَ حَربٌ بَينَ فَقرٍ وَغِنىً

وَصِراعٌ بَينَ بُرءٍ وَسَقَم

Life is a struggle 'twixt poverty and wealth,

A contest 'twixt fitness and disease.

هُوَ نارٌ وَوَقودٌ فَإِذا

غَفَلَ الموقِدُ فَالنارُ حَمَم

Fire with fuel − and should the stoker sleep,

The flames will spread and rage.

فَاِنفُضوا النَومَ وَجِدّوا لِلعُلا

فَالعُلا وَقفٌ عَلى مَن لَم يَنَم

Shake off your slumbers and toil for the heights,

The heights exact a price from those who sleep.

لَيسَ يَجني مَن تَمَنّى وَصلَها

وانِياً أَو وادِعاً غَيرَ النَدَم

You'll gather nothing, dreaming of its lips

Whether bidding adieu or greeting the new morn

وَالأَماني شَرُّ ما تُمنى بِهِ

هِمَّةُ المَرءِ إِذا المَرءُ اِعتَزَم

except regret. Better not to wish at all.

Resolve spells a man's mettle when he's resolved.

تَحمِدُ العَزمَ وَتَثني حَدَّهُ

فَهيَ كَالماءِ لِإِخمادِ الضَرَم

You applaud resolve and marvel at its edge,

Quenching fervor like water douses flames.

وَاُنظُروا اليابانَ في الشَرقِ وَقَد

رَكَّزَت أَعلامَها فَوقَ القِمَم

Consider Japan in the East, its standards flutter

at the pinnacle unfurled.

حارَبوا الجَهلَ وَكانوا قَبلَنا

في دُجى عَميائِهِ حَتّى اِنهَزَم

They battled ignorance before we did

til ignorance was beaten and outclassed.

فَاِسأَلوا عَنها الثُرَثّا لا الثَرى

إِنَّها تَحتَلُّ أَبراجَ الهِمَم

Ask it not of the elite but its plebs,

its ambitions scale the highest citadels.

هِمَمٌ يَمشي بِها العِلمُ إِلى

أَنبَلِ الغاياتِ لا تَدري السَأَم

Ambitions drive science toward the noblest ends

unhampered by fatigue or ennui,

فَهيَ أَنّى حاوَلَت أَمراً مَشَت

خَلفَها الأَيّامُ في صَفِّ الخَدَم

so that whenever it attempts something its days

fall into ranks behind it serving as troops.

لا تُبالي زُلزِلَت مِن تَحتِها

أَم عَلَيها النَجمُ بِالنَجمِ اِصطَدَم

It matters not if the ground shakes under it

or star collides into star above it stumbled.

تَخِذَت شَمسَ الضُحى رَمزاً لَها

وَكَفى بِالشَمسِ رَمزاً لِلعِظَم

It made the rising sun its emblem, as if

the sun's enough symbol for sublime renown.

فَهيَ لا تَألو صُعوداً تَبتَغي

جانِبَ الشَمسِ مَكاناً لَم يُرَم

Thus it rests not, seeking to climb nigh

the sun's domain: unclimbed terrain.