كُنّا مُلوكَ الناسِ قَبلَ مُحَمَّدٍ

فَلَمّا أَتى الإِسلامُ كانَ لَنا الفَضلُ

We were kings of the people before Muhammad;

then, when Islam came, distinction was ours.

وَأَكرَمَنا اللَهُ الَّذي لَيسَ غَيرَهُ

إِلَهٌ بِرَيّامٍ مَضَت ما لَها شَكلُ

God—beside whom there is no other god—honored us

with Rayyām, now gone and without peer,

بِنَصرِ الإِلَهِ وَالنَبِيِّ وَدينِهِ

وَأَكرَمَنا بِاِسمٍ مَضى ما لَهُ مِثلُ

through God’s aid, the Prophet, and his faith;

and He honored us with a renown from bygone times that has no equal.

أولَئِكَ قَومي خَيرُ قَومٍ بِأَسرِهِم

فَما عُدَّ مِن خَيرٍ فَقَومي لَهُ أَهلُ

Those are my people—the best of all people, every one of them;

whatever goodness is reckoned, my people are worthy of it.

يَرُبّونَ بِالمَعروفِ مَعروفَ مَن مَضى

وَلَيسَ عَلى مَعروفِهِم أَبَداً قُفلُ

Through their good deeds they surpass the good deeds of those gone before,

and never is their beneficence placed under lock.

إِذا اِختَبَطوا لَم يُفحِشوا في نَدِيِّهِم

وَلَيسَ عَلى سُؤالِهِم عِندَهُم بُخلُ

When sought out for bounty, they are not coarse in their assembly,

and those who ask them find no stinginess among them.

وَحامِلُهُم وافٍ بِكُلِّ حَمالَةٍ

تَحَمَّلَ لا غُرمٌ عَلَيهِ وَلا خَذلُ

The one among them who takes on a liability discharges every one in full;

he shoulders it—no debt remains against him, nor is he forsaken.

وَجارُهُمُ فيهِم بِعَلياءَ بَيتُهُ

لَهُ ما ثَوى فينا الكَرامَةُ وَالبَذلُ

Their neighbor among them has his house set on high;

as long as he dwells among us, honor and openhanded giving are his.

وَقائِلُهُم بِالحَقِّ أَوَّلَ قائِلٍ

فَحُكمُهُمُ عَدلٌ وَقَولُهُمُ فَصلُ

The one among them who speaks for truth is the first to speak;

their judgment is justice, and their word decisive.

إِذا حارَبوا أَو سالَموا لَم يُشَبِّهوا

فَحَربُهُمُ خَوفٌ وَسِلمُهُمُ سَهلُ

When they fight or make peace, they are unmatched:

their war is terror, while their peace is gentle.

وَمِنّا أَمينُ المُسلِمينَ حَياتَهُ

وَمَن غَسَّلَتهُ مِن جَنابَتِهِ الرُسلُ

And among us is one trusted by the Muslims throughout his life,

and one whom the messengers washed clean of his janābah.