لو أنَّ مقاليدَ الجَماهير في يدي

سَلَكتُ بأوطاني سبيلَ التمرُّدِ

If the reins of the masses were in my hands,

I would have led my homeland on the path of rebellion.

إذن عَلِمَتْ أنْ لا حياةَ لأمّةٍ

تُحاولُ أن تَحيا بغير التجدُّد

For then it would know that no nation can live

That tries to live without renewal.

لوِ الأمرُ في كَفِّي لجهَّزتُ قوّةً

تُعوِّدُ هذا الشعبَ ما لم يُعوَّد

If it were up to me, I would prepare a force

That would accustom this people to what they are not accustomed to.

لو الأمرُ في كفِّي لاعلنتُ ثورةً

على كلِّ هدّام بألفَي مشيِّد

If it were up to me, I would proclaim a revolution

Against every destroyer with a thousand builders.

على كُلِّ رجعيٍّ بألفَي منُاهضٍ

يُرى اليوم مستاءً فيبكي على الغد

Against every reactionary with a thousand opponents

Who seems angry today and cries over tomorrow.

ولكننَّي اسعَى بِرجلٍ مَؤوفةٍ

ويا ربَّما اسطو ولكنْ بلا يَد

But I walk carefully

And perhaps I slip but without using my hands.

وحوليَ برّامونَ مَيْناً وكِذْبَةً

متى تَختَبرهُم لا تَرى غيرَ قُعدد

And around me there are flutes and lies

When you test them, you see only laziness.

لعمرُكَ ما التجديدُ في أن يرى الفَتى

يَروحُ كما يَهوَى خليعاً ويغتَذي

By your life, renewal is not that the youth is seen

Going as he wishes, dissolute and overfed,

ولكنَّه بالفكر حُرّاً تزَينهُ

تَجاريبُ مثل الكوكَبِ المُتَوقِّد

But that his mind is free, adorned

With experiences, like a blazing star.

مشَتْ اذ نضَتْ ثَوبَ الجُمود مواطنٌ

رأت طَرْحَهُ حَتماً فلم تَتردَّد

Homelands have set out, when they cast off the garment of stagnation,

They saw its removal as inevitable, so they did not hesitate.

وقَرَّتْ على ضَيْم بلادي تسومُها

من الخَسف ما شاءَتْ يدُ المتعبِّد

And they decided on the injustice to my country, allotting it

Whatever they wished from perdition, by the hand of the worshipper.

فيا لك من شعبٍ بَطيئاً لخيرِه ِ

مَشَى وحثيثاً للعَمَى والتبلُّد

So what a people, slow for its own good,

Who walked eagerly into blindness and numbness.

متى يُدْعَ للاصلاح يحرِنْ جِماحُه

وان قيد في حبل الدَجالةِ يَنْقد

When called to reform, its wings recoil,

And if tied in the rope of the deceiver, it pulls.

زُرِ الساحةَ الغَبراء من كل منزلٍ

تجد ما يثير الهَمَّ من كلِّ مَرقد

Visit the dusty square from every house

You will find what arouses sorrow from every grave.

تجد وَكرَ أوهامٍ ، وملقَى خُرافةٍ

وشَتّى شُجونٍ تَنتهي حيثُ تَبتدي

You will find a den of illusions and a dumping ground of superstitions

And various passions that end where they begin.

هم استسلموا فاستعبَدتْهم عوائدٌ

مَشت بِهمُ في الناس مشيَ المقيَّد

They surrendered and so they were enslaved by customs

That walked among the people like those in shackles.

لعمْركَ في الشعب افتقارٌ لنهضةٍ

تُهيِّجُ منه كل اشأمَ أربد

By your life, the people lack an awakening

That would stir in them every frozen will.

فإمّا حياةٌ حرّةٌ مستقيمةٌ

تَليقُ بِشَعبٍ ذي كيان وسؤدُد

Either a free, straight life

Worthy of a people with glory and steadfastness,

وإمّا مماتٌ ينتهَي الجهدُ عِندَهُ

فتُعذَرُ ، فاختر أيَّ ثَوْبيَك ترتدي

Or death, where effort ends,

So you are excused - so choose which garment you will wear.

وإلا فلا يُرجى نهوضٌ لأمّةٍ

تقوم على هذا الأساس المهدَّد

Otherwise, no awakening can be hoped for a nation

That stands on this shaky foundation.

وماذا تُرَجِّي من بلاد بشعرة

تُقاد ، وشَعب بالمضلِِّّين يَهتدى

And what do you expect of a country pulled by a hair

And a people guided by the misguided?

اقول لقَومٍ يجِذبون وراءهُم

مساكين أمثالِ البَعير المعبَّد

I say to a people who pull behind them

The wretched, like a tethered camel,

اقاموا على الأنفاس يحتكرونها

فأيَّ سبيلٍ يَسلُلكِ المرءُ يُطردَ

They have stood over the breaths and monopolized them

So what path can a person take to be expelled?

وما منهمُ الا الذي إنْ صَفَتْ له

لَياليه يَبْطَر ، او تُكَدِّرْ يُعربِد

And none of them but one who, if his nights

Are made pleasant for him, is boastful, or if soured, complains.

دَعوا الشعبَ للاصلاح يأخذْ طريقَه

ولا تَقِفوا للمصلحينَ بمَرْصَد

Leave the people to reform, to take their path

And do not stand in ambush for the reformers.

ولا تَزرعوا اشواككم في طريقه

تعوقونه .. مَن يزرعِ الشوكَ يَحصِد

And do not plant your thorns in their way

You hinder them – he who plants thorns harvests wounds.

أكلَّ الذي يشكُو النبيُّ محمدٌّ

تُحلُونَه باسم النبيِّ محمّد

Is it not what the Prophet Muhammad complains of

That you make lawful in the name of Muhammad?

وما هكذا كان الكتابُ منزَّلاً

ولا هكذا قالت شريعةُ لَموعد

The Book was not revealed this way

Nor did the Law speak of this promise.

اذا صِحتُ قلتُم لم يَحنِ بعد مَوعد

تُريدون إشباعَ البُطون لمَوعد

If I am right, you say the time has not yet come

You want to satiate your stomachs for the promise.

هدايتَك اللهمَّ للشعب حائراً

أعِنْ خُطوات الناهضين وسدِّد

May God guide you, people gone astray

Help the steps of the risers and make them firm.

نبا بلساني أن يجامِلَ أنني

أراني وإنْ جاملتُ غير مُخَلَّد

Inspire my tongue not to flatter

I see myself and if I flatter, I will not last.

وهب أنني أخنَتْ عليَّ صراحتي

فهل عيشُ من داجَي يكون لسرمَد

Grant that my honesty betrays me

Can the life of one who flatters be eternal?

فلستُ ولو أنَّ النجومَ قلائدي

أطاوع كالأعمى يمين مقلدي

For even if the stars were my necklaces

I would not obey like a blind follower.

ولا قائلٌ : اصبحتُ منكم ، وقد أرى

غوايَتكم او انني غير مهتدي

Nor say: I have become one of you, though I see

Your misguidance, or that I am not guided.

ولكنني ان أبصِرِ الرشد أءتمرْ

به ومتى ما احرزِ الغي أبعد

Rather, if I see right, I persevere in it

And when I gain error I distance myself.

وهل انا الا شاعر يرتجونَه

لنصرة حقٍ او للطمةِ معتدي

Am I not a poet you hope

Will support truth or assail a transgressor?

فمالي عمداً استضيمُ مواهبِي

وأورِدُ نفساً حُرَّةً شرَ مَورد

Why would I deliberately impair my talents

And lead a free soul to the worst fate?

وعندي لسانٌ لم يُخِّني بمحفِلٍ

كما سَيْف عمروٍ لم يَخنُه بمشْهَد

I have a tongue that has not failed me in any gathering

Like the sword of Amr that did not fail him in any battle.