صفا العيش لي وامتد ريف ظلالي

فما لتكاليف الزمان ومالي؟

A life of serenity is mine, and my home a land of peace;

Life has become pure for me, and the protective shade of my realm has spread,

Why should I worry about the ways of time or its trials?

So what power do the burdens of time have over me?

صفا العيش لي وازدان روض مواهبي

وأينع فضلي واستبان كمالي

A life of serenity is mine, my gifts flourish anew,

Life has become pure, and the garden of my talents is adorned,

My virtues shine plain, my perfection comes due.

My virtue has ripened, and my perfection is revealed.

ولانت لي الأيام وهي عصية

فمالي لا أزهو بنضرة حالي

Though days may be harsh and resist me,

The days have yielded to me, though they are known to be stubborn,

Why shouldn’t I glory in the prime of my state?

So why should I not take pride in the freshness of my state?

سلامة أذواق ويمن مطالب

وعزة أعراق وطيب خلال

My tastes are refined and my hopes are sublime,

With soundness of taste and the blessing of fulfilled desires,

My roots are esteemed and my nature is fine.

With nobility of lineage and the goodness of traits.

وباقت نجوم الليل وهي طوالع

تزف لي البشرى بنيل سؤالي

The stars of the night continue rising

The stars of the night drew near as they rose,

To herald the omens of my prayers answered soon,

Escorting glad tidings that I have attained my request.

وترنو إلى وجهي بإيماض نورها

فيبهجها مني بديع جمالي

Their rays yearn towards my face, lighting it up

They gaze upon my face with the glimmer of their light,

With the gorgeous beauty of their fortunate bloom.

Delighted by the exquisite nature of my beauty.

وتوجني المقدور تاج كرامة

فأنحى على بؤسي وأسعد فالي

Destiny crowns me with a diadem of respect

Destiny has crowned me with a diadem of dignity,

So I rise above my misery, fortunate, blessed.

Driving away my misery and making my fortune prosperous.

كتبت فكان الحق طوع أناملي

وقلت فكان الصدق وسع مقالي

I wrote, and truth obeyed my fingers,

I wrote, and Truth was obedient to my fingertips,

I spoke, and truth found room for my words.

I spoke, and Sincerity filled the breadth of my speech.

وكنت (صدى الصحراء) أدعى لأنني

بسطت على الصحراء نور هلالي

I was the “Echo of the Desert,” I claimed,

I was called 'The Echo of the Desert' because I

For I shone the moon’s light over the sands.

Spread the light of my crescent moon over the sands.

وواليت بالإرشاد رفع عقيرتي

عسى أن يهب النائمون حيالي

I led with wisdom, raising up my people,

I persisted in raising my voice to offer guidance,

That sleepers past might heed my clarion call.

Hoping that the sleepers around me might awaken.

عسى أن يهب النائمون فإنهم

يغطون من حقب مضين طوال

That sleepers past might heed, for they

Hoping the sleepers might wake, for truly they

Have slumbered through ages immemorial.

Have been snoring through long, bygone eras.

يخالون آيات الحضارة بينهم

عجائب غيب أو طيوف خيال

They fancy the signs of civilization among them

They mistake the signs of civilization among them

Miracles of the unseen, or visions dreamed.

For unseen miracles or fleeting phantoms of imagination.

وتمضي الليالي السود تجهد سيرها

وهم بين مسلوب الشعور وسالي

The dark nights pass quick in their trek,

The dark nights pass, straining in their weary march,

While they lie trapped ‘twixt mindless and conceit.

While the people remain bereft of feeling or lost in distraction.

وهم بين منهد العزيمة خائر

وآخر من كل المواهب خالي

Among them are minds inert, resolves faint,

They waver between those of broken resolve and weak will,

And the last dregs of gifts, sterile and quaint.

And others who are devoid of all talent.

أفيقوا فهذا الدين بين ربوعكم

تنازله الأحداث شر نزال

Awaken! This faith still lives in your lands,

Awake! For this Faith within your dwellings

Though time and events have sought to undo it.

Is being battled by calamities in the fiercest of conflicts.

تحاول نكباء الضلالة نسفه

وترميه أشلاء الردى بنبال

Destroyers of truth constantly try to explode it,

The storm winds of error seek to uproot it,

While minions of evil target it with darts.

And the remnants of destruction target it with arrows.

فقوموا مقامات الدفاع حياله

ليأمن هذا الدين كل ضلال

Defend it with steadfastness, let it not suffer harm,

So rise to your stations in its defense,

So this faith remains safe from misguidance and harm.

That this Faith may be secured against all misguidance.

ولا تهملوا أمر الحياة فإنها

حياة نشاط بل حياة جدال

Neglect not life, for it is vitality and zeal,

Do not neglect the demands of worldly life, for it is

It is not mere being, but ardor and appeal.

A life of activity; indeed, a life of struggle.

فبينكم الغربي وهو أخو العلا

يجد لا دراك العلى ويوالي

The West holds your brother, champion of science,

For the Westerner is among you, allied with ambition,

Finding the heights of knowledge, ever climbing.

Striving relentlessly to attain the heights.

طوى الأرض بالخط الحديدي وانبرى

يجول مع الأرياح كل مجال

He spanned the earth with the railroad, took to the skies,

He traversed the earth with lines of iron and set forth,

Roaming the winds, exploring the earth entirety.

Roaming every field alongside the winds.

وأبدع طيارا بدون محرك

فهل كان هذا يستقر ببال

He fashioned a flying machine with no motor,

He invented a flying vessel without an engine,

Could this truly have settled in the mind readily?

Could such a thing have ever settled in the mind?

وشبق عباب البحر والبحر مزبد

بغواصه ينساب غير مبالي

He made the sea foam and churn, no hesitation,

He cleaved the foaming billows of the sea,

His submarines slip through it with no reservation.

Gliding indifferently in his submarine.

يغوص مع الحيتان في لج بحرها

فتحسبه الحيتان ضرب وبال

They plunge alongside whales in their deep waters,

Diving with whales into the ocean's abyss,

That whales mistake them for a strange aberration.

Till the whales deem him a scourge of destruction.

أجلوا رجال العلم بين وبوعكم

فقدرهم وافي الرجاحة عالي

Revere the men of knowledge among you,

Revere the men of science within your lands,

Their judgment is sound, their minds are exalted.

For their worth is weighty and supreme.

ولا تقبلوا فيهم وشاية خائن

ونفثة مغتاب وبغضة قالي

Do not accept from the betrayers their lies against them,

Accept no traitor's slander against them,

Nor the misguided their slander, the envious their assaults.

Nor the backbiter's venom, nor the loather's spite.

فتلك عراقيل يعانون وعرها

على أنهم لا ينثنون بحال

They face only hardship from these tribulations,

These are rugged obstacles they must endure,

But they will not bend, this is their determination.

Yet they never waver, whatever the plight.

ولا تغفلوا شأن الصغاو فإنهم

لمستقبل الأيام خير رجال

Do not neglect the children, for they are

Do not neglect the affairs of the young, for they

The best of men in future days, civilization’s core.

Are the finest men for the days to come.

وأشبه شيء بالمرايا عقولهم

فصوغوا لها منكم أجل مثال

Their minds are like mirrors in their resemblance,

Their minds are most like polished mirrors,

So set in them your finest example.

So cast for them the noblest image of yourselves.

ابينوا لهم طيب الفعال ليقتدوا

بكم، فحياة الطفل طيب فعال

Show them the beauty of deeds so they follow,

Demonstrate good deeds that they may follow,

For a child’s life is molded by deeds, good and thorough.

For a child's life is shaped by virtuous acts.

وهبوا إلى الاصلاح فالله كافل

لمن هب للاصلاح حسن مئال

Dedicate yourselves to reform—God will suffice—

Rise up for reform, for God ensures

For those who work reform, God rewards very nice.

A blessed outcome for those who strive to mend.