وطنٌ طال بؤسه وعذابُه

وطنٌ طال بؤسه وعذابُه

حين أغفى شيوخُه وشبابُه

حين أغفى شيوخُه وشبابُه

A homeland whose misery and torment dragged on

A homeland whose suffering and torment grew long

When its elders and its youth dozed off.

When its elders and youth fell asleep

مزّقتهُ هوج المطامع وانهال

مزّقتهُ هوج المطامع وانهال

عليه ظفر الزمان ونابُه

عليه ظفر الزمان ونابُه

The wild gusts of greed tore it apart, and down came

Its integrity shredded by waves of greed and it was descended upon

Upon it Time's claw and fang.

By the claws of time and its fangs

مرتعٌ للغريب رحبٌ خصيبٌ

مرتعٌ للغريب رحبٌ خصيبٌ

وبابنائه تضيقُ رحابُه

وبابنائه تضيقُ رحابُه

A broad, fertile pasture for the stranger,

A refuge for the stranger, spacious and fertile

Yet its open spaces grow cramped for its own sons.

Yet for its sons, its expanses have narrowed

كم شريد خال يالوطاب طريد

كم شريد خال يالوطاب طريد

ليس يحوي إلا النفاق وطابُه

ليس يحوي إلا النفاق وطابُه

How many a banished wanderer, his leather bags empty,

So many restless, forlorn youths wander

Whose bags hold nothing but hypocrisy,

Finding no home but hypocrisy and moral decay

ساد فينا وصار ترجى أياديه

ساد فينا وصار ترجى أياديه

ويخشى حسابه وعقابُه

ويخشى حسابه وعقابُه

Has come to rule over us, his favors now hoped for,

The powerful among us have prevailed and their hands are entreated

And his reckoning and punishment feared.

While accountability and punishment are feared

عميَت مقلةُ الزمان فسيّان

عميَت مقلةُ الزمان فسيّان

لديه أسودهُ وكلابُه

لديه أسودهُ وكلابُه

Time's eye has gone blind; thus equal

The eye of time is blinded, so tyrants

To it are its lions and its dogs.

Surround themselves with their black dogs