Sol 6.1

  1. دع النائم اليقظان لا تستقه خمرا

    وأهرق عليه النار إن شئت والجمرا

    Leave the wakeful sleeper; do not give him wine.

    And pour fire upon him, if you wish, and embers.

  2. ومزّق غيابات الكرى عن جفونه

    فقد أقسم السفاح أن يخنق الفجرا

    And tear away the darkness of slumber from his eyelids.

    For the butcher has sworn to strangle the dawn.

  3. وهذا النئوم اليعربيّ كما ترى

    يصارع بالأوهام أحداثه الحمرا

    And this somnolent Arab, as you see,

    Wrestles with his crimson ordeals by means of illusions.

  4. يعيش على الماضي السحيق فليته

    يمدّ له من نسج عزمته عمرا

    He lives upon the distant past—if only he

    Could prolong its life with the weave of his resolve.

  5. وما الأمس إلا اليوم ضيّعته سدى

    ولم ترعَ فيه اللَه والمجد والذكرا

    And yesterday is nothing but today, squandered by you in vain,

    And in it you failed to heed God, glory, and remembrance.

  6. وما أنا في الأحياء إن زال حاضري

    ولم أدخر مجدا ولم أحتقب فخرا

    And I am not among the living if my present vanishes,

    And I have stored up no glory and amassed no pride.

  7. فقل لفتى الأعراب والسيف مصلت

    على رأسه وثبا إلى الحرب لا سكرا

    So tell the Bedouin youth, while the sword is drawn

    Above his head: leap into war, not into drunkenness.

  8. عهدتك سبّاق الأماني فلا تكن

    لدى المحنة الحمقاء أسوان مزورا

    I have known you to outstrip dreams; so do not be

    Sorrowful and turned away before a senseless ordeal.

  9. سألتك يابن الخالدين بحق من

    يسمونه فرعون في المجد أو عمرا

    I beseech you, O son of the immortals, by the right of him

    Whom, in glory, they call Pharaoh or ‘Amr.

  10. كم ارتاعت الدنيا التي كنت ربّها

    بجحفلكَ الجرار تزجيه مغبرا

    How often the world, whose master you were, trembled

    At your vast host, which you drove onward, dust-covered.

  11. وكم قوّضت يمناك عرشا موطّدا

    تخادعه مكراً لتحطمه كبرا

    And how often your right hand toppled a firmly established throne,

    Deceiving it with guile, to shatter it in pride.

  12. وكم شرقت من فيض نورك أمّةٌ

    غفا قلبا جهلا وناظرها سحرا

    And how many a nation shone with the flood of your light,

    Whose heart had slept in ignorance, and whose eye in enchantment.

  13. أقمت وهدّمت الممالك طائراً

    على صهوة التاريخ منطلقاً حرّا

    You established and demolished kingdoms, flying

    Upon the saddle of history, setting forth free.

  14. فماذا دعى عينيك فاظلم نورها

    وأطبقتها خوفا وأنركتها ذعرا

    So what summoned your eyes, so their light grew dark,

    And you closed them in fear and [perhaps disowned them] in terror?

  15. أفق فالحياة المجد والمجد وثبةٌ

    تعَفِّر وجه الدهر مسعورة حرّى

    Awake, for life is glory, and glory is a leap

    That rubs time's face in the dust, frenzied and burning.

  16. أفق فاليد الشلّاء موت وجودها

    ولن يعرف العلياء من يرهب القهرا

    Awake, for the paralyzed hand's existence is death,

    And whoever fears subjugation will never know the heights.

  17. وهذه يد السفاح ما زال سيفها

    خضيباً يبارى الموت في حربه الكبرى

    And this is the butcher's hand; its sword is still

    Bloodstained, vying with death in his great war.

  18. أراق دماء المشرق ظلما وغاله

    ومزّقهُ بطشا وحطّمه جورا

    He shed the East's blood unjustly and slew it treacherously,

    And tore it apart brutally and shattered it unjustly.

  19. وما زال يستشرى على الأرض داؤُه

    وأوّل ما يدنى الردى داءٌ استشرى

    And his disease still runs rampant across the earth,

    And the first thing to bring death near is a disease that has run rampant.

  20. فكن أنت يابن الشرق للداء حاسما

    وأطعمه نار السيف لا تألُه بترا

    So you, O son of the East, be the one to eradicate the disease,

    And feed it the sword's fire; spare no effort to cut it out.

  21. فما آمن التاريخ إلا بماجد

    يحقّر في آماله الموت والدهرا

    For history has put its faith only in a noble man

    Who, in his aspirations, holds death and time in contempt.