أنا والنجم كلانا ساهر

غير اني مفرد بالشجن

The star and I are both awake,

except that I alone bear sorrow.

لا أبالي والمعالي غايتي

وصل أشجاني وهجر الوسن

I do not mind—with lofty honors my goal—

the company of my sorrows and the forsaking of sleep.

في سبيل المجد منا انفس

رخصت وهي غوالي الثمن

In the pursuit of glory, lives among us

have become cheap, though of great worth.

ليس غير الشعب واستقلاله

لي شمل فهو اضحى ديدني

Only the people and their independence

bind me; this has become my constant concern.

نحن للعلياء والعليا لنا

لو اقالتنا صروف الزمن

We belong to the heights, and the heights are ours,

if only the turns of time would spare us.

عرف المعروف والعدل بنا

ولنا تأسيس تلك السنن

Through us, goodness and justice became known,

and ours was the founding of those traditions.

من مواضينا سنا البرق ومن

جود أيدينا أنسجام المزن

From our keen blades comes lightning's gleam, and from

the bounty of our hands, the rainclouds' downpour.

مشرفيات دقاق رفعت

راية العدل بفتح المدن

Slender Mashrafi swords raised

the banner of justice by conquering cities.

كسرت كسرى وردت قيصراً

قاصر الباع عديم الجنن

They shattered Kisra and left Caesar

short of reach and bereft of shields.

عرب شيدت مباني عزهم

في الذرى من شاهقات القنن

Arabs who built the edifices of their glory

upon the heights of towering peaks.

عظموا الجرم وقالوا حاكم

وطني ثائر ذو لسن

They magnified the crime and said: 'A ruler—

a patriot, a rebel, a man of eloquence—

هيج الشعب واغراه بنا

لم يغب عن مشهد أو موطن

stirred the people and incited them against us;

he was absent from no gathering or place.'

ان اكن احسب فيكم مجرماً

فأنا المحسن عند الوطن

If I am reckoned a criminal among you,

then I am a benefactor in my homeland's eyes.

سيئات وضعتني عندكم

حسنات عنده ترفعني

Misdeeds that lowered me in your eyes

are good deeds that raise me in its eyes.

مقولي ماض وسيفي مثله

وجناني ثابت لم يخن

My tongue is keen, and my sword is like it;

and my heart is steadfast and has never failed me.

سالم الاخلاق من منتقد

في سرور كنت أوفي حزن

Unblemished in character, beyond reproach,

whether I was in joy or sorrow.

لست اشكو السجن بل اشكره

فهو بالأخوان قد عرّفني

I do not complain of prison; rather, I thank it,

for it has made the brethren known to me—

من رجال نقضوا ميثاقهم

وجزوا بالسوء فعل الحسن

men who broke their covenant

and repaid a good deed with evil.

اظهروا ما اضمروا من حقدهم

وبدت بغضاهم بالالسن

They revealed the rancor they had concealed,

and their hatred showed upon their tongues.

ويحهم ما نقموا من ناهض

طيب السر كريم العلن

Woe to them! What did they resent in one who strove,

pure in private, noble in public?

ان يذم اليوم قوم غرسنا

فلنا من بعد حمد المجتني

If some people today condemn our planting,

then, later, the fruit-gatherer's praise will be ours.

ثورة اصبح من اثارها

حضوة الخائن والمفتتن

A revolution whose effects have come to include

favor for the traitor and the one led astray.

معشر في نعم قد اصبحوا

من مساعي معشر في محن

One group has come to live in comfort,

through the efforts of another in hardship.

أيها الساكن ظلا قالصاً

لست للظل ولا الورد الهني

O you who dwell in dwindling shade,

you deserve neither shade nor refreshing water.

في طريق السيل تبني منزلا

هلك المسكين باني المسكن

You build a house in the torrent's path;

the poor builder of that dwelling is doomed.

انما تسكن قصراً شاده

لك سيف الموثق المرتهن

You merely dwell in a palace built

for you by the sword of the fettered captive.

تسحب الحلة والفضل لها لقتيل

مدرج في كفن

You trail the robe, and the credit for it belongs to a slain man,

wrapped in a shroud.