على ذكرها فليعرف الحق جاهله — Ahmad Muharram

على ذِكرِها فليعرفِ الحقَّ جاهلُهْ

ويُؤمنْ بأنّ البَغْيَ شتّى غوائلُهْ

At its mention, let whoever is ignorant of the truth acknowledge it,

And believe that oppression's perils are manifold.

هي العزوةُ الكُبرى هَوَى الشِّركُ إذْ رَمَتْ

جحافلُها العُظْمَى وَوَلَّتْ جَحافِلُهْ

It is the great source of strength; idolatry fell when struck by

Its mighty hosts, while idolatry's hosts turned and fled.

وأصبح دينُ اللهِ قد قامَ رُكنُهُ

فأَقْصرَ مِن أعدائِه مَنْ يُطاوِلُهْ

And God's religion now stood with its pillar firmly raised,

So whoever among its enemies challenged it desisted.

بَنَتْهُ سيوفُ اللهِ بالدّمِ إنّه

لأَصلَبُ من صُمِّ الجلاميدِ سائلُهْ

God's swords built it with blood; indeed,

Its flowing blood is harder than solid boulders.

تكِلُّ قُوى الجبّارِ عما تُقيِمه

عليه يدُ الباني وتَنْبُو معاولُهْ

The tyrant's strength fails against what it is built

Upon by the builder's hand, and his pickaxes glance off.

أهاب رسولُ اللهِ بالجندِ أقْدِمُوا

ولا ترهبوا الطّاغوتَ فاللهُ خاذِلُهْ

God's Messenger called to the troops: Advance!

And fear not the false god, for God will leave it helpless.

أَمَا تنظرون الأرضَ كيف أظلّها

من الشِّركِ دينٌ أَهْلَكَ الناسَ باطِلُهْ

Do you not see how the earth has been overshadowed

By a religion of idolatry whose falsehood has ruined mankind?

خُذوه ببأسٍ لا تَطيشُ سِهامُهُ

فأنتم مناياهُ وهذي مَقاتِلُهْ

Assail it with a might whose arrows never miss,

For you are its doom, and these are its mortal weak points.

علينا الهُدى إمّا بآياتِ ربِّنا

وإمّا بِحَدِّ السّيفِ لا خَابَ حاملُهْ

It falls to us to bring guidance, either through our Lord's signs,

Or through the sword's edge—may its bearer never fail.

إذا أنكر القومُ البراهينَ أَخْضَعَتْ

براهينُه أعناقَهم ودلائلُهْ

If the people deny the proofs, their necks are subdued

By its proofs and its arguments.

مَضَى البأسُ بَدْريَّ المَشَاهِدِ ترتمِي

أعاصيرُه ناراً وتغلي مَراجلُهْ

Battle pressed on amid the scenes of Badr, while

Its whirlwinds hurled fire and its cauldrons boiled.

وضجَّ رسولُ اللهِ يدعو إلهَهُ

فيالكَ من جُندٍ طوى الجوَّ جافُلهْ

And God's Messenger cried aloud, calling upon his God—

What an army, whose rushing host swept through the sky!

تَنَزَّلَ يُزجِي النَّصرَ تنسابُ من عَلٍ

شآبيبُه نُوراً وينهلُّ وابلُهْ

It descended, bringing victory; from on high flowed

Its showers of light, and its downpour streamed.

أحيزومُ أقْدِمْ إنّه الجِدُّ لن يرى

سِواهُ عَدُوٌّ كاذبُ البأسِ هازلُهْ

O Hayzum, advance! This is earnest combat; nothing else will be seen

By an enemy false in valor, who makes a jest of it.

هو اللهُ يحمي دينَهُ ويُعِزّهُ

فَمَنْ ذا يُناويهِ ومن ذا يُصاولُهْ

It is God who protects His religion and grants it might;

Who, then, can oppose Him, and who can contend with Him?

تمزّقَ جيشُ الكُفرِ وانْحلَّ عِقْدُهُ

فخابت أَمانيهِ وأَعْيَتْ وسائلُهْ

The army of unbelief was torn apart, and its necklace came unstrung;

So its hopes were dashed, and its means proved helpless.

وما بِرسولِ اللهِ إذ ناله الأَذَى

سِوَى ما ارْتَضَتْ أخلاقُه وشمائلُهْ

And God's Messenger, when harm befell him, showed nothing

But what his character and noble traits approved.

نبيٌّ يُحبُّ اللهَ حبَّ مُجاهدٍ

يَرَى دَمَهُ مِن حقِّهِ فهو باذلُهْ

A prophet who loves God with a warrior's love,

Who sees his blood as God's due, and so offers it.

يُعظِّمُه في نفسِه ويُطِيعُه

وما يَقْضِ من أَمرٍ له فهو قابلُهْ

He reveres Him in his soul and obeys Him,

And whatever command He decrees for him, he accepts it.

كذلكَ كان المُسلِمونَ الأُلىَ مَضَوا

فيالكَ عصراً يبعثُ الحُزْنَ زائلُهْ

Such were the Muslims who have gone before;

Oh, what an age, whose passing awakens grief!

صَدَفْنَا عَنِ المُثْلىَ فَأصْبَحَ أَمْرُنا

إلى غيرنا نهذِي به وَهوَ شاغِلُهْ

We turned away from the ideal way, and our cause passed

To another; we babble about it, while it occupies him.

يُجالِدُ من يبغي الحياةَ عَدُوَّهُ

فيا لِعَدُوٍّ لم يجد من يُجادِلُهْ

Whoever seeks life fights his enemy;

So, what an enemy—he found no one to dispute with him!

بِنا من عوادِي الدّهرِ كلُّ مُسلَّطٍ

مكائدُه مَبثوثَةٌ وحَبائِلُهْ

Every unleashed scourge of time afflicts us,

Its plots and snares spread everywhere.

قَضينا المَدَى ما تستقيمُ أُمورُنا

وهل يَستقِيمُ الأمرُ عَاليهِ سافِلُهْ

We have passed the years with our affairs never set right;

And can affairs stand upright when their top is their bottom?

عجبتُ لِقومِي عُطِّلَ الدّينُ بينهم

وجُنُّوا به والجهلُ شَتَّى مَنازِلُهْ

I marvel at my people: religion has been set aside among them,

Yet they are madly in love with it, and ignorance has many abodes.

يُحبُّونَهُ حُبَّ الذي ضلَّ رأيُهُ

فقاطِعُه مِنْهُمْ سَواءٌ وواصلُهْ

They love it with the love of one whose judgment has strayed;

So, among them, one who breaks with it and one who keeps ties with it are alike.

صلاةٌ وَصَوْمٌ يَرْكُضُ الشرُّ فيهما

حَثيثاً تَهُزُّ المَشْرِقَينِ صواهِلُهْ

Prayer and fasting—evil gallops through both,

At full speed; its neighing steeds shake the two easts.

وكيف يقومُ الدّينُ ما بين أُمّةٍ

إذا عُطِّلَتْ آدابُه وفضائِلُهْ

And how can religion stand among a people

If its moral disciplines and virtues are neglected?

سَلامٌ علينا يومَ يَصْدُقُ بأسُنا

فَيَمْضِي بنا في كلِّ أمرٍ نُحاوِلُهْ

Peace be upon us the day our valor proves true,

And carries us forward in every undertaking we attempt;

ويومَ تكونُ الأرضُ تحتَ لوائِنا

فليس عليها من لواءٍ يُماثلُهْ

And the day the earth lies beneath our banner,

With no banner upon it that can match ours.

أَنَمْشِي بِطاءً والخطوبُ تَنُوبُنا

سِراعاً وعادي الشَّرِّ ينقضُّ عاجِلُهْ

Shall we walk slowly while calamities befall us

Swiftly, and evil's onrushing assailant swoops down?

أَلاَ هِمَّةٌ بدريَّةٌ تكشفُ الأَذَى

وتشفِي من الهَمِّ الذي اهتاج دَاخِلُهْ

Is there no Badr-like resolve to dispel harm

And cure the anguish whose depths have risen in turmoil?

أَلا أُمّةٌ تَنْهَى النُّفوسَ عنِ الهَوَى

وتُصْغِي إلى القَوْلِ الذي أنا قائِلُهْ

Is there no nation to restrain souls from caprice,

And listen to the words that I speak?

أَلاَ دولةٌ للحقِّ تَسْلُكُ نَهْجَهُ

وتمشِي على آثارهِ ما تُزايلُهْ

Is there no state devoted to truth that follows its path,

And walks in its footsteps, never departing from it?

إذا نحنُ لم نَرْشُدْ ولم نَتْبَعِ الهُدَى

فلا تُنكِروا يا قومُ ما اللهُ فاعِلُهْ

If we do not act rightly and do not follow guidance,

Then do not be surprised, my people, at what God will do.