1. أعن خطبِ الخلافةِ تسألينا

    أجيبي يا فَروقُ فتىً حزينا

    Do you ask about the calamity of the caliphate?

    Answer a sorrowful youth, O Faruq.

  2. هَوىَ العرشُ الذي استعصمتِ منه

    بِرُكنِ الدَّهرِ واسْتعليتِ حينا

    The throne has fallen, from which you drew protection

    in Time's bulwark, and rose high for a while.

  3. فأين البأسُ يقتحمُ المنايا

    ويلتهمُ الكتائبَ والحصونا

    Where is the might that plunged into death

    and devoured battalions and fortresses?

  4. وأين الجاهُ يَغمرُ كلَّ جاهٍ

    وإن جَعَلَ السِّماك له سفينا

    And where is the prestige that overwhelmed all prestige,

    even one that made al-Simak its fleet?

  5. تَدفّق يأخذُ الأقطارَ طُرّاً

    وينتظمُ القياصِرَ أجمعينا

    It surged forth, taking all the lands,

    and gathering all the Caesars into its train.

  6. مَضى الخُلفاءُ عنكِ فأينَ حَلُّوا

    وكيفَ بَقيتِ وحدكِ خبّرينا

    The caliphs have departed from you; where have they settled?

    And how have you remained alone? Tell us.

  7. ولو أوتيتِ بِرّاً أو وَفاءً

    إذنْ لَظَعَنتِ إثرَ الظّاعنينا

    Had you been endowed with kindness or fidelity,

    you would have departed in the wake of those departing.

  8. أيلدزُ ما دهاكِ وأيُّ رامٍ

    رماكِ فهدَّ سؤدُدَكِ المكينا

    O Yildiz, what befell you, and what archer

    shot at you and shattered your firmly rooted glory?

  9. خَفضتِ له الجناحَ وكنتِ قِدماً

    حِمَى الخلفاءِ يأبى أن يدينا

    You lowered your wing before him, though once you were

    the caliphs' sanctuary, refusing to submit.

  10. وجلَّلكِ الظّلامُ وكنتِ نوراً

    يَفيضُ على شُعوبِ المُسلِمينا

    Darkness shrouded you, though you were a light

    overflowing upon the Muslim peoples.

  11. تزاورتِ الكواكبُ عنكِ وَلْهَى

    تُقلِّبُ في جَوانِبكِ العُيونا

    The stars turned away from you, distraught,

    casting their eyes about your precincts,

  12. وتَجفُلُ تتَّقِى عُقْبَى اللّيالي

    وتَخشَى أن تَذِلَّ وأن تهونا

    and recoiling, fearing the aftermath of nights,

    and fearing they might be humiliated and brought low.

  13. تحيَّر فيكِ هذا الدّهرُ حتّى

    لقد ظنّتْ حوادثُه الظُّنونا

    This age was bewildered by you, until

    its very events entertained all manner of conjectures.

  14. فصبراً إن أردتِ أو الْتياعاً

    وسَلْوَى عن قطنيكِ أو حنينا

    So be patient, if you wish, or grieve,

    and forget your dwellers, or yearn for them.

  15. ظَلمتُ هَواكِ أنتِ أبرُّ عهداً

    وأصدقُ ذِمّةً وأجلُّ دينا

    I wronged your love: you are more faithful to your pledge,

    truer to your bond, and nobler in faith.

  16. أَفيضي الدَّمْعَ تَوْكافاً وسَحّاً

    ولا تَدَعِي التَّوجُّعَ والأنينا

    Pour forth your tears, drop by drop and in torrents,

    and do not cease your lamenting and groaning.

  17. لقد فَجعَ المُروءةَ فيكِ دَهرٌ

    أصابَكِ في ذَويكِ الأوّلينا

    Time has indeed dealt chivalry a grievous blow in you,

    afflicting you in your kinsmen of old.

  18. أَليسَ الدَّهرُ كان لهم لساناً

    إذا نَطقوا وكان لهم يمينا

    Was not Time their tongue

    when they spoke, and their right hand?

  19. تَمرّدَ يَنفضُ التِّيجانَ عنهم

    ويَنتزعُ العُروشَ وما ولينا

    It rebelled, shaking the crowns from them,

    and wresting away the thrones and all we governed.

  20. تَولَّوْا في البلادِ تَضيقُ عنهم

    جَوانبُها وكانوا المُوسِعينا

    They departed through the lands; too narrow for them

    were their reaches, though they had made them wide.

  21. إذا وردوا الممالكَ أنكرتهم

    وكانوا للممالكِ مُنكِرينا

    When they entered kingdoms, those kingdoms disowned them,

    though once they had been the ones to spurn kingdoms.

  22. عَجِبتُ لهم يَزولُ الملكُ عنهم

    وما زالتْ عُروشُ المالكينا

    I marveled at them: sovereignty slipped away from them,

    yet the thrones of rulers had not fallen.

  23. أَذَلَّ جِبِاهَهم حَدَثٌ ذَميمٌ

    أهانَ العِزَّ والشرَّفَ المصونا

    A shameful event humbled their brows,

    dishonoring glory and safeguarded honor.

  24. رُويداً إنّها الدُّنيا وصبراً

    فما تُغنِي شَكاةُ الجازعينا

    Easy now—such is this world; have patience,

    for the complaints of the distraught avail nothing.

  25. تعالى اللهُ مُحدِثُ كلِّ أمرٍ

    بأقدارٍ يَرُحْنَ ويَغْتَدينا

    Exalted is God, who brings every matter into being,

    through decrees that go forth at evening and at dawn.

  26. أتاهم أمرُه فَغَدَوْا مُلوكاً

    وراحوا سُوقةً مُستضعَفينا

    His command came to them: at dawn they were kings,

    and by evening they were powerless commoners.

  27. ولم أرَ كالسِّياسةِ في أذاها

    وفي أعذارِها تُزجِي مئينا

    I have seen nothing like politics in the harm it does,

    and in the excuses it puts forward by the hundred.

  28. تُغيرُ على الأُسودِ فتحتويها

    وتَزعُمُ أنّها تحمِي العرينا

    It raids the lions and takes them captive,

    and claims that it protects the den.

  29. تُريدُ فتخلقُ الأصباغَ شتَّى

    وتَبتدعُ الطرائقَ والفنونا

    It wills, then fashions colors of every kind,

    and invents methods and arts.

  30. وتتّخذُ الدّمَ المسفوكَ وِرداً

    تظنُّ ذُعافَه الماءَ المعينا

    It takes shed blood as its drink,

    thinking its deadly poison is flowing water.

  31. أداةُ الغدرِ ما حَفِظتْ ذِماماً

    ولا احترمت خليطاً أو قرينا

    An instrument of treachery, it has kept no pledge,

    nor respected an associate or a companion.

  32. يُصابُ بها الشقيُّ فما يُباليِ

    رمَى الآباءَ أم صرَعَ البنينا

    The wretch is stricken by it, and cares not

    whether he shoots fathers or strikes down sons.

  33. بني عثمانَ إنْ جَزَعاً فَحقٌّ

    وإن صبراً فخيرُ الصّابرينا

    Sons of Osman, if you grieve, it is your right;

    and if you endure, you are the best of the steadfast.

  34. أَعِدُّوا للنّوائبِ ما استطعتم

    من الإيمانِ وادَّرِعُوا اليقينا

    Prepare for calamities all you can

    of faith, and put on certainty as armor.

  35. حياةُ الملكِ ضنَّ بها أبيٌّ

    يخاف عليه كَيْدَ النّاقمينا

    A proud man jealously guarded the life of sovereignty,

    fearing for it the plots of the resentful.

  36. له عذرُ الأمين فإنْ رَضِيتم

    فخيرُ النّاسِ مَنْ عَذَر الأمينا

    He has a trustworthy man's excuse; if you accept it,

    the best of people is he who excuses the trustworthy man.

  37. قضَى الغازِي الأُمورَ فلا تَعيبوا

    أمورَ الملكِ حتّى تستبينا

    The Ghazi has settled matters; do not fault

    the affairs of sovereignty until they become clear.

  38. وما نَفْعُ الخلافةِ حين تُمسِي

    حديثَ خُرافةٍ للهازلينا

    And what use is the caliphate when it becomes

    a fanciful tale for jesters?

  39. ثَوتْ تَتجرَّعُ الآلامَ شتَّى

    على أيدي الدُّهاةِ الماكرينا

    It lingered, swallowing pains of every kind,

    at the hands of cunning schemers.

  40. تُغِيثُ المُسلِمينَ إذا استغاثوا

    وتَنصرُهُم على المستعمرينا

    It aids the Muslims when they cry for help,

    and supports them against the colonizers.

  41. فلما جَدَّ جِدُّ الحربِ كانوا

    قُوَى الأعداءِ تَرْمِي النّاصرينا

    But when war became truly earnest, they were

    the enemies' forces, shooting at their defenders.

  42. مَنعْنا الظُّلمَ أن يَطغَى عليهم

    فخانونا وكانوا الظَّالمينا

    We kept oppression from running rampant over them,

    yet they betrayed us and were themselves the oppressors.

  43. نُصابُ لأجلِهم ونُصابُ منهم

    فإن تعجبْ فذلكَ ما لَقِينا

    We are stricken for their sake, and stricken by them;

    and if you wonder, that is what we suffered.