1. أَمِنكَ الذّكرُ يعصِفُ بالقُلوبِ

    ويقذفُ بالمضاجعِ والجُنوبِ

    Is it from you that remembrance storms through hearts

    and tosses beds and bodies lying on their sides?

  2. لأَنْتَ على رُكودِك مُستطيرٌ

    من الأرواحِ مُطّرِدُ الهُبوبِ

    Though still, you indeed sweep far and wide,

    a wind among winds, ceaseless in its blowing.

  3. تَظلُّ قُواهُ إن وَنَتِ اللّيالي

    حِثاثَ الكَرِّ مُمعِنَةَ الدُّؤوبِ

    Its powers remain, even when the nights grow weary,

    swift in their repeated charges, tireless in their toil.

  4. قَضَيْتَ الدَّهرَ مالكَ من قَرارٍ

    ولا بكَ في اعتزامِكَ من لُغوبِ

    You spent your lifetime without repose,

    with no weariness in your resolve.

  5. جعلتَ نصيبَ نفسِكَ أن تراها

    وما للموتِ فيها من نَصيبِ

    You chose this lot for your soul: that you should behold it,

    with death having no share in it.

  6. لَنِعمَ فَتى الكِنانةِ غيرَ واهٍ

    إذا جَدَّ البلاءُ ولا هَيوبِ

    What an excellent son of Kinana, neither weak

    when affliction grows grave, nor fearful!

  7. وما بَعْضُ الحُماةِ وإن تَغالىَ

    بِثَبْتٍ في الخطوب ولا صَليبِ

    Some defender, however much he boasts,

    is neither steadfast amid calamities nor strong.

  8. إذا ضاقَ الخِناقُ به تنحَّى

    يَلوذُ بكلِّ مُرتكَضٍ رَحيبِ

    When the noose tightens around him, he retreats,

    seeking refuge wherever there is ample room to run.

  9. يَميلُ مع الشَّمالِ فإن تناهت

    بها الغاياتُ مال مع الجنوبِ

    He leans with the north wind; but when

    its limits are reached, he leans with the south.

  10. بمن يَثِقُ السَّوادُ إذا تبارى

    سماسرةُ المُقَنَّعةِ الخَلوبِ

    Whom can the masses trust when

    the brokers of the veiled seductress compete?

  11. ومَن يحمِي البلادَ إذا رَمَتْها

    بناتُ الدّهرِ باليوم العصيبِ

    And who protects the land when it is struck

    by time's daughters with a grievous day?

  12. طبيبَ النّيلِ هل للنِّيلِ شافٍ

    وهل للدّاءِ بعدَك من طبيبِ

    Physician of the Nile, is there a healer for the Nile?

    And is there any physician for the illness after you?

  13. أَلم ترَ كيف أخطأ كلُّ آسٍ

    ومن لك بالنِطاسيِّ المُصيبِ

    Have you not seen how every healer has failed?

    And who can bring you the expert physician who gets it right?

  14. هَوَى الوطنُ الجريحُ وكنتَ قِدماً

    تضُمُّ جوانبَ الجُرحِ الرَّغيبِ

    The wounded homeland has fallen; once you used

    to draw together the edges of its gaping wound.

  15. على الدُّنيا العَفاءُ إذا تولىَّ

    أطِبّاءُ الممالكِ والشُّعوبِ

    Ruin upon the world when

    the physicians of kingdoms and peoples pass away!

  16. أتى زمنُ النُّعاةِ فما لِمصرٍ

    سوى طُولِ التفجُّعِ والنّحيبِ

    The time of death-announcers has come; Egypt has

    nothing but prolonged anguish and lamentation.

  17. أتنظرُ نكبةَ الوطنِ المُذكَّى

    وتسمعُ صيحةَ الشّعب الحريبِ

    Do you behold the calamity of the slaughtered homeland

    and hear the cry of the despoiled people?

  18. إذا ما مصرُ زُلزِلَ جانباها

    فَمِن خَفَقانِ قلبِكَ والوجيبِ

    If Egypt's two sides are shaken,

    it is from your heart's fluttering and pounding.

  19. وإن جَرَتِ الرِّياحُ بها لهيباً

    فتلكَ حَرارةُ الوجدِ المُذيبِ

    And if the winds course through it as flame,

    that is the heat of grief that melts.

  20. كفاكَ أما تزالُ أخا همومٍ

    كعهدِكَ قبلَ عاديةِ المغيبِ

    Enough! Are you still a companion to cares,

    as you were before the assault of your passing?

  21. حَملتَ جَوى المشوقِ وأنتَ ثاوٍ

    بوادي الموتِ للوادي الخصيبِ

    You bore a yearning lover's anguish, though you lay

    in death's valley, longing for the fertile valley.

  22. مَضَى الشُّهداءُ ليس لهم نقيبٌ

    فكنتَ لهم بمنزلةِ النّقيبِ

    The martyrs passed on with no leader,

    and you became as a leader to them.

  23. تباركَ وجهُ مَن أعطاك وجهاً

    يُضيءُ جوانبَ الجَدَثِ المَهِيبِ

    Blessed be the face of Him who gave you a face

    that lights the recesses of the awe-inspiring grave.

  24. تَرِفُّ الحورُ والوِلدانُ شَوْقاً

    إلى ما فيه من تَرَفٍ وطيبِ

    The houris and young attendants flutter with longing

    for the splendor and sweetness within it.

  25. تنزَّهَ في الحياةِ عنِ الدَّنايا

    وصينَ عن القوادحِ والعُيوبِ

    In life it kept itself above base deeds,

    and was shielded from blemishes and flaws.

  26. يُريك جَلالُه الحرمَ المُحلَّى

    وعِتْقَ المُصحفِ الأَنِقِ العجيبِ

    Its majesty shows you the adorned sanctuary

    and the nobility of the elegant, wondrous Qur'an volume.

  27. خطيبَ الأُمّتَيْنِ أعنْ مَلالٍ

    تركتَ الأُمّتين بلا خطيبِ

    Orator of the two nations, was it out of weariness

    that you left the two nations without an orator?

  28. أَهِبْ بالغافلين وقُلْ بلادي

    دَعوتُكِ باسمِ ربّكِ فاسْتَجيبي

    Rouse the heedless and say: My country,

    I have called you in your Lord's name, so answer!

  29. بلادي كيف أنتِ على العوادي

    وماذا ذُقتِ من عَنَتِ الخطوبِ

    My country, how do you fare against calamities?

    And what have you tasted of the torment of misfortunes?

  30. بلادي هل صَدَقْتِ الجِدَّ بعدي

    أمِ استغنيتِ بالأملِ الكَذوبِ

    My country, have you been truly earnest since my passing,

    or have you contented yourself with deceitful hope?

  31. بلادي هل دَرجْتِ على سبيلي

    ومِلْتِ عن المساربِ والدُّروبِ

    My country, have you followed my path

    and turned away from byways and side roads?

  32. أرى شِيَعاً وأحزاباً غِضاباً

    لغيرِ اللهِ والوطنِ الغَضُوبِ

    I see factions and parties enraged

    for things other than God and the wrathful homeland.

  33. أرى سَلَباً يَطيحُ على أكُفٍّ

    تُراشُ سِهامُها بيد السّليبِ

    I see plunder falling into hands

    whose arrows are feathered by the plundered man's hand.

  34. أرى شعباً يُقادُ إلى المنايا

    فيذهب مُمعِناً خَبَب الجنيبِ

    I see a people led toward their doom,

    pressing onward at the trot of a led horse.

  35. بَرِئتُ من الكنانةِ إن أقامت

    على تلك المآثمِ والذُّنوبِ

    I disown Kinana if it persists

    in those transgressions and sins.

  36. إمامَ المُهتدينَ أفِضْ علينا

    من النُّور المُحجَّبِ في الغيوبِ

    Leader of the rightly guided, pour upon us

    some of the light veiled in unseen realms.

  37. أَلستَ ترى السّوادَ طغَى عليه

    ظلامُ الموقفِ الخَطِرِ الرّهيبِ

    Do you not see how the masses are overwhelmed

    by the darkness of this perilous, dreadful plight?

  38. تركتَ الأمرَ مُجتمِعاً فأمسى

    كثيرَ السُّبلِ مُختلفَ الضرُّوبِ

    You left the cause united, but it has become

    full of paths and divergent courses.

  39. وكان الحقُّ للأقوامِ ديناً

    فبدّل كلُّ أوّاهٍ مُنيبِ

    Truth was a faith for the peoples,

    but every sighing penitent has altered it.

  40. أَلا أَرِنَا مناسِكَنا فإنّا

    من الأَحبارِ في أمرٍ مُريبِ

    Come, show us our rites, for we

    are left in troubling doubt by the learned clerics.

  41. همُ اتّخذوا الشّرائعَ مُسرجَاتٍ

    مُذلَّلةَ الغواربِ للرّكوبِ

    They have made the sacred laws into saddled mounts,

    their withers subdued for riding.

  42. تحامَى العُدوةَ القصوى وتهوِي

    براكبها إلى الأمدِ القريبِ

    They avoid the farther bank, and plunge

    with their rider toward the nearer goal.

  43. رُعاةُ الشَّعبِ طاعَ لهم فأمسى

    بوادٍ من سياستهم جديبِ

    The people obeyed their shepherds, and found themselves

    in a valley made barren by their governance.

  44. يُمارسُ فيه شِرَّةَ كلِّ ضارٍ

    سريعِ الشَّدِّ مُستعِرِ الوُثوبِ

    There they face the ferocity of every beast of prey,

    swift in its charge, fiery in its leap,

  45. يَصولُ بحدِّ أعصلَ ذي صَريفٍ

    وصَلْتٍ من دم القتلى خضيبِ

    attacking with the edge of a crooked, grinding fang

    and a bare blade stained with the blood of the slain.

  46. ولم أرَ كالشُّعوب تُساسُ فوضَى

    وتُؤخذُ بالمخالبِ والنُّيوبِ

    I have seen nothing like peoples ruled in chaos

    and seized with claws and fangs.

  47. رمى الأبصارَ ساحرُها فزاغت

    وران هوى النّفوسِ على القلوبِ

    Their enchanter struck their eyes, and their sight went astray;

    and the souls' desires spread a pall over the hearts.

  48. فما عُرِفَ النّصيحُ من المُداجِي

    ولا وضح الصّريحُ من المشوبِ

    So the sincere adviser was not known from the dissembler,

    nor was the pure distinguished from the adulterated.

  49. أَيُخذَلُ في الكنانةِ كلُّ حُرٍّ

    ويُنصرُ كلُّ صَخَّابٍ شَغوبِ

    Is every free man in Kinana to be forsaken,

    while every noisy troublemaker is championed?

  50. ويُمنَعُ ذو القضاءِ الحقِّ منا

    ويَقضي كلُّ أزورَ ذي نكوبِ

    And is the man of true judgment among us barred,

    while every crooked, wayward man sits in judgment?

  51. ويُرمَى ذو البراءةِ من ذوينا

    بملءِ الأرضِ من إثمٍ وحُوبِ

    And is an innocent man among our own accused

    of an earthful of guilt and sin?

  52. يُعابُ المرءُ يَصدقُ مَن يُوالي

    ويصبرُ للشّدائدِ والكروبِ

    A man is faulted for being true to those he befriends

    and being patient under hardships and afflictions,

  53. ويُحمَد كلُّ مُختلفِ المساعي

    إلى الأقوامِ جيّاءٍ ذَهوبِ

    while every man of shifting pursuits is praised,

    forever coming and going among the people.

  54. يُريك ضُحىً لِباسَ فتىً أمينٍ

    فإن لَبِسَ الظَّلامَ فذو دَبيبِ

    In daylight he shows you a trustworthy youth's garb,

    but when he dons the darkness, he creeps about.

  55. يَكادُ من التلصُّصِ والتَّخَفِّي

    يشقُّ السُّبْلَ في عين الرقيبِ

    Through thieving and stealth, he nearly

    carves paths through the watchman's eye.

  56. لَتِلْكَ الجاهليّةُ أو أراها

    حُكومةَ غير ذي النَّصَفِ اللّبيب

    That is surely the age of ignorance—or I deem it

    the rule of one neither fair nor discerning.

  57. لَدينُ الجاهليّةِ كان أدنى

    إلى الإسلام منها والصّليبِ

    Indeed, the creed of the age of ignorance was closer

    to Islam and the Cross than this.

  58. سَنِيحَكَ ربَّنا أبِكُلِّ جَوٍّ

    مُحلَّقُ بارحٍ عَجِلِ النّعيبِ

    Your good omen, our Lord! Is every sky

    a haunt for an ill-omened bird, quick to caw?

  59. أما يتهلّلُ المحزونُ إلا

    رمته يدُ الحوادثِ بالشُّحوبِ

    Can the sorrowful man ever brighten without

    the hand of calamities casting pallor upon him?

  60. فوا أسفِي لآمالٍ حِسانٍ

    هززتُ لهنّ أعطافَ الطَّروبِ

    Alas, my sorrow for lovely hopes

    for which I swayed my limbs in rapture!

  61. غرسناهنَّ خُضراً يانعاتٍ

    فأخلفهنَّ كلُّ حياً سَكوبِ

    We planted them green and flourishing,

    but every pouring rain failed them.

  62. ذَويْن فكنَّ لي ولكلِّ حُرٍّ

    أواخرَ نَضرةِ العيشِ الرّطيبِ

    They withered, becoming for me and every free man

    the last of life's fresh, lush bloom.

  63. أراقبُ دولةَ الخَلَفِ المُرجَّى

    وأخشى ما أصابَ بني عتيبِ

    I await the reign of the hoped-for successors,

    and fear what befell Banu Atib.

  64. فيا وطناً وهبتُ له شبابي

    وما رَعَتِ المُروءةُ من مَشيبي

    O homeland to which I gave my youth,

    and whatever honor nurtured in my gray-haired years!

  65. لأَجلِكَ ما حَيِيتُ أعيش حُرّاً

    وفيكَ أموتُ مَوْتَ فتىً نجيبِ

    For your sake, as long as I live, I live free,

    and in you I die the death of a noble youth.

  66. ظلمتُك إن رَضيتُ عُقوقَ خِلٍّ

    سواكَ أوِ احتملتُ أذى حبيبِ

    I would wrong you if I accepted the ingratitude of a friend

    other than you, or endured the harm of a beloved.

  67. ومِن شَرَفِ المُجاهدِ أن تراه

    يَجِلُّ عنِ المُعاقبِ والمُثيبِ

    Part of the striver's honor is that you see him

    rise above the punisher and the rewarder.

  68. وما حَسَبُ الأديبِ وإن تناهَى

    بِمُسْتَغنٍ عنِ الأدبِ الحسيبِ

    A writer's nobility, however exalted,

    cannot dispense with noble literature.

  69. بَرِئتُ من القَرَيضِ غَداةَ أمضي

    أبيعُ كريمَهُ بَيْعَ الجليبِ

    I disown verse on the morning I go forth

    to sell its noblest part as an imported slave is sold.

  70. فويحي للقواصفِ من قوافٍ

    كأمثالِ القواذفِ باللهيبِ

    Woe to me for rhymes that thunder,

    like weapons hurling flame!

  71. رَمَيتُ بها النّيامَ فراجعتني

    مُروَّعةَ الزمازمِ تتقي بي

    I hurled them at the sleepers, and they returned to me

    with frightened murmurs, seeking refuge in me.

  72. تمرُّ بهم مُخيّبةً وتأتي

    لها زَفَراتُ مُرتَمِضٍ كئيبِ

    They pass by them frustrated, and return

    with the sighs of one burning with anguish and sorrow.

  73. نفضتُ الواديَينْ فما استفاقوا

    وتلك نكيثةُ الدَّاعي المُهيبِ

    I shook both valleys, yet they did not awaken;

    and that is the utmost effort of the rousing caller.