1. حملت سناكِ مواكبُ الأعوامِ

    فَخُذِي سبيلَكِ واضحَ الأعلامِ

    The processions of years have carried your radiance.

    So take your path, its landmarks clear.

  2. ما أنتِ إلا موكبٌ جَمعَ الهُدَى

    فيه جلالَ العلمِ والإلهامِ

    You are but a procession; guidance has gathered

    Within it the majesty of knowledge and inspiration.

  3. سِيرِي على نُورِ الكتابِ فإنَّهُ

    لكِ إن أردتِ الرُّشدَ خيرُ إمامِ

    Walk by the light of the Book, for it is

    Your best guide, if you desire right guidance.

  4. أَرْخِي زمامَكِ لا عِثارَ لآخذٍ

    من ربّه وكتابهِ بزمامِ

    Loosen your reins; none stumbles who takes hold

    Of a rein from his Lord and His Book.

  5. هذي المنازلُ أُزلِفَتْ لكِ فاسحَبِي

    بُردَيْكِ من أمنٍ بها وسلامِ

    These stations have been brought near for you, so trail

    Your two cloaks of safety and peace there.

  6. وَصِفِي لهذا الجيلِ أيّامَ الأُلى

    سبقوكِ من صحبٍ عليكِ كِرامِ

    And tell this generation of the days of those

    Who preceded you—companions dear to you.

  7. رَفَعُوا على الحقِّ الحياةَ فأعجزت

    أقوَى البُناةِ وأقْدرَ الهُدّامِ

    They raised life upon truth, and it defied

    The strongest builders and the ablest destroyers.

  8. لمّا أقاموا بالسّيوف أساسَها

    جعلوا البناءَ من الطُّلى والهامِ

    When they laid its foundation with swords,

    They made the structure from throats and heads.

  9. كم رُكنِ مملكةٍ تصدّعَ إذ رمت

    آطامَها العُليا بركنٍ دامِ

    How many a kingdom's pillar cracked when it struck

    Its lofty strongholds with a bloodied pillar!

  10. زخرت حوالَيْها القتوحُ فغيَّبت

    غرقى الممالكِ في العُبابِ الطّامي

    Conquests surged around it, engulfing

    The drowned kingdoms in the overflowing flood.

  11. تهوِي جوانبُها على الأُمم التي

    حَملتْ وما مِن عاصمٍ أو حامِ

    Its sides crash down upon the nations that

    It bore, with neither protector nor defender.

  12. من يَعصِمُ الأقطارَ من دَيّانِها

    ويَرُدُّ غارتَهُ عنِ الأقوامِ

    Who can shield the lands from their judge,

    And turn his raid away from the peoples?

  13. يا غارةً تمضِي إلى غاياتِها

    تَطوِي المَدى وتَرومُ كلَّ مَرامِ

    O onslaught that advances toward its goals,

    Covering the distance and pursuing every aim!

  14. ضاعت ثُغورُ المسلِمينَ فأدرِكي

    سُؤرَ الهُدَى وبقيّةَ الإسلامِ

    The Muslims' frontier strongholds are lost; so rescue

    What is left of guidance and the remnant of Islam.

  15. عزّ الذّليلُ من الثعالبِ وانقضَى

    عِزُّ الأسودِ وسُؤددُ الآجامِ

    The lowliest of foxes has grown mighty, and gone are

    The lions' might and the lordship of the thickets.

  16. ما أكثرَ الأبطالَ إلا أنّهم

    أبطالُ وَهْمٍ في سلاحِ كلامِ

    How numerous the heroes are! Yet they are

    Heroes of illusion, armed with words.

  17. لم يَرْقَ شعبٌ بالكلامِ ولم يَقُمْ

    مُلكٌ على ضَعْفٍ ولا استسلامِ

    No people has risen through words, nor has there stood

    A kingdom upon weakness or surrender.

  18. الفتحُ حدّثَنِي وما بحديثهِ

    كَذِبٌ وحسبُكَ أن تقولَ حِذامِ

    Al-Fath spoke to me, and in his account there is no

    Falsehood; enough for you that Hidhām should speak.

  19. شيخُ الثِّقاتِ له على أعلامهم

    حقُّ الولاءِ وواجبُ الإِعظامِ

    The elder of the trustworthy—their leaders owe him

    Loyalty as his right and reverence as their duty.

  20. حَكمَ العُقولَ فما استبدَّ ولا رأى

    رَأْيَ الأُلى فَسَقُوا من الحُكّامِ

    He ruled minds without tyranny, nor did he hold

    The views of those rulers who transgressed.

  21. اللهُ ألهَمَهُ الصّوابَ وخَصَّهُ

    بأعزِّ منزلةٍ وخيرِ مَقامِ

    God inspired him with right judgment and favored him

    With the noblest rank and the finest station.

  22. نعم الصفيُّ رُزِقْتُهُ من مُنعِمٍ

    صافي الصَّنيعةِ صادقِ الإنعامِ

    What a fine devoted friend I was granted by a benefactor

    Pure in kindness and sincere in giving.

  23. قُلْ يا نجِيَّ النّفسِ ما بالُ الأُلىَ

    مَلأوُا المصارعَ من ذوي الأرحامِ

    Tell me, O confidant of the soul, what befell those

    Who filled the killing grounds from among the kindred?

  24. ألقوا سِهامَ اللهِ من أَيمْانِهم

    فتناولوها من يمينِ الرّامي

    They cast God's arrows from their right hands,

    Then received them from the archer's right hand.

  25. هل كُنتَ تعرفُ قبل مصرعِ قومنا

    لُغَةَ الجراحِ ومنطقَ الآلامِ

    Did you know, before our people's fall,

    The language of wounds and the speech of pain?

  26. باللهِ إن طلبوا الأُساةَ فكن لهم

    مَثَلاً من الرُّوحِ البديع السّامي

    By God, if they seek healers, then be for them

    An embodiment of the wondrous, sublime spirit.

  27. بُوركتَ من آسٍ يُترجِمُ طِبُّه

    لُغةَ الشفاءِ لحَامِلي الأسقامِ

    Blessed are you as a healer whose medicine translates

    The language of healing for those who bear illness.

  28. احفَظْ بقيَّتَهم وإن هم ضَيَّعوا

    ما اسْتحفِظُوا من حُرمةٍ وذمامِ

    Preserve those who remain of them, even if they squandered

    The sanctity and covenant entrusted to their keeping.

  29. ما أنتَ بابن العَشْرِ أنت أبو الأُلى

    وَلدوا شُيوخَ الصُّحفِ والأقلامِ

    You are no child of ten; you are the father of those

    Who begot the elders of newspapers and pens.

  30. ارفَعْ من الأَعْوامِ صَرْحَ هِدايةٍ

    بَرَّ الشُّهورِ مُبارَكَ الأيّامِ

    Raise from the years an edifice of guidance,

    Beneficent in its months, blessed in its days.

  31. واجْمَعْ على دين الحقائقِ أُمّةً

    عَصَفَتْ بها دُنيا من الأوهامِ

    And unite under the creed of truths a nation

    That a world of illusions has buffeted.