1. ما لي دعوتُ فلم أجِدْ

    في الشّعبِ أجمعَ من مُجيبْ

    Why is it that I called, yet found

    no one in all the people to answer?

  2. ذَنبي إليه أَمانةٌ

    هي عنده شرُّ الذنوبْ

    My sin against it is honesty;

    in its eyes, that is the worst of sins.

  3. الحقُّ أنّ سَبيلَنا

    خَطِرُ المطامعِ والدُّروبْ

    The truth is that our path

    is perilous in its aims and ways.

  4. عَقَرَ المطيَّ وطَاحَ بال

    رُكبانِ من فرطِ اللُّغوبْ

    It has hamstrung the camels and cast down the

    riders through sheer exhaustion.

  5. تتساقط الشُّهداءُ في

    هِ تَساقُطَ الزَّهرِ الرّطيبْ

    The martyrs fall on

    it like fresh blossoms falling.

  6. يَرثُونَ ما في الحورِ وال

    ولدانِ من حُسْنٍ وطيبْ

    They inherit what the houris and the

    youths possess of beauty and sweetness.

  7. لكنّه دينُ الرّئي

    سِ وحُكمُ كلِّ فتىً مصيبْ

    Yet it is the president's creed,

    and the judgment of every discerning young man.

  8. حُبُّ الرئيسِ وحزبِه

    مِلءُ الجوانحِ والقُلوبْ

    Love for the president and his party

    fills bosoms and hearts.

  9. هو عُدَّةُ الشَعبِ الأبي

    يِ وعِصمةُ الوادي الخصيبْ

    He is the proud people's mainstay,

    and the fertile valley's safeguard.

  10. نَرمِي بهِ غِيَرَ الزّما

    نِ ونتّقِي شرَّ الخُطوبْ

    With him we strike at time's vicissitudes,

    and ward off the evil of calamities.

  11. بَطلُ المفاوضةِ المخو

    فُ ولَيْثُها الخَطِرُ النَيوبْ

    The feared champion of negotiation,

    and its lion, with fearsome fangs.

  12. لا بالصَّدوفِ إذا تحا

    جزتِ الكُماةُ ولا الهَيُوبْ

    Not one to turn away when

    warriors disengage, nor one to quail.

  13. ما للخيالِيّين في

    تلكَ المناقبِ مِن نَصيبْ

    The dreamers have no share in

    those noble qualities.

  14. مَن عَلَّمَ الشُّعراءَ تَدْ

    بيرَ الممالكِ والشُّعوبْ

    Who taught the poets how to govern

    kingdoms and peoples?

  15. هُمْ عُصبةُ الطَّمعِ الخَدو

    عِ وشِيعَةُ الأَمَلِ الكَذُوبْ

    They are the band of deceitful greed,

    and the partisans of lying hope.

  16. زَعَموا الجلاءَ مُحقَّقاً

    واللهُ عَلّامُ الغُيوبْ

    They claimed withdrawal was assured,

    and God knows all things hidden.

  17. نَحنُ الضِّعافُ وللِعَدُو

    وِ صرامةُ الأسَدِ الغَضُوبْ

    We are the weak; the enemy has

    the fierceness of an angry lion.

  18. الجيشُ صَعبُ البأس وال

    أسطولُ مَرهوبُ الوُثوبْ

    The army is formidable in battle, and the

    fleet is feared for its onslaught.

  19. أين البوارجُ والكتا

    ئبُ للمعاركِ والحروبْ

    Where are the battleships and battalions

    for battles and wars?

  20. صَدَق الرّئيسُ وجَاءَ في ال

    إقناعِ بالعجبِ العَجيبْ

    The president spoke truly, and in

    persuasion brought forth a wondrous marvel.

  21. يا سُوءَ مُنقلَبِ الرّئي

    سِ وحِزبِه الفَرحِ الطّروبْ

    Oh, the wretched fate of the president

    and his merry, jubilant party!

  22. اليومَ تهنئةُ العرو

    سِ وفي غدٍ شَقُّ الجيوبْ

    Today, congratulations to the bride;

    and tomorrow, the rending of shirtfronts.