1. مَلكنا هذهِ الدنيا قُروناً

    وأخضَعَها جدودٌ خالدونا

    We ruled this world for centuries,

    And immortal forefathers subdued it.

  2. وسطَّرنا صحائفَ من ضياءٍ

    فما نسيَ الزمانُ ولا نسينا

    And we inscribed pages of light,

    So time has not forgotten, nor have we.

  3. حملناها سيوفاً لامعاتٍ

    غداةَ الروعِ تأبى أنْ تلينا

    We bore them as gleaming swords,

    On the morning of terror, refusing to bend.

  4. إذا خرجَتْ من الأغمادِ يوما

    رأيتَ الهولَ والفتحَ المبينا

    If one day they came out of their sheaths,

    You saw terror and manifest victory.

  5. وكنُّا حينَ يرمينا أناسٌ

    نُؤدِّبهمْ أباةً قادرينا

    And when people attacked us, we would

    Chastise them, unyielding and powerful.

  6. وكنَّا حينَ يأخُذنا ولي

    بطغيانٍ ندوسُ لهُ الجبينا

    And whenever a ruler took hold of us

    With tyranny, we would trample his brow.

  7. تفيضُ قُلوبُنا بالهديِ بأساً

    فما نُغضي عن الظلمِ الجُفونا

    Our hearts overflow with valor through guidance,

    So we do not close our eyes to injustice.

  8. وما فتىءَ الزمانُ يدور حتى

    مضى بالمجدِ قومٌ آخرونا

    And time kept turning until

    Another people carried off the glory.

  9. وأصبحَ لا يُرى في الركبِ قومي

    وقد عاشوا أئِمَّتَهُ سنينا

    And my people were no longer seen in the caravan,

    Though they had been its leaders for years.

  10. وآلمني وآلمَ كلِّ حرٍ

    سؤالُ الدهرِ: أين المسلمونا ؟

    And I, and every free soul, were pained

    By time's question: 'Where are the Muslims?'

  11. تُرى هل يرجعُ الماضي ؟

    فإني أذوبُ لذلكَ الماضي حنينا

    I wonder: will the past return?

    For I melt with longing for that past.

  12. بَنَينا حُقبةً في الأرض مُلكاً

    يدعِّمهُ شبابٌ طامحُونا

    For a time, we built a kingdom on earth,

    Sustained by aspiring young men.

  13. شبابٌ ذَلَّلوا سُبلَ المَعالي

    وما عَرفوا سوى الإسلامِ دينا

    Young men who smoothed the paths to greatness,

    And knew no religion but Islam.

  14. تَعَهَّدَهمْ فأنبتهمْ نباتاً كريماً

    طابَ في الدنيا غَصونا

    It nurtured them and made them grow as a noble plant,

    Whose branches flourished in the world.

  15. همُ وردوا الحياضَ مباركاتٍ

    فسالتْ عندَهمْ ماءً مَعينا

    They came to the blessed pools,

    So these flowed before them with running water.

  16. إذا شهِدوا الوغى كانوا كُماةً

    يدكُّونَ المعاقلَ والحُصونا

    When they joined battle, they were valiant warriors,

    Battering down strongholds and fortresses.

  17. وإنْ جنَّ المساءُ فلا تراهم

    من الإشفاقِ إلا ساجِدينا

    And when evening fell, you never saw them

    Except prostrate, out of reverent fear.

  18. شبابٌ لمْ تُحطِّمهُ الليالي

    ولمْ يُسلمْ إلى الخصمِ العرينا

    Young men whom the nights did not break,

    And who did not surrender the lion's den to the foe.

  19. ولم تشهدُهُمُ الأقداحُ يوماً

    وقد ملأوا نواديهم مُجونا

    Nor did the drinking cups ever witness them

    Filling their gathering places with debauchery.

  20. وما عرفوا الأغاني مائعاتٍ

    ولكنَّ العُلا صِيغَتْ لُحونا

    And they knew no languid songs,

    But greatness was fashioned into melodies.

  21. وقد دانوا بأعظَمِهِمْ نِضالا

    وعلماً، لا بأجرِئِهمْ عيونا!

    And they deferred to the greatest among them in struggle

    And knowledge, not to the most brazen-eyed among them.

  22. فيتَّحدونَ أخلاقاً عِذاباً

    ويأتلفُون مُجتمعاً رزينا

    So they unite in gracious character,

    And live in harmony as a dignified society.

  23. فما عَرَفَ الخلاعَةَ في بناتٍ

    ولا عَرَف التخنُّثَ في بنينا

    So it knew no wantonness among girls,

    Nor did it know effeminacy among our sons.

  24. ولم يتشدَّقوا بقشورِ علمٍ

    ولمْ يتقيّبوا في المُلحدينا

    Nor did they boast of the husks of learning,

    Nor did they [verb unclear in the source] among the atheists.

  25. ولم يتبجحوا في كلِّ أمرٍ

    خطيرٍ كيْ يقالَ مثقفونا

    Nor did they speak boastfully on every matter

    Of consequence, just to be called 'our intellectuals.'

  26. كذلكَ أخرجَ الإسلامُ قومي

    شباباً مُخلصاً حراً أمينا

    Thus Islam brought forth my people

    As devoted, free, trustworthy youth.

  27. وعلَّمهُ الكرامةَ كيف تُبنى

    فيأبى أنْ يُقَّيدَ أو يهونا

    And taught them how dignity is built,

    So they refuse to be bound or brought low.

  28. دعوني من آمانٍ كاذباتٍ

    فلم أجدِ المُنى إلا ظُنونا

    Spare me false hopes,

    For I have found wishes to be nothing but conjecture.

  29. وهاتوا لي منَ الإيمانِ نوراً

    وقَوُّوا بينَ جنبيَّ اليَقينا

    And bring me a light from faith,

    And strengthen certainty within my breast.

  30. أمدُّ يدي فأنتزعُ الرواسي

    وأبنِ المجدَ مؤتلقاً مكينا

    I stretch out my hand and uproot the firmly rooted mountains,

    And build glory, radiant and firmly founded.