ابناء دجلة والفرات نيام

عن حقها وتسرها الاحلام

The sons of the Tigris and Euphrates sleep,

Heedless of her rights, while dreams delight her.

واذا الحقائق لم تجد في امة

سندا تقوم مقامها الاوهام

And if truths cannot find within a nation

Support, illusions take their place.

الحق يكسبني اليقين وضوحه

ويريبني في الباطل الابهام

Truth's clarity gives me certainty,

And ambiguity in falsehood makes me doubt.

أتنيل بغداد الاديب سلامة

ام ليس في بلد السلام سلام

Does Baghdad grant the man of letters safety,

Or is there no peace in the City of Peace?

انا قد يئست فلا الحياة جميلة

عندي ولا وجه المنى بسام

I have despaired: life is not beautiful

To me, nor does the face of hope smile.

ان العراق به يعيش لشقوة

شعب يسام الذل ثم يسام

Indeed, in Iraq there lives in misery

A people made to endure humiliation, then made to endure it again.

الفوه حتى صار فيهم طابعا

من طول ما صفتهم الايام

They grew used to it until it became a trait in them,

From being sifted by the days for so long.

لو كلفوا مشيا على اراسهم

لمشوا كأن رؤسهم اقدام

If they were ordered to walk on their heads,

They would walk as though their heads were feet.

عن كل مملكة يذود همامها

اما العراق فليس فيه همام

Every kingdom is defended by its champion;

But Iraq has no champion.

اسمى رجال العصر ان احصيتهم

هو مصطفى الوثابة المقدام

The greatest of the age's men, if you list them,

Is Mustafa, ever springing forward and bold,

العبقري الفذ في ايامه

وله بذلك تشهد الايام

The peerless genius of his day,

And the days bear witness to this for him.

ما مصطفى الغازي يقاس بغيره

بل انه للمصلحين امام

Mustafa the Ghazi cannot be compared with another;

Rather, he is the reformers' leader.

من قاسه بالآخرين بدواله

في جنبه وكأنهم اقزام

To whoever compares him with others, they appear

Beside him as though they were dwarfs.

اني لاعظمه على افعاله

ولمثله لا يكثر الاعظام

I certainly revere him for his deeds,

And for one like him, no reverence is excessive.

لا تنكروا باللَه اعظامي له

انا لي بابطال الزمان غرام

Do not, by God, object to my reverence for him;

I have a passion for the heroes of the age.

هو فخر امته التي عزت به

ان فاخرت برجالها الاقوام

He is the pride of his nation, which grew mighty through him,

If peoples vie in boasting of their men.

وابن السعود له الامامة انه

السند الذي يقوى به الاسلام

And Ibn Saud holds the leadership; he is

The support through whom Islam grows strong.

ملك العروبة عزها وصلاحها

وعصامها وشجاعها الهمام

King of Arabhood, its glory and its well-being,

And its protector and its brave, resolute champion.

نجد له ثم الحجاز وانما

يشدو العراق بحمده والشام

Najd is his, then the Hijaz; while

Iraq and al-Sham merely sing his praise.

هيهات ليس يقوم من جدث به

دفنوه مجد للعراق قدام

Never shall it rise from a grave in which

They buried it—that ancient glory of Iraq.

شنؤوا العروبة مدعين ولاءها

ما بالولي مخادع ظلام

They hated Arabhood while claiming loyalty to it;

A deceitful oppressor is no loyal ally.

بين القلى والحب بون شاسع

فالحب يبنى والقلى هدام

Between hatred and love lies a vast gulf.

For love builds, while hatred destroys.

نظر الفتى مهما اراد لحقده

كتما على قلب الفتى نمام

A young man's gaze, however much he wants his rancor

Hidden, tells tales on the young man's heart.

يأتي من العين التي هي كوة

للفكر نور تارة وظلام

There comes from the eye, which is a window

To thought, light at times, and darkness.

يبغون تصريحي ورب حقيقة

ليست تسيغ أجابها الافهام

They seek my frank declaration; yet many a truth—

Minds cannot swallow its answer [reading uncertain].

اشحذ سلاحك ما استطعت فانما

ديناك تغدر والحياة صدام

Sharpen your weapon as much as you can, for

Your world betrays you, and life is a clash.