نَظْمِ القَوَافِي مُنْتَظِمْ فِي نِظَامِي lyrics

نَظْمِ القَوَافِي مُنْتَظِمْ فِي نِظَامِي

Naẓm il-qawāfī muntaẓim fī niẓāmī

I arrange rhymes in my system, in my order

مِشْ مِنْ نَظْمِ بَيْتَيْنْ سِوَى عَمَامَهْ

Mish min naẓm baytayn siwá ‘amāmah

Not just from arranging two lines like a turban

مِشْ كُلّ صَيَّادْ بَا يِسَمُّوهْ رَامِي

Mish kull ṣayyād bā yisammūh rāmī

Not every hunter will be called a marksman

وَمِشْ كُلّ رَامِي بَا يِصَوِّبْ سِهَامَهْ

Wa mish kull rāmī bā yiṣawwib sihāmah

And not every marksman will aim his arrows true

الشِّدَّهْ المِيزَانْ بَيْنَ العَوَامِي

Ash-shidda l-mīzān bayn al-‘awāmī

Hardship is the scale among common people

إِمَّا بِتَعْلِيَهْ أَوْ بِتَخْفِيضْ مَقَامَهْ

Imma bit‘alīh aw bitakhfīḍ maqāmah

Either it elevates him or lowers his standing

الجَيِّدْ تِلْقَاهْ سَاعَةَ الجِدّ حَامِي

Al-jayyid tilqāh sā‘at al-jidd ḥāmī

The good one you find protecting in times of seriousness

الفِسْلْ لَوْ تِحْمِيهْ اخْتَبَى كَالنَّعَامَهْ

Al-fisl law tiḥmīh ikhtabá ka-n-na‘āmah

The coward, if you protect him, hides like an ostrich

أَحْيَانْ يَا خِبْرَهْ وَعَلَيَّ الحَرَامِي

Aḥyān yā khibrah wa ‘alayya l-ḥarāmī

Sometimes, oh experience, and by God, the thief (is on me)

مِنَ البَدَاوَهْ الزَّايْدَهْ وَالشَّهَامَهْ

Min al-badāwah az-zāyidah wa sh-shahāmah

From excessive Bedouin spirit and chivalry

نَمُوتْ كِبْرَهْ فِي خُطُوطِ الأَمَامِي

Namūt kibran fī khuṭūṭ al-amāmī

We die with pride in the front lines

خَوْفًا تِقُولَ القَوْمْ عَنَّا خَمَّامَهْ

Khawfan tiqūl al-qawm ‘annā khammāmah

For fear that the people will call us trash

نِفْزَعْ مَعَ الدَّاعِي إِذَا قَالْ قِيَامِي

Nifza‘ ma‘a d-dā‘ī idhā qāl qiyāmī

We rush to the caller when he says 'rise up!'

وَمَا نِرْجَعْ إِلَّا حِينْ يَبْلُغْ مَرَامَهْ

Wa mā nirja‘ illā ḥīn yablugh marāmah

And we don't return until he achieves his goal

بَسْ لَوْ دَخَلْنَا سَاعَةَ الالْتِحَامِي

Bas law dakhalnā sā‘at al-iltiḥāmī

But if we enter at the moment of engagement

يَعْنِي بَدَتْ أَهْوَالْ يَوْمِ القِيَامَهْ

Ya‘nī badat ahwāl yawm al-qiyāmah

It means the horrors of Judgment Day have begun

نِطْرَحْ وَيِطْرَحْ مِنَّا مَوْتْ زُؤَامِي

Niṭraḥ wa yiṭraḥ minnā mawt zu’āmī

We strike, and deadly death strikes us

وَمَنْ رَاحْ مِنَّا حَسَّنَ اللهْ خِتَامَهْ

Wa man rāḥ minnā ḥassan Allāh khitāmah

And whoever leaves us, may God make his end good

نَمُوتْ بِالبَارُوتْ فَخْرٍ وَسَامِي

Namūt bi-l-bārūt fakhrin wa sāmī

We die by gunpowder, with pride and honor

وَلَا نَمُوتْ أَمْرَاضْ وَلَا سُقَامَهْ

Wa lā namūt amrāḍ wa lā suqāmah

And we don't die from diseases or ailments