It judges all with justice,
opens the eye of wisdom in the triangle,
studies the life of man with care,
and weighs the weight of word and deed.
It keeps the names of the chosen
in the memory of nations,
stands unshaken as a guard
of moral reckoning.
It sees genius in works once scorned,
lifts the humiliated, casts the mediocre into oblivion.
It honours the ridiculed painting of sunflowers,
listens, moved, to forgotten melodies,
and marvels at the beauty of words
written by mocked poets, beggars in their time.
It barely mentions the names of mighty rulers
in long tales about a humble carpenter from Nazareth.
It celebrates the young Indian prince
who gave up glory and gold for enlightenment.
Defender of truth, incorruptible, impartial,
it names things plainly, despising lies and hypocrisy.
Like a stone monolith, it rises from the ocean of time,
while the eternal wind sifts the chaff from the grain.