Painting by B. Gonzalez depicts Rizal writing his farewell letter.
Courtesy of Studio 5 Designs, publisher of In Excelisis
Mi Ultimo Adiós
by Jose Rizal
in the Original Spanish
1
Adiós, Patria adorada, region del sol querida,
Perla del mar de Oriente, nuestro perdido Eden!
A darte voy alegre la triste mustia vida,
Y fuera más brillante más fresca, más florida
Tambien por ti la diera, la diera por tu bien.
2
En campos de batalla, luchando con delirio
Otros te dan sus vidas sin dudas, sin pesar;
El sitio nada importa, ciprés, laurel ó lirio,
Cadalso ó campo abierto, combate ó cruel martirio,
Lo mismo es si lo piden la patria y el hogar.
3
Yo muero cuando veo que el cielo se colora
Y al fin anuncia el día trás lóbrego capuz;
Si grana necesitas para teñir tu aurora,
Vierte la sangre mía, derrámala en buen hora
Y dórela un reflejo de su naciente luz.
4
Mis sueños cuando apenas muchacho adolescente,
Mis sueños cuando joven ya lleno de vigor,
Fueron el verte un día, joya del mar de oriente
Secos los negros ojos, alta la tersa frente,
Sin ceño, sin arrugas, sin manchas de rubor.
5
Ensueño de mi vida, mi ardiente vivo anhelo,
Salud te grita el alma que pronto va á partir!
Salud! ah que es hermoso caer por darte vuelo,
Morir por darte vida, morir bajo tu cielo,
Y en tu encantada tierra la eternidad dormir.
6
Si sobre mi sepulcro vieres brotar un dia
Entre la espesa yerba sencilla, humilde flor,
Acércala a tus labios y besa al alma mía,
Y sienta yo en mi frente bajo la tumba fría,
De tu ternura el soplo, de tu hálito el calor.
7
Deja á la luna verme con luz tranquila y suave;
Deja que el alba envíe su resplandor fugaz,
Deja gemir al viento con su murmullo grave,
Y si desciende y posa sobre mi cruz un ave
Deja que el ave entone su cantico de paz.
8
Deja que el sol ardiendo las lluvias evapore
Y el cielo tornen puras con mi clamor en pos;
Deja que un sér amigo mi fin temprano llore
Y en las serenas tardes cuando por mí alguien ore
Ora tambien, oh Patria, por mi descanso á Dios!
9
Ora por todos cuantos murieron sin ventura,
Por cuantos pedecieron tormentos sin igual,
Por nuestras pobres madres que gimen su amargura;
Por huerfanos y viudas, por presos en tortura
Y ora por tí que veas tu redencion final.
10
Y cuando en noche oscura se envuelva el cementerio
Y solos sólo muertos queden velando allí,
No turbes su reposo, no turbes el misterio
Tal vez acordes, oigas de cítara ó salterio,
Soy yo, querida Patria, yo que te canto á tí.
11
Y cuando ya mi tumba de todos olvidada
No tenga cruz ni piedra que marquen su lugar,
Deja que la are el hombere, la esparza con la azada,
Y mis cenizas antes que vuelvan á la nada,
El polvo de tu alfombra que vayan á formar.
12
Entonces nada importa me pongas en olvido,
Tu atmósfera, tu espacio, tus valles cruzaré,
Vibrante y limpia nota seré para tu oido,
Aroma, luz, colores, rumor, canto, gemido
Constante repitiendo la esencia de mi fé.
13
Mi Patria idolatrada, dolor de mis dolores,
Querida Filipinas, oye el postrer adios.
Ahí te dejo todo, mis padres, mis amores.
Voy donde no hay esclavos, verdugos ni opresores
Donde la fé no mata, donde el que reyna es Dios.
14
Adios, padres y hermanos, trozos del alma mía,
Amigos de la infancia en el perdido hogar.
Dad gracias que descanso del fatigoso día;
Adios dulce estrangera, mi amiga, mi alegría,
Adios, queridos séres. Morir es descansar.
==========================================
Jose Rizal’s Ultimo Adiós
Translated by Charles Derbyshire in English
1
Farewell, dear fatherland, clime of the sun caress’d,
Pearl of the Orient seas, our Eden lost!
Gladly now I go to give thee this faded life’s best,
And were it brighte, fresh(er), or more blest,
Still would I give it thee, nor count the cost.
2
On the field of battle,’mid the frenzy of fight
Others have given their lives, without doubt or heed;
The place matters not—cypress or laurel or lily white,
Scaffold or open plain, combat or martyrdom’s plight,
‘Tis ever the same, to serve our home and country’s need.
3
I die just when I see the dawn break,
Through the gloom of night, to herald the day;
And if color is lacking, my blood thou shalt take,
Pour’d out at need for thy dear sake,
To dye with its crimson the waking ray.
4
My dreams, when life first opened to me,
My dreams, when the hopes of youth beat high,
Were to see thy lov’d face, O gem of the Orient sea,
No gloom and grief, from care and sorrow free;
No blush on thy brow, no tear in thine eye.
5
Dream of my life, my living and burning desire;
All hail! cries the soul that is now to take flight;
All hail! And sweet it is for thee to expire;
To die for thy sake, that thou may’st aspire;
And sleep in thy bosom eternity’s long night.
6
If over my grave some day thou seest grow,
In the grassy sod, a humble flower,
Draw it to thy lips and kiss my soul so,
While I feel on my brow in the cold tomb below
The touch of thy tenderness, thy breath’s warm power.
7
Let the moon beam over me soft and serene,
Let the dawn shed over me its radiant flashes,
Let the wind with sad lament over me keen;
And if on my cross a bird should be seen,
Let it trill there its hymn of peace to my ashes.
8
Let the sun draw vapors up to the sky,
And heavenward in purity bear my tardy protest;
Let some kind soul o’er my untimely fate sigh,
And in the still evening a prayer be lifted on high
From thee, o my country, that in God I may rest.
9
Pray for all those that hapless have died,
For all who have suffered the unmeasur’d pain;
For our mothers that bitterly their woes have cried;
For widows and orphans, for captives by torture tried,
And then for thyself that redemption thou mayst gain.
10
And when the dark night wraps the graveyard around,
With only the dead in their vigil to see;
Break not my repose or the mystery profound,
And perchance thou mayst hear a sad hymn resound;
‘Tis I, O my country, raising a song unto thee.
11
When even my grave is remembered no more,
Unmark’d by never a coss naor a stone;
Le the plow sweep through it, the spade turn it o’er.
That my ashes may carpet thy earthly floor,
Before into nothingness at last they are blown.
12
Then will oblivion bring me no care,
As over thy vales and plains I sweep,
Throbbing and cleansed in thy space and air,
With color and light, with song and lament I fare,
Ever repeating the faith that I keep.
13
My Fatherland adored, that sadness to my sorrow lends,
Beloved Filipinas, hear now my last good-bye!
I give thee all, parents and kindred and friends;
For I go whee no slave before the oppressor bends,
Where faith can never kill,and God reigns e’er on high!
14
Farewell to you all, from my soul torn away,
Friends of my childhood in the home dispossessed!
Give thanks that I rest from the wearisome day!
Farewell to thee, too, sweet friend that lightened my way;
Beloved creatures all, farewell! In death there is rest!
==========================================
Jose Rizal’s Ultimo Adiós
Translated by Jose Corazon de Jesus inTagalog
1
Paalam na Bayang sinta, lupang pupos ng luningning,
Mutya ng dagat Silangan naglaho naming Eden;
Masaya kong ngayo’y alay, ang buhay kong sawi’t laing,
Na kung naging matingkad man, mabulaklak, at maningning,
Ihahandog ko ring ganap sa iyong ikagagaling!
2
Sa parang ng pagdirigma, parang baliw sa paglaban,
Iba’y handog pati buhay nang wala mang alinlangan!
Pook ay di alumana, mamatay man o mabuhay,
Bibitaya’t madlang sakit, pagmomook o digmaan
Ay alay kung ito’y nais ng Bayan at ng tahanan!
3
Ako ngayo’y mamamatay na sa langit, may banaag,
Babala ng bagong Araw sa likod ng mga ulap!
Kung ibig mo ng pangulay sa liwayway ng liwanag,
Ang dugo ko ay ibubo, itigis sa sadyang oras,
At nang lalo pang magniningning ang ngiti ng bagong sinag.
4
Ang lahat kong panaginip, mula ng aking kamusmusan,
At ang mga pangarap ko ng binatang kasiglahan!
Isang araw’y makita kang Hiyas ng dagat-silangan,
Walang luhang nasa mata, taas noong nakatunghay,
Hindi kimi’t walang bahid ng anumang kahihiyan!
5
Panagimpan ng buhay ko, ang masidhing aking nais
Mabuhay ka, yaong sigaw ng kaluluwa kong aalis!
Mabuhay ka, O kay ganda, mabuwal upang ikaw’y matindig
Mamatay nang mabuhay ka, mamatay sa iyong langit
At sa dakila mong lupa’y walang hanggang mapaidlip!
6
Kaya’t kung sa libingan ko isang araw ay mamalads
Sa sinsin ng mga damo’y may lumutang na bulaklak,
Ilapit mo sa labi mo’t hagkang taos ng pagliyag,
At sa aking kaluluwa’y tatagos ang iyong lingap,
Darampi ang hininga mo’t ang init mo’y malalanghap!
7
Bayaan mong iyang Buwan, ako’y kanyang pagmalasin!
Bayaan mong iyang Araw, maghatid ng kanyang ningning!
Bayaan mong maghumibik pati lumuluhang hangin;
At kung sa aking luksang krus ay may ibong dumapo rin,
Bayaan mong itong ibon, Kapayapaa’y awitin!
8
Pabayaang iyang araw, pati ulan ay mahigop,
At ang langit ay mapuno ng panaghoy ko’t himutok!
Bayaan ding makiluha ang isang katotong taos,
At sa mga dapit-hapon, kung may magdasal sa lungkot,
Idalangin mo rin, Bayan, ang Pagharap ko sa Diyos!
9
Ipagdasal mo rin yaong nangamatay sa paglaban,
Pati lahat ng nagtiis ng maraming kahirapan!
Sa kawawa nating inang nanaghoy sa kasawian,
Sa ulila’t mga balo, sa bilanggo sa piitan,
Ipagdasal mo rin upang makamtan ang Katubusan!
10
At kung gabing sakdal dilim ang Libingang matahimik,
Na ang tanging naglalamay, mga patay nang malamig!
Huwag silang gambalain, huwag bigyan ng liglig;
Kung may lira o kudyaping sa Libingan ay marinig,
Ako yaon, Bayang mahal, na sa iyo’y umaawit!
11
At kung pati ng hukay ko’y malimutan na ng madla,
Walang kurus, kahit batong sa puntod ay maging tanda,
Bayaan mong kahi’t sino ay bungkalin itong lupa,
At nang bago ang abo ko sa hangin ay mangawala,
Maging alpombra ng iyong tatapakang pinagpala!
12
Kaya walang kailangang ako’y malimot nang labis,
Malalakbay ko nang ganap ang lawak mo’t himpapawid!
Mataginting akong nota, bati sa iyong pangdinig,
Bango, ilaw, mga kulay, alingawngaw, awit, hibik,
Uulit-uliting lagi yaring lantang Pananalig!
13
O Bayan kong sinasamba, dalita niring dalita!
Dinggin yaring paalam ko…Pilipinas, aking mutya!
Iiwan ko na sa iyo, magulang ko’t huling nasa;
Tutunguhin ko ay bayang walang Punong magdaraya,
Sa di nanatay ng mithi at ang hari’y si Bathala!
14
Paalam na, magyulang ko, kapatid ng aking buhay!
Kababata at kalaro sa nawaglit na tahanan!
Ipagpasalamat ninyo itong aking huling araw!
Paalam! Dayuhang irog na aliw ko’t katuwaan!
Paalam sa inyong lahat! Mamatay, magpahingalay!
Writer's Bio: Jose P. Rizal (1861-1896), National Hero of the Philippines, was an Asian Renaissance Man. Rizal lived only 35 years, during which he showed unusually enlightened understanding of his times as well as the future of his people and their neighbors in the region. Rizal championed a nationalism for Asia founded on education of the masses and human rights - always aware that the "slaves of today" can become "the tyrants of tomorrow." His poignant poem, written prior to facing the Spanish colonizer's firing squad, was recited by Indonesian soldiers of independence before going into battle. His two novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, banned in the Philippines by the Spanish colonizers, helped bring about the Philippine Revolution. He was killed by a firing squad on December 30, 1896.
