1. My excuse to those I spent the night fighting,
Alone except for determination that smoothed its paths,

2. And what can my arm's blow avail
Without support, while the enemy marshalls its troops?

3. As if the blooming fortresses were flames,
Gleaming in a night that conceals its features,

4. As if the night's darkness was a treacherous dye
With the fidelity of an intimate friend accompanying it,

5. As if the horizon's stars were the ethics of a glorious one,
A secret of the youths, blossoms of his virtues,

6. As if Aldebaran stretched out a palm as white as hailstones
To the delegation, a palm that welcomes planets,

7. As if Sirius ardently flickered,
A lover's passion kindled by desire igniting it,

8. As if Suhail preferred laziness knowing
That its reminder grieved the eminent Prophet,

9. And the old camel knelt with age in its knees,
Saying its youth goodbye when I visited its side,

10. I see the Pole fixed among the planets,
At the highest rank, lofty in its steps,

11. I fell for this night, tending each of its stars,
Watching over it while the stars kept watch over me,

12. Had it not been for the anxiety to discover its glory,
I would not have kept pace with it or accompanied it,

13. They say why do you confront horrors head on
Without believing its consequences will afflict you?

14. I said to them how can one meet doom serenely
While survival may come to the one who confronts it?

15. And one with might lives through its perils,
That is the one whose paths are smooth and gentle,

16. While the coward's soul suggests in vain,
When its courses are blocked against it,

17. Burdens of war I carry, and God as my witness,
A lad heedless of war's calamities on its roads,

18. No cowardice has lessened my fervor
When I descended on the enemy, humbling their flanks,

19. True heat is like mirror glass, and only
In the fire’s blaze are its impurities refined,

20. From the days I have gleaned counsel and wisdom,
And from time's tribulations come its inclinations,

21. If the certain counsels burden you, then follow
The guidance of one aged whom experience has seasoned,

22. My white hair frightened you in the darkness,
While my youth, its darkness did not alarm you,

23. I have ascended to the peak of glory, and these
Are my planets, O sun of beauty, lit by my fire,

24. My white hair and dyed locks are adornments,
And it is my right to have no qualms about them,

25. I lie to myself though it knows well
My condition, so why complain of white and blackened hair?

26. Time has its phases, and while we delighted
In its tidings, its misfortunes returned,

27. The path to glory is obvious, except
It is formidable, with none reaching it by riding,

28. We have taken the eternal glory's path,
And after, its challenges subsided before us,

29. With the sword of truth we struck those who rejected its rule,
A blade whose strikes never fail,

30. I see truth mightier than all things, but
It weakens when its people are frail,

31. The sword must charge the enemy undaunted,
Not held back because its wielder is timid,

32. To glory, O people of Iraq, to the sublime,
To triumph, its meteors and planets shine,

33. If truth is reinforced by accord,
Its seekers’ hopes of success are revealed,

34. And the strong people’s will prevails
Over the enemy plotting against it and resisting it,

35. My principles and unsheathed blade lack no defenses
Against one whose schemes are not independent,

36. We want loyalty to covenants, which are only
Numbers on water the writer toys with,

37. Of the youth I love best the most valiant,
Chaste, noble soul, his virtues proven,

38. If the pursuit of most is their gain,
Then the lofty pursuit is glory and its spoils,

39. And he prefers sincerely his people’s well-being
Over himself, knowing this is his duty,

40. And for the beloved nation he freely gives,
The finest his talents have yielded,