1. A cool greeting from youthful Sabā,
And tears that cannot be stemmed, O Damascus!

2. Excuse the prosody and rhymes wrought by caprice,
Grandeur has rendered description most difficult.

3. Memories stir my heart to you,
An eternal turning, and fluttering.

4. The nights have wounded me, inflicting
In my heart gashes of great depth.

5. I came to you while the noble had great pride,
Your face of radiant features shone bright.

6. Under your branches rivers flow,
Your landscapes filled with leaves and tender plants.

7. Around me young men, a morning’s glory,
Foremost in merit, virtues and precedent.

8. Smooth-tongued poets fill their gatherings,
And eloquent orators fill their cheeks.

9. Reciters of my poems – how strange that poetry
Should be recited by each tribe and clan!

10. I jab their dignity until the noses of lions wrinkle,
And stir the pride of each free and noble soul.

11. News came from God making
The Governor’s ears suffer what they'd not suffered before.

12. Itemized in letters the news spreads,
Summarized in reports the news flashes.

13. Given the enormity, it could be thought
Mere myths yet it was truth manifest.

14. It was said the landmarks of history were erased,
That loss and burning had brought it to ruin.

15. Are you not, O Damascus, a bosom-mate to Islam,
And nurturer of nobility, rightly guided?

16. Saladin’s crown – none fairer than it ever graced you.
No decoration was richer than this.

17. Each civilization that graced the world
Had from your lofty splendor a share.

18. Your sky a tome of the jewelry of the past,
Your land a parchment of history’s necklaces.

19. You built a great state and a kingdom –
The dust of their civilization cannot be swept away.

20. He had in Syria flags and wedding processions –
Tidings of him resounded in al-Andalus.

21. Eternity's sanctuaries tell what befell them –
Is it truer they were destroyed or still stand?

22. Are the gardens' pavilions still luxuriously furnished?
Is their bliss as it was before?

23. Where are the palace ladies' flimsy robes,
Torn and tattered?

24. They went out while the enemy lurked nearby,
And behind him chicks were pecking.

25. When safety was pursued down one path,
Other paths led to death's door.

26. Nights of bombs and death –
Their skies snatched away in terror.

27. When iron clashed the sky reddened
On its sides, and the sky darkened.

28. Greet whoever guarded your weakness after decay –
Their courage firmer than rock.

29. The colonials, though they pretended gentleness,
Had hearts hard as stones, knowing no tenderness.

30. France betrayed you in reckless folly,
A war-monger, arrogant and stupid.

31. Whenever the seekers of truth and right approached,
It would say, ‘They are dissenters who rebelled and split.’

32. The blood of rebels – France knows it
And knows it is a light and truth.

33.
In its land this blood gave life

34. Like the rain of heaven, and provision.
A country – its youth died for it to live on,

35. And parted from their people that they might endure.
Other nations gained freedom by its example –

36. How then can Syria still be colonized?
Sons of Syria, cast off your hopes,

37. Abandon, abandon your dreams!
Among the deceptions of politics that could fool you

38. Are the titles of princedom, mere finery.

39. Many a despised weakling seemed a catch
Like the tilt of the hanged man's neck.

40. Sweets of power arise then pass away
But no sweetness goes to the dissenter.

41. I gave advice while we disagreed over rule
Yet all shared the same concern and affliction.

42. When lands disagree, still a unanimous statement and voice
Unite us if opinions differ.

43. You stand between death or life –
If you seek the bliss of life, then revolt!

44. For homelands, in the blood of every free soul
A hand has volunteered, a duty calls.

45. Who drinks and sates himself on death
While free men do not drink or sate themselves,

46. And kingdoms are not built by victims
Nor rights made lawful or truth realized;

47. In the dead, generations find life
And in captives, ransom and emancipation.

48. For free and ruddy Freedom, a door
Is opened with each blood-drenched hand.

49. May He of Majesty reward you, sons of Damascus!
Glory of the East – Damascus comes first!

50. You supported your brother in his time of affliction
And to support one's brother is a truth and duty.

51. Never were the Druze a people of evil
Even if blamed beyond what they deserved.

52. But unrest in hosting guests
Like the spring of purity – they grew harsh.

53. They have a lofty mountain, with peaks climbing high,
Whose valleys drink rain from the clouds.

54. For each lion cub and every young lion
A struggle, falling short of its goal.

55. As if it contained something of heaven
Each of its directions noble and pure.