1. The most beautiful thing in it is the flowing gaze
Of a valley where the Jordan gushes forth

2. The stars swooped down upon it out of passion
So the depression between them was confined

3. They stood on both sides fluttering over it
Such is the affair of beauty, stealthy

4. At the start of its flow in the north next to
An old man whose greatness has passed and greatness remains

5. Plunging to death in the south next to
A sea that, unlike seas, expires

6. And whoever’s whiteness is filled out by age
Is there anything left for him but waiting for death?

7. O East, it is a river with how many a spring
Whose rushing rivulets are pearls

8. Half of it descends from Qadisha and is chained
And half of it descends from Banias

9. Al-Hasbani meanwhile strengthens its flow
It does not grow calm as it runs

10. It fills the Jordan with its blessings
And around it the meadows flourish

11. Where the oleander’s entanglement is intertwined
As if it were the line and dots

12. Where the growth of plants is a miracle
As if the trees were marketing its wheat

13. And hunting never ceases to be plentiful
Neither scarce nor meager

14. A lake which no one dared enter into
Its expanse was too narrow to contain it

15. It spanned another and ambitiously spanned a third
Many intentions have been joined together by it

16. Whoever bridged the vegetation a crossing
Perhaps waded through it without a bridge

17. Until when it overflowed from there
The land of Al-Batiha flourished because of it

18. Land whose water rose above its shoulders
And now pours into the sea through its mouths

19. It came rushing with no obstacle in its way
And it continued galloping with no flaw

20. Until when its waters mixed
Suddenly intoxication overcame it

21. After that life it was left
Dead while the river drowns in the sea

22. The Sea of Galilee whose shores
In every expanse of its breadth are traces

23. Its nourishment is the blood of Christ
His pure saliva made it lush

24. And between its waves and its expanses
His great signs were revealed

25. How many narratives are there for the writers
And how many prophets are remembered in it

26. Jesus and his disciples and his elite
And the people around him crowds

27. And the first converts who followed
Guidance, and that banner spread

28. And the disbelief of Nahum with all its wonders
And those who believed in it and those who traveled

29. And Magdala the town where
Mary grew up and good scent spreads

30. And asceticism in it and joy are joined
Together with destitution, eloquence, and destitution

31. And bread that thousands broke
And walking above water overtly

32. And the saying “this girl is asleep”
While the angel Azrael approached her

33. And how many a storm the boat endured
And the passengers thought that they were perished

34. So the sea calmed while raging
After they screamed and wailed

35. With a gesture it submitted to Him and was saved
The planks and poles from its load

36. On the banks of this lake if
Thought would sail the seas of thought would be lost

37. How much has time hidden in its edges
And how much has fate cast on its waves

38. Not the seven seas compared to its consequences
Not Rome, nor India, nor then Khazaria

39. And Moses’ people prostrated in its plain
Bowing, sincere, with copious tears

40. In Tiberias there are praised stands
And its land is sanctified and pardoned

41. The men of the Talmud lived in it
And most of their opinions were passed down in it

42. And how many prophets in this country stood up
Moses and how much did Al-Khidr frequent it

43. The lessons of the Jordan are enough for you
A river whose fathers crossed over it

44. And John in its banks
Purified himself in front of the people

45. What are the Nile and the Euphrates compared to its edges
What are the Tigris and the Euphrates considered

46. And Al-Ghor between the two seas stretches out
Where dinosaurs roamed in its bareness

47. If the hands of civilization cultivated it for work
Palestine overflowed despite its barrenness

48. It used to be deep water inexpanse
And now it can barely recede

49. A lake whose whole affair is wonder
And in all beauty it is exotic jewels

50. Praise be to Al-Kandeel its describer
It is as if it were the moon in its light

51. It used to encircle the gardens in its circuit
And now the Sidra trees encircle its circuit

52. A mirror of light from the slopes it possesses
A frame of light no frames have confined

53. It is as if in its serenity it is a cosmos
And its cosmos has blossoming stars in it

54. It inspired a people who saw its beauty
One day so they did not versify or poetize

55. The Jordan is at its northern side provisioning it
And in its southern side it has a breast

56. A law emerged from its waters
And other laws followed it

57. Jesus’ banner his law here
And Moses’ people deciphered their Torah

58. And in the Crusades the banners were raised
Of the religion whose shoots have grown from Muḍar

59. O day of Hittin, how you lowered
From the Franks glory that did not crumble

60. They came from the West like locusts so no
East had the capability to repel their harm

61. And Jerusalem was conquered and no
Bedouin or urban dwellers resisted

62. And they threatened the Sacred Mosque, and how much
A confused pilgrim in it screamed and stoned

63. And blood almost shed in it unjustly
Our stone softened from what afflicted it

64. And the plants of the Muslims were scattered
Bewildered, overtaken by terror

65. And every group that supported them turned
And their knights became prey for gazelles

66. And Jiluq was besieged, and if it were taken
No cities would remain for us nor shelter

67. And it was said the Abode of Islam is confined
And danger encircled the rest of its lands

68. The terror they evoked did not cease to fill hearts
And precaution did not benefit them

69. Until Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi faced them
And he had the ministry of Shirkuh

70. The vanguard of victory in the state of Nur al-Din
A just king wearing the burdens

71. A mujahid, a warrior whose speech
Regarding the conquest and justice circulated

72. The Prophet would approve of his conduct
And the likes of his guidance Umar would accept

73. Then came his successor Ibn Ayyub
Nothing delighted him but following his path

74. He prepared the seat of Al-Ma’z and it transformed
With Yusuf to a prideful Egypt

75. When matters straightened for him and no
Watcher remained and the clouds cleared

76. He came with a great army whose
Lions if passionated their passion is the passion of Sa’d

77. They knew nothing but piercing the necks
And nothing but stirring the steeds

78. He alighted on the lake’s coast while
They crawled toward him from every crevice

79. So he stood to confront them
In the plain from Lubya and they battled

80. The day the two armies met and the
Commotion subsided as if it were hell

81. The day the two armies met and the
Scale stood depending on its tilting for victory

82. East and West after long turmoil
Stood still and the arena was confined

83. For three, and the battle between them
Was battle unlike any day before it

84. The heavy shower of the arrows of Saladin’s army
Assailed them, if a trench were beyond it, it would save them

85. He attacked displaying his back to them
As if they were a people who had rebelled shaking boughs

86. The enemy tasted from the sip of their stab
A cup that fermented without grapes

87. When the matter became other than what they calculated
And the people were patient beyond their patience

88. They turned their backs to Yusuf like prey
He takes from them more than leaves

89. They recoiled terrified when they saw
Red death as if they were red

90. The Patriarch retreated with his knights
Deceit did not fool him like it fooled others

91. No wonder he survived though an earthly form surrounded him
It is the custom of the owner of the land, he buried who he buried

92. They sloped toward Hittin seeking salvation
But neither rib nor heel saved them

93. And the Sabbath revealed their defeat
And the king was among those captured

94. Despite that in a presence of esteem they were
Like palm trees planted around his tomb

95. And the Templars in their coats of mail
Nothing remained but bodies wrapped

96. They did not cower for a moment though they were defeated
But the lion is less than it without the panther

97. In a presence they were noble around his tomb
Such to him from his burial place eminence

98. They were pushed humiliated toward Yusuf
Their necks bent, their gaze cast down

99. Debasement made them seem
Like drunken folk as if resurrected

100. Yusuf an age of a kingdom’s rectitude
In every matter inclined to righteousness

101. He felt ashamed at shedding their blood
His shyness and all creatures blossoms

102. The fathers refused to kill them
He pardoned when he pardoned, and he was capable

103. A pardon with which he also pardoned them extended
From his mildness the plain widened and the rugged narrowed

104. At Arnat his vow was with a hand
For too long vows did not adorn it

105. And he said as he draped it with his sword
He married the hilt with congratulations bloodied

106. His sword the groom, he the mention
Then the king became fearful, doubting

107. That with the sword he would surprise him
When he saw the Prince’s prostrated body

108. He said, seeking the Prince’s forgiveness, I denounce
So terror momentarily hatched from him when

109. He was given good tidings that no harm would befall him
He was punished with imprisonment, certain of redemption

110. And the kingship alongside blindness deprivation
The back-breaking blow to the Franks became

111. The battle of Hittin since they appeared
It is as if Ali is Hittin’s starting point

112. And every conquest after it news
Ibn Ayyub’s fortune to attain it

113. And God created him uniquely for it
And the army whose call became

114. Inscribed on the tablet for them reward
A people who relieved the people when they wearied

115. And who by staying up brought relief to the people
Through them the ancestors of Islam ascended

116. After its people had stumbled
And to Ibn Shadhi renown that circulated

117. In every place as if it were dripping
He stood alone facing the Franks

118. And the people of every faith cowered
Until he regained most of the lands

119. And Jerusalem compliant and the boulder
The two hundred fortresses used to protect them

120. Impenetrable when our frontiers were exposed
From every fortress he uncovered their disgrace

121. By the sword, he did not walk toward them drunk
And Sur remained unbreachable in its strongholds

122. And in every direction images defending it
Who pardoned them in his benevolence

123. And his slackness, and they were many
They all refused in its ruggedness

124. So it was refuge and pressing for them
Reproach in forbearance and loyalty is a hero’s slip

125. For it is the best trait of mankind
What is the point of patience long in a man

126. If the point of shortness did not sell him
He was gentle and forbearing

127. Like a sword in water, its sharpness sparks
The fervor of power nothing corrupted it

128. And the torrent of forbearance nothing muddied it
He did not know irritation from the turmoil

129. And both sides were irritated
Until he completely unveiled their disgrace

130. Nothing of his worries alleviated
Who fortified the Abode of Islam after separation

131. Like that, below it are spears
The frontiers of the kingdom did not distract him

132. From a frontier, nor an onlooker fascinated him
And it was forbidden for the enemy to mention him

133. In their lands, his mention is fragrance
The bones of kings stand at his door

134. And he is the greatest decay
And the eminent bow, humbled at his soil

135. The head with the highest crown wrist-deep
Prominence lives on after its owner

136. And renown remains even if you become different
And we after all that and this

137. Nothing remains but narration and passing the night