1. The grinding wheel of destruction turned in Damascus
And its evil was a calamity for the age

2. Polytheism was humiliated there most disgracefully
Its shame tempered by the vices of its abandonment

3. If the Day of their kingdom did not arise there
They certainly saw piles of dire calamities

4. And the trampling of steeds made it into debris
Jet-black, a lesson for the beholder’s eye

5. Had the season not departed from its custom
They would not have been given respite, even to sew

6. And they would have witnessed their seizing for their sins
What al-Nu’man witnessed in Sheba

7. An army of Arabs who, when they attacked
Pounded the non-Arabs into bits with clubs

8. A people who, when obstinacy reared its head
Struck with swords in places for whips

9. Of every fully-armed warrior wearing mail
It was as if he was, in the fray, a roaring lion