أدرنة الفيحاء بشراك

جاء هلال السعد يرعاك

Spacious Edirne, good tidings to you!

The crescent of good fortune has come to watch over you.

قد كنت عبرى أمس واليوم قد

قرت بأبنائك عيناك

You were tearful yesterday, and today

your eyes have found joy in your sons.

طلعتك الغراء من بهجة

تهللت واهتز عطفاك

Your radiant countenance, from joy,

lit up, and your flanks swayed.

وجهك ما عبّس حتى انجلى

همك وافترت ثناياك

Your face had scarcely frowned before there vanished

your grief, and your front teeth showed in a smile.

وما بكى الأسلام حزناً على

فقدك حتى ضحك الباكي

And Islam had scarcely wept in sorrow over

your loss before the weeper laughed.

وما شكا الجامع ناقوسهم

حتى شفى غلته الشاكي

And the mosque had scarcely complained of their bell

before the complainant quenched its burning thirst.

فقابل التكبير في أرضه

من السما تهليل أملاك

And the cry 'God is greatest' upon its earth was met

from heaven by angels' cries of 'There is no god but God.'

ضياء توحيد جلا نوره

عن أفقه ظلمة اشراك

The light of divine oneness—its radiance banished

from its horizon the darkness of idolatry.

من نفحات البشر مرت بنا

رياً عرفناها برياك

From the wafts of gladness there passed over us

a fragrance we recognized by your scent.

اهدت إلى الأرواح روح الهنا

فحبذا ذاك الشذا الذاكي

It bestowed on souls the soothing breath of joy;

how lovely, then, that heady fragrance!

لله فتح جابر كسرنا

وكاسر شوكة اعداك

God be praised for a victory that mends our brokenness

and breaks the might of your enemies!

قد طهر الله فشكرا له

من دنس البلغار مغناك

God has purified—so thanks be to Him—

your dwelling of the Bulgars' defilement.

فلم ينالوا منك نيلا سوى

اضحوا انهم ضحاياك

So they gained nothing from you except

that they became your victims.

حاشاك ان تستسلمي للعدى

يا غابة الآساد حاشاك

Far be it from you to surrender to the foe,

O forest of lions, far be it from you!

دعوت ابناءك في لهفة

وكلهم بالنصر لباك

You called your sons in anguish,

and all of them answered your call with victory.

جاءك جيش النصر مستقدما

بكل ماض الحد بتاك

The army of victory came to you, advancing

with every sharp-edged, cleaving blade.

يطوي إليك الأرض شوقاً ولا

صبر له من دون لقياك

It folds up the earth toward you in longing, with no

patience until it meets you.

قد رنحت اعطافه نشوة

معروفة من خمر ذكراك

A rapture has made its flanks sway,

a familiar one, from the wine of remembering you.

لم يستطب طعم حياة له

حتى رأى حسن محياك

It found no pleasure in the taste of its life

until it saw the beauty of your face.

ان سره الفتح فقد ساءه

ان لم يكن من بعض قتلاك

If victory delighted it, what grieved it was

that it was not among those slain for you.

ما الفخر كل الفخر الا لمن

عن العدى بالسيف حاماك

Glory—all glory—belongs only to those who

defended you against the foe with the sword.

ما كان اغلاك على انفس

ارخصتها ما كان اغلاك

How precious you were to souls

you made cheap—how precious you were!

قد سكروا عشقاً فخاضوا الردى

وهم نشاوى بحمياك

Drunk with love, they plunged into death,

while drunk on your fiery wine.

هل نبأ البرق الذي جاءنا

عن بشرنا بالفتح انباك

Did the news of the telegraph's lightning that reached us

tell you of our joy at the victory?

قد حمل البرق حياة لنا

سائرة في طي اسلاك

The telegraph's lightning has carried life to us,

traveling within the folds of wires.

سننظم اليوم لنادي الهنا

دراً به قبل بكيناك

Today we shall string, for joy's gathering,

pearls with which we once wept for you.

يا قرب ما قد عاد يهدى الهنا

إليك من قد كان ينعاك

How swiftly he returned to offer joy

to you—he who had announced your death!

بالأمس قد كنت لجيش العدى

نهزة سفّاح وسفاك

Yesterday, to the army of the foe, you were

prey for a butcher and a blood-spiller.

واليوم قد نلت السرور الذي

جلا وان جلت رزاياك

And today you have attained the joy that

dispelled your calamities, great though they were.

يا فئة أهلكها بغيها

وغاية البغي لأهلاك

O band destroyed by its own aggression!

And aggression's end is indeed destruction!

قد كان من اعظم انصارنا

ظلمك ان الظلم ارداك

One of our greatest allies was

your oppression: oppression brought you down.

زعمت ان ليس لذاك الحمى

حام بجيش الموت يغشاك

You claimed that for that sanctuary there was no

defender to assail you with an army of death,

حتى شهدت البأس من فيلق

يزحف لكن بمناياك

until you witnessed the might of a legion

advancing, but bearing your doom.

هيهات ما للرجس من موطن

يرجى بذاك الوطن الزاكي

Far from it! No dwelling for defilement

can be hoped for in that pure homeland.

قد عز دين الله ان يغتدى

رهين همذاز وافاك

God's faith is too exalted to become

captive to a slanderer [uncertain reading] and a liar.

خلوا سبيل الاسد في غابها

لا تقنص الأسد باشراك

Leave the lions free in their forest;

lions cannot be caught in snares.

وانها الافلاك من أهلها

تضيء في انجم افلاك

And she is the heavens; through her people

she shines among the stars of celestial spheres.

يا نظرة اللطف التي قد شفت

بعض الجوى رحماك رحماك

O glance of kindness that has healed

some of the burning grief—have mercy, have mercy!

اضحى بها الإسلام في منية

تجل عن فكر وادراك

Through it, Islam now enjoys a wish fulfilled,

too sublime for thought and comprehension.

اسبغت نعمى هي مشكورة

فاستانفي سابغ نعماك

You have lavished a blessing, gratefully acknowledged;

so renew your overflowing bounty.