مَا اسْمٌ لِآلَةِ حَرْبٍ

مَا اسْمٌ لِآلَةِ حَرْبٍ

يَقْضِي بِهَا الْمَرْءُ نَحْبَهْ

يَقْضِي بِهَا الْمَرْءُ نَحْبَهْ

What is the name of a weapon of war

What name for this war machine

What is the name of a weapon of war,

By which a person meets his death?

By which a man meets his end?

By which a man meets his appointed end?

تَصْحِيفُهُ اسْمُ بِلاَدٍ

تَصْحِيفُهُ اسْمُ بِلاَدٍ

وُقِيتَ يَا صَاحِ حَرْبَهْ

وُقِيتَ يَا صَاحِ حَرْبَهْ

With its dots altered, it names a land;

Its maker but the name of a land

Shifting its dots yields the name of a land—

May you be spared its war, O friend.

Cease, o maker of war

May you be spared, my friend, from its war.