1. لأبي عُبيدةَ في دِمشقَ وخالدِ

    عهدٌ تجدّدَ فوقَ ربعٍ هامدِ

    For Abu Ubayda in Damascus, and for Khalid,

    A pledge has been renewed over a lifeless dwelling.

  2. طربَت عظَامُ الواقِديِّ وشاقَها

    ذِكرُ الفُتوحِ من الكِتاب الخالد

    Al-Waqidi's bones rejoiced and were stirred

    By the remembrance of conquests from the immortal book.

  3. فالجامِعُ الأمويُّ يجمَعُ أُمَّةً

    لأذانِهِ فيها دويُّ الرّاعد

    The Umayyad Mosque gathers a nation;

    Its call to prayer resounds there like thunder.

  4. والشّامُ مَملَكةٌ عروبٌ حرّةٌ

    ودمشقُ عاصمةٌ لملُكٍ آبد

    And Syria is a free Arab kingdom,

    And Damascus the capital of an enduring realm.

  5. يا حبّذا العَهدُ القَدِيمُ وحبّذا

    عهدٌ حديثٌ كالرّبيعِ الثائد

    How fine the ancient covenant, and how fine

    A new covenant like the dewy spring!

  6. الشّامُ ضَمَّت بَعدَ طُولِ صبابةٍ

    عرباً إِلى عربٍ كرامِ محاتِد

    Syria embraced, after long yearning,

    Arabs with Arabs of noble ancestry.

  7. ولوَ أنها نطقت لصاحَ تُرابُها

    أهلاً وسهلاً بالحبيبِ العائد

    And were she to speak, her soil would cry:

    Welcome to the returning beloved!

  8. ذكرت مُعاويةَ الكبيرَ وظِلّهُ

    في جوِّها ظِلُّ العِقابِ الصائد

    She remembered great Muawiya, whose shadow

    In her sky is the shadow of a hunting eagle.

  9. وتشوفت بعدَ القُنوطِ فأبصرَت

    عَلماً يُرفرفُ فوقَ سهلٍ مائِد

    She looked expectantly after despair and beheld

    A flag fluttering above an undulating plain.

  10. عربيَّةٌ ألوانُهُ شاميّةٌ

    أوطانُهُ يرجَى لِعيشٍ راغد

    Its colors are Arab, Syrian

    Its homelands; it promises a prosperous life.

  11. فيه من الألوانِ أربعَة غدت

    مرسُومةٌ في قلبِ كلِّ مجاهِد

    Within it are four colors that have become

    Inscribed in the heart of every fighter.

  12. من لا يجوُدُ بنفسِهِ ليُعزَّهُ

    ويموتُ في البزلاء ميتَةَ ماجد

    Who would not give his life to exalt it,

    And die in fierce battle a noble man's death?

  13. كلُّ الذينَ بهِ تجمّعَ شملُهُم

    يتسابقونَ إلى الفِخَارِ الزّائد

    All whose ranks it has united

    Race toward ever greater glory.

  14. طلعَت على الفيحاءِ نجمةُ سعدِهِ

    فجَلَت كآبةَ كلِّ وجهٍ كامد

    The star of his good fortune rose over al-Fayha,

    Dispelling the gloom of every sorrowful face.

  15. ودعا الشآمَ إِلى دمشقَ مُبَشِّراً

    بخلاصِها من جورِ حِكمٍ بائد

    He called Syria to Damascus, bringing glad tidings

    Of her deliverance from the tyranny of a vanished rule.

  16. فتذَكَّرت فيها المدائنُ أُمَّها

    وتنَسَّمت نبأً كحِلمِ الراقد

    Within her, the cities remembered their mother,

    And breathed in news like a sleeper's dream.

  17. واللهِ لن تَرضى الشآمُ بغيرهِ

    عَلماً أدلَّ على الشِّهابِ الوافد

    By God, Syria will accept no other

    As a standard more surely heralding the arriving meteor.

  18. أهلُ النبوءةِ والخلافَةِ أهلُهُ

    فاللهُ خصمٌ للعَتيّ الباعد

    The people of prophethood and the caliphate are his kin;

    God is the adversary of the defiant, estranged man.

  19. سلِّم علَيهِ وقِف لدَيهِ مُصَلّياً

    مِن عزَّةِ المعبودِ عزُّ العابد

    Salute him and stand before him in prayer;

    The worshipper's might comes from the might of the worshipped.

  20. فدّاه كلُّ أخي حِفاظٍ باسلٍ

    في حدِّ صارمِهِ مضاءُ الصارِد

    Every brave man of steadfast honor ransomed him;

    His keen sword's edge has a piercing shaft's force.

  21. هُو ذلكَ البطَلُ الذي صَولاتُهُ

    مأمولةٌ لِصلاحِ أمرٍ فاسِد

    He is that hero whose charges

    Are hoped for to set a corrupted matter right.

  22. فحِسامُهُ أبداً لحَسمِ دخيلةٍ

    وسِنانُ صعدَتِه لِشرٍّ صاعد

    His sword is always for cutting off hidden intrigue,

    And his spear's point for rising evil.

  23. إشراقُ نُورِ جَبينهِ لمُسالمٍ

    وأجِيجُ نارِ يمينهِ لمُعاند

    The radiance of his brow's light is for the peaceable,

    And the blaze of his right hand's fire for the obstinate.

  24. نعمَ الفتى الجنديُّ يحمِلُ شكّةً

    وحسامُهُ للمُلكِ أوّلُ شائد

    How fine a youth is the soldier bearing arms!

    His sword is the foremost builder of the kingdom.

  25. فتقولُ حينَ تراهُ أفتَكَ ضاربٍ

    ولشوكةِ الظلَّامِ أكبرَ خاضد

    When you see him, you say: the deadliest striker,

    And the greatest breaker of oppressors' power.

  26. أهُوَ الشّهيدُ لسيفِهِ أم سيفُهُ

    كان الشّهيدَ لهُ أمامَ الجاحد

    Is he the witness to his sword, or was his sword

    The witness for him before the denier?

  27. السَّيفُ صلّى في الرِّقابِ لِكَفِّهِ

    حتى تفَجَّرَ سائلٌ من جامد

    The sword prayed among necks to his hand,

    Until liquid burst forth from the solid.

  28. يا شامُ أهرَمَكِ الزمانُ وبؤسُهُ

    فخُذي الشّبابَ مِن العروبِ الناهد

    O Syria, time and its misery have aged you;

    Take youth from the full-breasted Arab maiden.

  29. دَمُها قويٌّ طاهرٌ في بدوِها

    مِنهُ الحياةُ لكلِّ شعبٍ عاصد

    Her blood is vigorous and pure among her nomads;

    From it comes life to every struggling people.

  30. فإذا تمازَجتِ الدِّماءُ تضرَّمت

    نارُ العزيمةِ بعدَ جمرٍ خامِد

    And when the blood mingles, there blazes

    The fire of resolve after smoldering embers.

  31. لهفي عليكِ إذا غدَوت أسيرةً

    والقيدُ منه انقدّ قلبُ الصافد

    Alas for you if you become a captive,

    With the shackler's heart hewn from the fetter itself!

  32. إن كنتِ جاهلةً سلي مِصرَ التي

    بُلَيت بآسادٍ لهُم وأساوِد

    If you do not know, ask Egypt, who

    Was afflicted by their lions and black snakes.

  33. تالله لا إفراجَ عن مسجُونةٍ

    صُنِعَت سلاسِلُها بشكلِ قلائد

    By God, there is no release for a captive

    Whose chains were fashioned like necklaces.

  34. قولي لأهلِكِ بعدَ طولِ بلائهم

    أنتم أقاربُ فاعبسوا لأباعد

    Tell your people, after their long suffering:

    You are kin; frown upon outsiders.

  35. أوَ ما عرفتُم حظَّكُم منهُم وقد

    بعدت معُونتُهم لِقربِ شدائد

    Have you not learned your portion from them, when

    Their assistance receded as hardships drew near?

  36. يا ويلَكُم إن أصبحُوا أسيادَكُم

    فلطالما شقِيَ المسُودُ بسائد

    Woe to you if they become your masters!

    How often the ruled have suffered under a ruler.

  37. فتَثبّتوا بعَقِيدَةٍ عصَبيَّةٍ

    وطنِيّةٍ عندَ اختِلافِ عقائد

    Stand firm in a creed of solidarity,

    Patriotic, amid differing creeds.

  38. أدمشقُ عاصمةُ البلادِ استَعصمي

    باللهِ بَينَ دَسائسٍ ومكائد

    O Damascus, capital of the land, seek protection

    In God amid intrigues and plots.

  39. ومنَ السّهولِ إِلى السّواحلِ جمِّعي

    مُدُناً غدَت للمُلكِ خيرَ قواعد

    From the plains to the coasts, gather

    Cities that have become the kingdom's finest strongholds.

  40. تِلكَ القواعدُ لم تَكُن بقُبُورِها

    وقَصُورها إِلا تُراثَ أماجِد

    Those strongholds, with their tombs, were nothing—

    And their palaces—but the heritage of noble men.

  41. أبداً تَلُوذُ بدَولةٍ عرَبيَّة

    كي تتّقي شرَّ العدوِّ الراصد

    They ever seek refuge in an Arab state

    To ward off the evil of the watchful enemy.

  42. أتميلُ عن عربٍ إِلى عجَمٍ ولا

    تَرعي ذِمامَ أحبَّةٍ ومعَاهد

    Would she turn from Arabs to non-Arabs, and not

    Honor the bonds of loved ones and a covenant partner?

  43. لا والذينَ توَسَّدوا أجدَاثَها

    ليسَت فرُوكاً أو غويَّة فاسد

    No, by those who made her graves their pillows!

    She is no husband-hating wife, nor a corrupt man's dupe.

  44. بيروتُ أُختُكِ يا دِمَشقُ فإنَّها

    عرَبيَّةُ واللهُ أكبرُ شاهِد

    Beirut is your sister, O Damascus, for she

    Is Arab, and God is the greatest witness.

  45. فتيانُها الشُّرفاءُ فيها استُشهدُوا

    والموتُ يعذُبُ للمُحِبّ الجاهد

    Her noble young men were martyred within her;

    Death is sweet to the striving lover.

  46. ماتوا فدى عصَبيَّةٍ عرَبيَّةٍ

    قويت على رغمِ العدوّ الحاشد

    They died as a ransom for Arab solidarity

    That grew strong despite the mustering enemy.

  47. من غزَّةِ القصوى إلى يافا إِلى

    حيفا إِلى عكاء صدقُ مَواعد

    From farthest Gaza to Jaffa, to

    Haifa, to Acre: promises kept.

  48. وكذاكَ من صورٍ إِلى صيدا إِلى

    مرسى طرابلسٍ أعزُّ مقاَصد

    Likewise, from Tyre to Sidon, to

    Tripoli's harbor: the noblest destinations.

  49. واللاذقيَّةُ عانَقت مَرسينَ مِن

    إسكَندرُونةَ والقلَى لمُباعِد

    And Latakia embraced Mersin, from

    Iskenderun; loathing is for whoever keeps them apart.

  50. تلكَ المدائنُ كلُّها عربيَّةٌ

    في بؤسِ طارِفها ونعمِالتالد

    Those cities are all Arab,

    In their present misery and their inherited blessings.

  51. بعدَ العناءِ تَقَطَّعَت أغلالُها

    فبَدت عُروبتُها لعينِ الناقد

    After suffering, their shackles were broken,

    And their Arab identity appeared to the discerning eye.

  52. شُلَّتِ أكفُّ الرومِ إن عَبثوا بها

    لمزَاعمٍ ومآربٍ ومَفاسد

    May the Romans' hands be paralyzed if they tamper with them

    For pretensions, ambitions, and corrupt purposes!

  53. قسماً بسيفِ يزيدِها وضريحهِ

    لن تَستكِينَ ولن تَلينَ لِقاصد

    An oath by the sword of her Yazid and his tomb:

    She will neither submit nor yield to an assailant.

  54. الشّامُ أختٌ للعراقِ وفيهما

    نورُ العروبةِ للضّليلِ الناشد

    Syria is Iraq's sister, and in both

    Is the light of Arab identity for the lost seeker.

  55. وهما مواطنُ أُمتّي وعليهما

    مَعقُودةٌ آمالُ كلِّ مُعاهد

    Both are my nation's homelands, and upon them

    Are pinned the hopes of every covenant partner.

  56. أهلوُهما أبناءُ عمٍّ كلّهم

    عرَبٌ بآدابٍ لهم وعوائد

    Their people are cousins, all of them

    Arabs, with their own manners and customs.

  57. والعلجُ يُفسدُ أو يُفرِّقُ بينَهم

    ويقُولُ لي فضلُ المُعينِ الرافد

    The foreign brute corrupts or divides them,

    And says: mine is the merit of the helper and supporter.

  58. واللهِ لولاهم تمزَّقَ جَيشُهُ

    والكَيدُ مردُودٌ لِنحرِ الكائد

    By God, without them his army would have fallen apart;

    The plot is turned back upon the plotter's throat.

  59. قد حالَفُوهُ وظفَّروهُ بالعِدى

    حتى استَبَدَّ وكانَ أضرى آسد

    They allied with him and gave him victory over enemies,

    Until he became despotic, the fiercest of lions.

  60. فعَليهِ لعنَتُهم ولعنَةُ نسلِهم

    مادامَ أكذَبَ واعدٍ ومُواعد

    Upon him be their curse and their descendants' curse,

    So long as he is the falsest of promisers and covenant-makers!

  61. يا ضيعَةَ الأعرابِ والإسلامِ إن

    غدَتِ الشآمُ طريدةً لمُطارِد

    What ruin for the Arabs and Islam if

    Syria becomes a quarry for a pursuer!

  62. فتَحَكَّم الأعلاجُ في أبنائها

    وقضَوا بذلِّ مدارسٍ ومساجد

    Then foreign brutes would rule over her children

    And decree the humiliation of schools and mosques.

  63. وتناهَشَ الذؤبانُ من أخلافهِم

    جثُثَ الأسودِ على الترابِ الجاسد

    And wolves among their successors would gnaw at

    The carcasses of lions upon the hardened earth:

  64. من كلّ خوّارٍ يُشَمّر ثوبَه

    ويدوسُ أذيالَ الإمامِ الساجد

    Every craven who tucks up his robe

    And tramples the hem of the prostrate imam.

  65. في عَينهِ الزرقاء وهي زجاجَةٌ

    تَبدو الصَّلابةُ من فؤاد بارد

    In his blue eye, itself a piece of glass,

    Hardness appears from a cold heart.

  66. ما انفكّ معتسّاً يُحدّدُ نابَهُ

    كعملَّسٍ حولَ الفَرِيسةِ رائد

    He never ceases prowling, sharpening his fang,

    Like a swift wolf seeking around its prey.

  67. هلا تُطهّرُ أرضها من رِجسِهم

    بالمؤمنينَ وأنتَ خيرُ مؤاجد

    Will you not cleanse her land of their defilement

    With the believers, you who are the finest avenger?

  68. زَحفَ العلوجُ بخيلِهم وبرجلِهم

    وتَبوّأوا منها أعزَّ مقاعد

    The foreign brutes advanced with their cavalry and infantry,

    And occupied her most commanding positions.

  69. ولهم أساطيلُ ادلهمَّ دُخانها

    ومَدافعُ انتصَبَت لكلّ مُجالد

    They have fleets whose smoke grew dark,

    And cannon positioned against every fighter.

  70. والمؤمنونَ جميعُهم عُزلٌ ولا

    حامٍ لأولاد لهم وولائد

    The believers are all unarmed, with no

    Protector for their children and maidens.

  71. فتجدَّلَ الأحرارُ ثم تَفرّقوا

    حتى تبرَّأ معصَمٌ من ساعد

    The free men were felled, then scattered,

    Until wrist was severed from forearm.

  72. أبداً يشنّونَ الإغارةَ غرّةً

    مُتهارِشينَ على فُتاتِ مَزاوِد

    They forever launch surprise raids,

    Snarling at one another over scraps from provision bags.

  73. للإنكليز وللفَرنسيسِ الوَرى

    والأرضُ مِثلُ غنائمٍ وطرائد

    To the English and the French, humankind

    And the earth are like booty and hunted prey.

  74. إخوانُنا في الغَربِ طالَ شقاؤُهم

    كم شاهدٍ يروي الفظائعَ ساهد

    Our brothers in the West have suffered long;

    How many a sleepless witness recounts atrocities!

  75. أمصيرُهم يوماً يكونُ مصيرَنا

    ولنا على الأطلالِ حَسرةُ فاقد

    Will their fate one day become our fate,

    With a bereaved one's grief for us amid the ruins?

  76. يا شامُ لا نعبَ الغُرابُ ولا رنت

    عينٌ إِلى قفَصِ الهزارِ الغارد

    O Syria, may no raven caw, nor may there gaze

    An eye toward the singing nightingale's cage.

  77. فإذا ترنّمَ راثياً أو نائحاً

    ما شدوهُ إِلا رَنينُ قصائدي

    And if it sings in elegy or lament,

    Its song is nothing but the resonance of my poems.

  78. نُظمَت شعائرُ أمَّتي وشُعورُها

    عقداً ولن ينحلّ عقدُ العاقد

    My nation's rites and feelings were strung

    Into a necklace; its maker's knot will not come undone.

  79. نادي مُعاويةَ الكبيرَ لعّلهُ

    يأتي إليكِ على جناحِ المارد

    Call great Muawiya; perhaps he

    Will come to you upon a giant spirit's wing,

  80. ونُصولُهُ لمّاعةٌ كبوارقٍ

    وخُيوله صهّالةٌ كرواعد

    His blades gleaming like lightning flashes,

    His horses neighing like thunderclaps.

  81. فَيُشرِّدُ الأعلاجَ عن أرباضِنا

    وثُغورِنا بعدَالمنامِ الشارد

    Then he will drive the foreign brutes from our outskirts

    And our frontiers, after wandering sleep.

  82. الملك لا يبنيه إلا هامهم

    فالهام آساس لملكٍ واطد

    Nothing builds a kingdom but their heads;

    Heads are the foundation of a firmly established kingdom.

  83. فهو الذي سدَّ الثغورَ وصدَّهم

    عَنها بكلّ مُغاوِرٍ ومُناجد

    He is the one who secured the frontiers and repelled them

    From them with every raider and valiant helper.

  84. وبنى لها الأسطولَ فامتَنَعت بهِ

    وسطا على أرضِ العدوّ الفاهد

    He built her a fleet, through which she became impregnable,

    And struck the land of the slumbering enemy.

  85. فعَنَت بلادُ الرومِ واضطَرَبت له

    والبحرُ خيسٌ للهزَبر الحارد

    The Romans' lands submitted and trembled before him;

    The sea was a thicket for the furious lion.

  86. يا أيُّها الشاميُّ كن مُتَجلِّداً

    ولأجلِ أهلِكَ أو دِيارِكَ جالد

    O Syrian, be steadfast,

    And fight for your people or your homeland.

  87. وإذا دُعيتَ الى الكَرِيهةِ كَن لها

    بطلاً فأحقِر بالجبانِ القاعد

    When called to battle, be therein

    A hero; how contemptible the coward who sits back!

  88. للهِ والحقِّ اغضَبَنَّ وإن تمُت

    مُستشهداً أحياكَ حمدُ الحامد

    For God and truth, rise in anger; and if you die

    A martyr, the praiser's praise will give you life.

  89. أنتَ الذي أوطانُه وعيالُه

    معروضةٌ عَرضَ المِتاعِ الكاسد

    You are the one whose homelands and dependants

    Are displayed like unsalable merchandise.

  90. أفلا تصونُ أعزَّ ما عندََ الفَتى

    وتموتُ دونَ محارمٍ ومعابد

    Will you not protect what a man holds dearest,

    And die defending inviolate kin and places of worship?

  91. وَيلٌ عليكَ إذا رَضيتَ دنيئةً

    لم يَرضها في الزّنجِ أهوَنُ عارد

    Woe to you if you accept a disgrace

    That the lowliest fugitive among the Zanj would not accept!

  92. ولئن رأيتَ العزمَ مَفصومَ العرى

    فاشدُدهُ بالمرِّيخِ أو بعطارِد

    And if you see resolve with its bonds broken,

    Bind it fast with Mars or Mercury.

  93. واضرِب بسَيفكَ أو برأيكَ فاصلاً

    حتى تَبدّل عاصفاً من راكد

    Strike decisively with your sword or your judgment,

    Until you turn stillness into a tempest.

  94. واللهِ لا بَطشٌ ولا حريَّةٌ

    إِلا بقذّافِ الحديدِ الحاصد

    By God, there is neither might nor freedom

    Except through the iron-hurling weapon that reaps.

  95. قل للأعاجمِ والمطامعُ جمَّةٌ

    لا تحرموا ولداً حنانَ الوالد

    Tell the non-Arabs, whose ambitions are many:

    Do not deprive a child of a parent's tenderness.

  96. الشامُ أرضٌ حرّةٌ عرَبيّةٌ

    سُكّانها عَرَبٌ لملكٍ واحد

    Syria is a free Arab land;

    Her inhabitants are Arabs of one kingdom.

  97. إنِ تَعبثوا بحقوقِها وشُعورِها

    حَفِظَت عُروبَتَها بقَلبٍ حاقد

    If you tamper with her rights and feelings,

    She will preserve her Arab identity with a resentful heart.

  98. فيكونُ من تمزيقِها لِنقابها

    يوم لهُ تَنشقُّ تُربَةُ خالد

    Then, from her tearing away her veil, there will come

    A day for which the earth of Khalid's grave will split open.