ودخول الترك ف يالحرب صادر

عن غرور فيهِ أنور غائر

And the Turks' entry into the war sprang

from conceit in which Enver was deeply sunk.

فهو ف يالدولة ناهٍ وآمر

وبها خاطر غير محاذر

For in the state he forbids and commands,

and risked it without caution,

وتناسى القول ليس المخاطر

زجها في الحرب جوراً وظلما

and forgot the saying, "The risk-taker is not..."

He thrust it into war unjustly and oppressively,

وعليها الشرّ جرَّ فطما

والى الاهلين ثكلاً ويتما

and brought evil upon it until it overflowed;

and to its people, bereavement and orphanhood

ساق والجيشَ أجاع وأظمى

وبه طوح تطويح جائر

he brought, and starved the army and made it thirst,

and flung it headlong as a tyrant would.

وهو فيها مثل كل اتحادي

ناعم البال طروب الفؤادِ

And there, like every Unionist,

he is carefree and merry at heart.

لا يبالون بما في البلادِ

من دمارٍ آخذٍ في ازديادِ

They care nothing for what the land suffers

of devastation, ever increasing,

وشقاءٍ لفمِ الفتك فاغر

أقفروا من ساكنيها المرابع

and misery opening wide the maw of slaughter.

They emptied the dwelling-grounds of their inhabitants,

ومنوهم بالرزايا الفواجع

غادروهم بين عارٍ وجائع

and afflicted them with grievous calamities.

They left them—some naked, some starving,

وأخي داءٍ عياءٍ ونازع

ومسجًّى لا يواريهِ قابر

some with incurable sickness, some in their death throes,

some laid out dead, with no gravedigger to bury them.

وعليهم لقناة السويسِ

غزوهم عاد بشؤمِ طويس

And upon them, against the Suez Canal,

their invasion recoiled with Tuways's ill luck.

من نجا منهم بهون قعيسِ

آب ملتفاً بأطمار أيسِ

Whoever among them survived, in crushing humiliation,

returned wrapped in the rags of despair,

وقنوطٍ للعزائم ناحر

مع هذا كله لم يحيدوا

and hopelessness that slaughters resolve.

Despite all this, they did not turn aside

عن ضلال ما عليه مزيدُ

بل على مصر ارتأوا أن يعيدوا

from folly that could not be surpassed.

Rather, they resolved to renew against Egypt

كرةً أخرى عساها تفيدُ

ظفراً عنهُ تذاع البشائر

another assault, hoping it would yield

a victory whose glad tidings would be proclaimed.

يوم رمانةَ كان خطيرا

مستطيراً شرهُ قمطريرا

The day of Rummana was perilous,

its evil spreading far, fierce and grim.

أُصليَ الاتراك فيهِ سعيرا

وسُقوا مهلاً حميماً حرورا

The Turks were made to endure a blazing fire that day,

and given molten metal to drink, scalding and scorching;

ولقوا ضرباً يشقُّ المرائر

فيهِ يا مصرُ حماتكِ صدوا

and met with blows that split their gallbladders.

That day, O Egypt, your defenders repelled

هجمات الترك عنكِ وردُّوا

كيدهم في نحرهم واستردوا

the Turks' attacks upon you, and turned

their schemes against their own throats, and reclaimed

لكِ سينا كلها واستعدوا

لتخطيها الى ما يجاور

all Sinai for you, and made ready

to cross it into the neighboring lands.

يوم رمانةَ غازوكِ خارُوا

قوة فيهِ فزاغوا وحاروا

On the day of Rummana, your invaders lost

their strength that day, then faltered and were bewildered.

وبهم كاد يحيق البوارُ

ولهم لم يبق الا الفرار

And ruin nearly closed around them;

and nothing remained for them but flight.

وبه لاذوا فجازوا المخاطر

بعدها قطيةَ أَخلوا وبئر ال

And in it they sought refuge, escaping the dangers.

Afterward they evacuated Qatiya, and Bir al-

عبد جازوا والعريش تنقَّل

ظلهم من أرضها وتحمَّل

Abd they passed; and from al-Arish moved

their shadow, departing from its soil;

والى مقضبةَ السير حوَّل

وبها حلُّوا حلول المسافر

and toward Maqdaba it turned its march;

and there they halted as travelers do.

لم يطل للترك فيها المقامُ

وعليهم ثم جدَّ الزحامُ

The Turks' stay there was not long,

and then the press of battle intensified against them.

فجأةً ريعوا به والضرامُ

شبّ من حولهم والحمامُ

Suddenly they were terrified by it, and the blaze

flared around them, while death

فوقهم أضحى يحوم كطائر

جاءهم جيش مري فابتلاهم

began to circle above them like a bird.

Murray's army came upon them and assailed them

بهجوم هدّ ركن قواهم

حين ولوا مدبرين اقتفاهم

with an assault that shattered the pillar of their strength.

When they turned their backs in retreat, it pursued them,

ودهاهم معُملاً في قفاهم

تحت داجي النقع بيض البواتر

and overwhelmed them, wielding at their napes,

beneath the dark battle-dust, gleaming, cleaving swords.

سامهم هوناً وذلاً وخسرا

وانكساراً منه ذاقوا الامرا

It inflicted humiliation, abasement, and loss upon them,

and defeat, whose utmost bitterness they tasted.

غادروا قتلى وجرحى وأسرى

ضعف من نكص منهم وفرا

They left behind dead, wounded, and captives,

twice as many as those of them who recoiled and fled.

بعد ما عانوا صروف النكالِ

وغدت حالتهم شرّ حالِ

After they had endured many forms of punishment,

and their condition had become the worst,

رفح اختاروا محط الرحالِ

واليها عجلوا في ارتحالِ

they chose Rafah as the place to set down their loads,

and hastened toward it on their journey,

يسبق الاول منهم آخر

ولهم في رفحَ الظافرونا

the last of them outstripping the first.

And at Rafah, the victors

فاجأوا لا يرهبون المنونا

وعليهم هجموا صائلينا

took them by surprise, unafraid of death,

and charged upon them fiercely,

صولة الاسد بهم فاتكينا

فتك بازٍ بالطيور الاصاغر

with a lion's onslaught, slaughtering them

as a hawk slaughters the smaller birds.

هكذا كان مصير الذينا

حاولوا تدويخ مصر جنونا

Such was the fate of those

who madly tried to subjugate Egypt,

وقضوا عامين في تيه سينا

وبغوا ثم انجلوا مكرهينا

and spent two years in Sinai's wilderness,

and committed aggression, then were forced to depart.

وعلى الباغي تدور الدوائر

And calamities circle back upon the aggressor.