1. بني الثّغرِ لستمْ في الوَغى من بني أمي

    إذا لم أصُل بالعُرْبِ منكم على العُجمِ

    O sons of the frontier, you are no sons of my mother in battle,

    if I do not charge with the Arabs among you against the non-Arabs.

  2. دعوا النومَ إني خائفٌ أنْ تَدوسَكمْ

    دواهٍ وأنتمْ في الأماني مع الحُلمِ

    Abandon sleep: I fear you will be trampled

    by calamities while you dwell amid wishful hopes and dreams.

  3. وكأسٍ بأُمّ الموْتِ يَسعى مُديرُهَا

    إلى أهلِ كأسٍ حَثها بابنةِ الكرم

    And many a cup filled with the mother of death, its bearer hastening

    to drinkers whose cup he passed swiftly with the vine's daughter.

  4. فَرُدّوا وجوهَ الخيلِ نحو كريهةٍ

    مُصرّحةٍ في الرّوم بالثّكلِ واليُتْمِ

    So turn the horses' faces toward a dreadful battle,

    openly proclaiming bereavement and orphanhood among the Byzantines.

  5. تُهِيلُ من النقع المحلّق بالضحى

    على الشمسِ ما هالتْهُ ليلاً على النجمِ

    It heaps the dust that soars at forenoon

    upon the sun, as it heaped it upon the stars by night.

  6. وَصُولوا ببيضٍ في العَجاج كأنّها

    بُرُوقٌ بضربِ الهام محمَرّةُ السّجْمِ

    And charge with white blades amid the battle dust, as though they were

    lightning flashes, their downpour reddened by blows to heads.

  7. ولا عَدِمَتْ في سلّها من غمودها

    ظهوراً فقد تخفى الجداول بالرُّجمِ

    And may they never, when drawn from their sheaths,

    fail to appear—for streams may lie hidden beneath piled stones.

  8. وقرعُ الحسامِ الرأسَ من كلّ كافرٍ

    أحبّ إلى سمعي من النّقْرِ في البمِّ

    And the keen sword striking the head of every unbeliever

    is dearer to my hearing than plucking the bass string.

  9. وَللَّه منكمْ كلّ ماضٍ كَعَضْبِهِ

    يسيلُ إلى الهيجاءِ مُتّقِدِ العَزْمِ

    And praise be to God for each resolute man among you, keen as his sword,

    flowing toward battle, his resolve ablaze.

  10. يُحَدّثُ بالإقدامِ نفْساً كأنّما

    يَطيرُ إلى الحربِ اشتياقاً عن السلمِ

    He speaks to his soul of daring, as though

    he flies from peace toward war out of longing.

  11. ينيرُ عليه صَبْرَهُ وهو نَشْرَةٌ

    لتسريدها أمْنٌ من القَوْرِ والقَصْمِ

    He weaves his patience about himself as an outspread coat of mail,

    its linked weave protecting him from gouging and shattering.

  12. وَيَسطو بِمَحجوبِ الظباتِ إذا بدا

    جَلا ما جَلا الإِصباحُ من ظلمةِ الظلمِ

    And he strikes with a sword whose edges are veiled; when it appears,

    it dispels the darkness of injustice as daybreak does.

  13. له دَخْلَةٌ في الجسْم تُخْرِجُ نَفْسَهُ

    قُبَيْلَ خروج الحدّ منهُ عن الجسمِ

    Its entry into the body drives out the body's soul,

    just before its cutting edge leaves the body.

  14. وما يُفتدَى منهُ بِلَحمٍ ولا دمٍ

    ولكن بما في العظم بالبَرْيِ للعظمِ

    And no one can be ransomed from it with flesh or blood,

    but with what lies inside the bone, by paring the bone away.

  15. ثبوتٌ إذا ما أقْبَلَ الموتُ فاغراً

    يُرَدّد في الأسْماعِ جرْجرَةَ القَرْمِ

    He is steadfast when death approaches, its mouth gaping,

    repeating in the ears a stallion camel's rumbling roar.

  16. له عينُ ضرغامٍ هصورٍ فقلبُهُ

    بِتصريفِ فِعْلِ الجهل منه على علمِ

    He has the eye of a lion that crushes its prey, and his heart

    knowingly directs the rash deeds that spring from him.

  17. وللَّهِ أرضٌ إن عدمتمْ هواءَها

    فأهواؤكم في الأرض منثورةُ النّظمِ

    And praise be to God for a land—if you lose its air,

    then your desires on earth lie scattered, unstrung.

  18. وعزّكُمُ يُفْضي إلى الذلّ والنّوَى

    من البينِ تَرْمي الشملَ منكم بما ترمي

    And your honor ends in humiliation, and the distance

    of parting strikes your unity with whatever it hurls.

  19. فإنّ بلادَ الناسِ ليستْ بلادَكُمْ

    ولا جارُهَا والخِلمُ كالجارِ والخلمِ

    For other people's lands are not your lands,

    nor are their neighbor and close friend like your own neighbor and friend.

  20. أعَنْ أرضكمْ يغنيكمُ أرضُ غيركم

    وكم خالةٍ جَدّاءَ لم تُغْنِ عن أمِّ

    Can others' land make up for your own land?

    And many a dry-breasted maternal aunt has failed to replace a mother!

  21. أخِلّي الذي وُدّي بوُدّ وَصَلْتَهُ

    لديّ كما نِيطَ الوليّ إلى الوسمي

    O my friend, who joined my affection to your own,

    with me, as later rain is joined to autumn's first rain,

  22. تَقَيّدْ من القطر العزيز بموطنٍ

    وَمُتْ عند رَبْعٍ من ربوعكَ أو رسمِ

    bind yourself to a home in the cherished land,

    and die beside one of your dwellings, or its traces.

  23. وإيّاكَ يَوماً أن تُجّربَ غُرْبةً

    فلن يستجيزَ العقلُ تجربةَ السَّمِّ

    And beware of ever trying exile,

    for reason will never sanction experimenting with poison.