1. أَيَا سَيفاً أَعزَّ الدّينَ مِنهُ ال

    غِرارُ العَضْبُ وَالنَّومُ الغرارُ

    O sword, the faith was exalted by your—

    keen, cutting edge and scant sleep.

  2. مَلَأتَ جَوانِحَ الأَقطارِ رَجفاً

    كَأنَّ الأَرضَ خامَرَهَا دُوارُ

    You filled the lands' ribs with trembling,

    as though dizziness had seized the earth.

  3. عَلاكَ حلىً على الدُّنيا فَتاجٌ

    بِمَفْرِقِها وفي يَدِها سِوارُ

    Your glory adorns the world: a crown

    upon its head, and a bracelet upon its hand.

  4. أَضاءَت شَمسُ عَدلِكَ في دُجاها

    فَكُلُّ زَمانٍ ساكَنَها نَهارُ

    The sun of your justice shone in its darkness,

    so every age that dwells with it is daylight.

  5. تُحَرِّقُ مَن عَصاكَ وَأَنتَ ماءٌ

    وَتُغرِقُ مَن رَجاكَ وَأَنتَ نارُ

    You burn whoever disobeys you, though you are water,

    and drown whoever looks to you in hope, though you are fire.

  6. أَلا للَّهِ وَجهُكَ وَالمَنايا

    مُكَحّلةٌ وَلِلبيضِ اِفْتِرارُ

    Ah, God bless your face, while deaths

    wear kohl, and the white swords bare a grin.

  7. هَتَكتَ حِجابَهُ وَالنَّصرُ غَيبٌ

    وَلِلهَبواتِ طَيٌّ وَاِنتِشارُ

    You tore away its veil while victory was unseen,

    and dust clouds were folding and spreading.

  8. بِطَعنٍ لِلقُلوبِ بِهِ اِنتظامٌ

    وَضَربٍ لِلرُؤوسِ بِهِ اِنتِشارُ

    With thrusts that strung hearts together,

    and blows that scattered heads.

  9. تُبادِرهُ كَأَنَّ المَوتَ غُتْمٌ

    وَما مِن عادَةِ البَدرِ البِدارُ

    You rush toward it, as though death were mute,

    yet haste is not the full moon's habit.

  10. أَنَخْتَ عَلى الصّليبِ مَطا صليبا

    بِهِ مِن صَكِّ مَبركهِ هِدارُ

    You made a strong-backed mount kneel upon the Cross,

    with a roar from the pounding of its kneeling-place.

  11. بِمشرَفَةِ المَناكِبِ مَقرباتٌ

    لَهُنَّ بِمَتنِ كُلِّ وَغىً حِضارُ

    With high-shouldered, well-tended steeds,

    that gallop across the back of every battle.

  12. جَبينٌ بِإنّب أنَّب العَناصي

    وَإِضن وَلِلقَنا مِنها ثِمارُ

    [Wording unclear] A brow at Inab rebuked the forelocks;

    and [unclear word], while the spears bear fruit from them.

  13. وفي هابٍ أَهَبْتَ بها فَجاءَت

    كَما أَجلى مِنَ الكَسمِ الصّوارُ

    And in Hab you summoned them, so they came,

    as a herd of wild cattle departed from the [unclear word].

  14. وَكَم في فَجِّ حارِمَ مِن حَريمٍ

    عَفَتهُ فَلا جَديرَ وَلا جِدارُ

    And how many a sanctuary in Harim's pass

    they razed, leaving neither enclosure nor wall!

  15. وَأَنطاكِيَّةُ اِسْتَنَّتْ إِلَيها

    فَأَجفَلَ خَيطُها وَلَهُ عِرارُ

    And Antioch—toward it they galloped,

    so its ostrich flock fled with clamorous cries.

  16. وَصُبحٌ في عَزازَ بِها عزازٌ

    فَأَمسى وَهوَ وَعْثٌ أَو خبارُ

    And at dawn in Azaz, the ground there was hard;

    so by evening it was loose sand or yielding earth.

  17. يَشُقُّ بِها دُجا الغَمراتِ عَسفاً

    جَوادٌ لا يُشَقُّ له غُبارُ

    With them he forcefully cleaves the darkness of perils—

    a generous man whose dust none can cut through.