1. عهدَ الجدود سقاك صوبُ عهادِ

    ورجعت للأحفاد بالاسعادِ

    O age of the forefathers, may recurring showers water you,

    and may you return to the grandchildren, bringing happiness.

  2. ماضٍ تحصنت البلاد بظّله

    من كيد منتدب وصولة عاد

    A past beneath whose shade the land found protection

    from a mandate-holder's scheming and an aggressor's assault.

  3. المشرفية في الوغى خطباؤه

    تعلو منابر من متون جياد

    Mashrafi swords were its orators in battle,

    mounting pulpits made of the backs of steeds.

  4. وشبا الأسنة فيه ألسنَةٌ إذا

    نطقت فمنطق سؤددٍ وسداد

    And there the spearheads' points were tongues that, when

    they spoke, spoke with nobility and sound judgment.

  5. وطنية إن يكن عُرِف اسمُها

    لم يَخفَ جوهرها على الأجدادِ

    Patriotism—if its name has become known,

    its essence was not hidden from the forefathers.

  6. وتحرّجوا أن لا يمس حروفها

    قلمُ الجبان يخطُّها بمداد

    And they were scrupulous that its letters should not be touched

    by a coward's pen, tracing them in ink.

  7. حمراء أوردها الدماءَ حفاظهم

    كدراء لم تنفض غبار جهاد

    Red—their defense of honor made it drink blood;

    dusky, it had not shaken off the dust of struggle.

  8. سائل بها عزّون كيف تخضبت

    بدم الفرنجة عند جوف الوادي

    Ask Azzun about it: how it was dyed

    with the Franks' blood in the hollow of the valley.

  9. دعت الرجال ولم تكد حتى مشت

    هِمم إلى الهيجاء كالأطواد

    It called the men, and scarcely had it done so when there marched

    mighty wills toward battle, like towering mountains.

  10. ثم التقوا تحت السيوف وبينهم

    كأس الحتوف تقول هل من صاد

    Then they met beneath the swords, and among them

    a cup of death said, “Is anyone thirsty?”

  11. كسروا من النسر الكبير جناحه

    ذي التاج والأَعلام والأجناد

    They broke the great eagle's wing—

    the bearer of the crown, the banners, and the armies.

  12. تركوه يجمع في الشعاب فلوله

    ويصب لعنته على القوادِ

    They left him gathering his routed remnants in the ravines,

    and pouring his curse upon the commanders.

  13. رجع الأَباة الظافرون وليس من

    متبجحٍ فيهم يصيح بلادي

    The unbowed victors returned, and there was no

    braggart among them shouting, “My country!”

  14. هل أهلكت فروّخ الاَّ نخوة

    منّا لعسف فيه واستبداد

    Was Farrukh destroyed by anything but a sense of honor

    among us, provoked by his oppression and tyranny?

  15. لمَ يا دعاة السوء يطمس فضل من

    أضحى غداة الظلم أول فادي

    Why, O advocates of evil, is the merit of one erased

    who, on oppression's morning, became the first redeemer?

  16. ثارت بصالح نخوة قذفت به

    في وجه اقبح ظالم متمادِ

    A sense of honor rose in Salih and hurled him

    into the face of the vilest, unrelenting tyrant.

  17. ومضت به صُعداً إلى كرسيه

    والموت في يده وراء زناد

    And it bore him upward to his seat,

    with death in his hand, behind a trigger.

  18. ألقى به وبظلمهَ من حالقٍ

    متضرجين بحمرة الفرصاد

    He cast him and his tyranny down from a lofty height,

    both stained with the crimson of mulberries.

  19. هل عهد إبراهيم غير صحيفة

    قد أشرقت بالعِلْيَة الأَمجادِ

    Was Ibrahim's era anything but a page

    that shone with illustrious nobles—

  20. أهل الفعال الغر من انجاده

    وذوي الحفاظ المر من أنداد

    men of resplendent deeds among his champions,

    and men fierce in defending honor, among peers?

  21. كرمت نحيزتهم فيهم نبلاء في

    أهوائهم نبلاء في الأحقاد

    Their nature was noble; among them were men noble in

    their passions, noble in their hatreds.

  22. قالوا أتمدح قلت أهل فضائل

    وفواضل من آل عبد الهادي

    They said, “Do you praise?” I said, “Men of virtue

    and generosity, from the house of Abd al-Hadi.”

  23. أصفيتكم ودّي وأعلم أنه

    ثقل على اللؤماء من حسّادي

    I gave you my sincere affection, and I know that it

    is a burden to the ignoble among those who envy me.

  24. لم يبتهج قلبي كبهجته بكم

    لما تجمّع شمل هذا النادي

    My heart never rejoiced as it rejoiced in you

    when the fellowship of this club came together.

  25. شمخت بطارف مجدكم أركانه

    وتوطدت منكم بخير تلادِ

    Its pillars rose high through your newly won glory,

    and were strengthened by your finest ancestral heritage.