1. أهلاً بربِّ المهرجانِ

    أهلاً بنابغةِ البيانِ

    Welcome to the master of the festival!

    Welcome to the genius of eloquence!

  2. ملكِ القلوبِ المستقل

    ل بعرِشها والصوْلجان

    King of hearts, sole ruler

    of their throne and scepter;

  3. ومتوَّجٍ حالتْ أشعَّةُ

    تاجهِ دونَ العيانِ

    And a crowned king whom the rays

    of his crown conceal from sight.

  4. أْهلاً بشوقي شاعرِ ال

    فُصْحى ومعْجزةِ البيانِ

    Welcome to Shawqi, poet of

    classical Arabic and miracle of eloquence!

  5. يا فَرقدَ الشعراءِ كْم

    من فرقدٍ لعُلاكَ رانِ

    O polar star of poets, how many

    a polar star gazes toward your heights!

  6. عَلَما الخلود مُنشَّرا

    ن على سريركَ يَخْفُقان

    The two banners of immortality, unfurled,

    flutter above your throne.

  7. جبريلُ ينفخُ في فؤا

    دكَ ما يفيضُ على اللَّسان

    Gabriel breathes into your heart

    what overflows upon the tongue.

  8. وأمدًّ بالنفحات رو

    حك حين طوَّف بالجنان

    And nourished your soul with fragrant breaths

    when he roamed the gardens of Paradise.

  9. فإذا بأبكارِ الجنا

    ن لديْكَ أْبكارُ المعاني

    And behold, the virgins of Paradise

    are for you the virgins of meaning.

  10. يا باكَي الفيحاءِ حي

    ن أبتْ تقيمُ على الهوان

    O you who wept for al-Fayha, when

    she refused to dwell in humiliation,

  11. أيام كانت وردةً

    بدم البواسل كالدّهان

    In the days when she was rose-red,

    with the blood of the brave, like red leather.

  12. أرسَلْتَ عنْ بردَى سلا

    مك في لظى الحرب العوانِ

    You sent from Barada your greeting

    amid the blaze of recurrent war;

  13. وذرفتَ دمعاً لا يُكفْ

    كف هيَّجتْةُ الغُوطْتانِ

    And you shed tears that could not be checked,

    stirred by the two Ghoutas.

  14. البيتُ ممَّا قُلْتَهُ فيهِ

    تخايلُ جنَّتانِ

    Within a verse of what you uttered,

    two gardens come into view.

  15. أبداً رثاؤكَ فيهما

    عينانِ دمعاً تجريانِ

    Forever, your lament within them

    is two springs flowing with tears.

  16. هذا وإنَّ جناهما

    لَلْصَّعْبِ فاعجب وهو دانِ

    All this, although their fruit

    is hard to gather—marvel, though it is near!

  17. عَرِّجْ على حطّينَ واخ

    شعْ يُشْجِ قلبكَ ما شجاني

    Turn aside to Hattin, and bow in awe;

    let what saddened me sadden your heart.

  18. وانظرْ هُنالِكَ هل ترى

    آثار يوسف في المكانِ

    And look there: do you see

    Yusuf's traces in that place?

  19. أْيقِظ صلاحَ الدين رَب

    ب التَّاج والسَّيف اليماني

    Awaken Salah al-Din, lord

    of the crown and the Yemeni sword,

  20. ومثيرَها شَعْواءَ أي

    يوبيَّةَ الخيْلِ الهِجانِ

    And he who roused a raging battle

    with noble-bred Ayyubid horses,

  21. بالعاديات لديْه ضبحاً

    والأَسنَّةُ في اللَّبانِ

    With chargers panting before him,

    and spearheads in the breast;

  22. ترْمي بمارِجها وما

    غيْرَ العجاجة من دخانِ

    It hurls its flame, with no

    smoke but the swirling dust.

  23. في كلِّ خطَّارٍ على ال

    أَخطار صَبَّارِ الَجنانِ

    In every warrior bold in the face of

    danger, steadfast of heart.

  24. حَلقَاتُ أدرعِهمْ قيو

    د الموْتِ في دَرَك الطعانِ

    The rings of their armor are fetters

    of death in the depths of spear-fighting;

  25. وسيوفُهم ماءُ الحميمِ

    على مضاربهنَّ آنِ

    And their swords are scalding water,

    fiercely hot along their striking edges.

  26. والخيلُ طَوْعُ كماتِها

    في النَّقْعِ مُرْخاة العِنان

    And the horses obey their armored warriors,

    loose-reined amid the battle dust.

  27. لا تنثني أو تحرزَ ال

    قَصَباتِ في يومِ الرّهانِ

    They do not turn back until they win

    the prize-reeds on the day of the race.

  28. حِطَّينُ يومُك ليس ين

    كر شاهديه الخافقانِ

    Hattin, your day—there is no denial

    of its two witnesses by East and West.

  29. تتطايرُ الأَرواحُ فيه

    من السِّنان إلى السِّنان

    Souls fly about on that day,

    from spearpoint to spearpoint.

  30. وترى السِّهامَ مُقَوَّما

    ت فوْقَ أجسامٍ حَوانِ

    And you see arrows standing straight

    above bodies bent low.

  31. فإذا أديمُ الأَرض أح

    مر من دمِ الافرنج قانِ

    And behold, the earth's surface is red,

    deep crimson with the blood of the Franks.

  32. يُسْقَوْن من كأس الرَّدى

    ومليكُهم ظمآن عانِ

    They are given drink from the cup of death,

    and their king is thirsty, a captive,

  33. حتى انجلى رَهَجُ الوغى

    والنَّصْرُ مَرموقُ العنان

    Until the dust of battle cleared,

    and victory's reins drew the gaze.

  34. ومشى صلاحُ الدينّ تح

    ت لوائِهِ في مِهْرجانِ

    And Salah al-Din marched

    beneath his banner in a festive procession.

  35. وعلا الأذانُ ورجَّعَتْ

    تكبيرَهُ شَرَفُ الأذانِ

    And the call to prayer rose, echoed back—

    its 'God is greatest'—by the minaret balconies.

  36. اَمقوِّضَ الدُّولاتِ مَنْ

    لي مِنْ صُروفِك بالأَمانِ

    O toppler of states, who

    will grant me safety from your vicissitudes?

  37. دُكَّت صُروحٌ ما بنى

    أْمثاَلها في المجدِ بانِ

    Towers were razed; no one ever built

    their like in glory.

  38. جَلَّ المصابُ أبا علي

    يٍ فابْكِ هاتيكَ المغاني

    The calamity is grievous, Abu Ali;

    so weep for those abodes.

  39. ذهبَ الذين عهدتَهم

    لا يصبرون على الهوانِ

    Gone are those you once knew,

    who would not endure humiliation.

  40. في مصرَ يطمعُ أْشعَبٌ

    وهنا تنادى أْشعبانِ

    In Egypt, Ash'ab covets,

    and here two Ash'abs have called to each other.

  41. وهنا التخاذُلُ في الشَّدا

    ئد والتشَّاؤُمُ والتَّواني

    And here, mutual desertion in adversity,

    and pessimism and procrastination.

  42. والنَّفسُ يقتُلُ عزمها

    طولُ التَّعلُّلِ بالأماني

    And the soul's resolve is killed

    by prolonged self-consolation with wishes.

  43. خُذْها إليكَ وأنتَ عن

    هايا أميرَ الشِّعر غان

    Take her to yourself, though you have

    no need of her, O Prince of Poetry:

  44. حسناءَ فيها للصَّبا

    نزقٌ على خَفَرِ الحسان

    A beauty, in whom youth has

    its impetuousness, despite the modesty of fair women.

  45. نفَحانُها مِنْ كرمْةٍ

    تُعزى إلى الحسن بنِ هاني

    Her fragrance comes from a grapevine

    ascribed to al-Hasan ibn Hani.

  46. هَيْهاتَ تبلغُ شأوَكَ الش

    شعراءُ يوماً أوْ تداني

    Never can your stature be attained

    by poets on any day, or even approached.