ألا فابشروا يا قوم ان الوغى الكبرى

خبَت وكفينا من تسعرُّها الشَّرا

Rejoice, O people, for the great turmoil

Has subsided, and we have had our fill of its heat.

خبت نارهُا والحمد لله بعدما

ذكت ولظاها أحرق البرَّ والبحرا

Its fire has died down, praise be to God, after

It blazed and scorched the land and the sea.

وقد وضعت اوزارها بعد ما طغت

وسجَّلت الدنيا على المعتدي الوزرا

It has cast off its burdens after raging,

And the world has recorded the guilt of the aggressor.

تقلص عن وجه البسيطة ظلها

وكان عليه ظلها باسطاً سترا

Its shadow has contracted from the face of the earth,

Though it had spread its shadow over it like a canopy.

وبعد تمادي ليلها لاح فجرهُ

وكنا ظننا أنه عدمَ الفجرا

And after the prolonging of its night, its dawn appeared,

When we thought there would never be a dawn.

قضينا بها خمسين شهراً نعدُّها

وشهراً وكنا اليومَ نحسبه شهرا

We spent fifty months counting them

As a month, and counted each day as a month,

وكنا نعد الشهرَ اطول من سني ال

مجاعةِ بل كنا نرى عامها دهرا

And counted a month longer than the years

Of famine. Indeed, we saw each of its years as an epoch.

وفيها اصاب الكون ما إِنّ وصفهُ

ليستنفدُ الاقلامَ والصحفَ والحبرا

In it, what befell the world cannot be described -

Pens, pages, and ink would be exhausted in the attempt.

وقد مرَّ إلمامي به غير مرةٍ

فلست بمستحلٍ إعادة ما مرا

The scourges that afflicted me have passed by more than once,

So I will not repeat what has already passed.

شعرتُ بما قاسي الورى من شرورها

شعوراً بدا لي أن أمثله شعرا

I felt what the world suffered of its evils

With a feeling that seemed to me like poetry.

أجبتُ به نفسي على الفور إذ دعت

ولبيتها لم اعصِ فيها لها أمرا

I immediately responded when my soul called,

And did not disobey its command.

واودعت وصفَ الحرب هذي القصائد ال

لتي اجتزأت باللبِّ لم تحتوِ القشرا

I deposited the description of this war in these poems

That were heartfelt, not superficial.

وأعددتها للطبع لما أن انطوت

على ما استحقَّ الطبع واستأهل النشرا

I prepared them for printing when they

Contained what deserved printing and publication.

وقد بدئت بالحرب والآن تنتهي

بذكر النجا منها وتختم بالبشر

I began with the war and now end

With mentioning deliverance from it and conclude with good tidings.

ببشرى رآها المسك إذ ضاع نشرها

على طيبه تسمو وتفضله نشرا

News that musk would be diminished if diffused

Over its fragrance, so exalted and superior is its diffusion.

ولو انها بيعت وأُرخص سعرها

لكانت بأغلى مهجةس في الورى تشرى

Were it sold, its price would be higher

Than the most precious perfumes of the world.

خلاصتها أن الوغى قُل نعشها

والمانيا عضَّت اناملها العشرا

The gist is that the turmoil - say that its bier

Has passed - and Germany has gnawed its fingers in regret.

وان يدَ البغي التي امتد شرُّها

وطالت عراها القصر بل كسِرت كسرا

The hand of aggression that extended its evil

And whose forearms stretched to break and shatter.

وان الذي بالامس علَّل نفسهُ

بربحٍ نراهُ اليوم مشتكياً خسرا

He who yesterday excused himself for profit

We see today complaining of loss.

وذيالك العُسرَ الذي اشتد ضغطهُ

على الناس طرًّ ازال واستمتعوا اليُسرا

That hardship whose grip tightened

On the people has relaxed, and they enjoy ease.

فيا حسنها بشرى ملا الارضَ بشرها

وكل امرءٍ في الخافقين بها سُرَّا

How excellent is the good news that filled the earth with its tidings,

And delighted every soul in the horizons!

ولما تهاداها الورى كان فعلها

باذهانهم فعل الرحيق أيِ السكرا

When it was circulated, people’s reaction

Was like that of honey - that is, of sugar.

فضجُّوا باصوات الهتاف وعربدوا

وجاؤُوا بما أعيا تصوُّره الفكرا

They cried out in shouts of joy and elation,

And did what exhausted the imagination.

أقاموا لها الزيناتِ والنَّدواتِ في

جميع القرى والمدن حافلةً تترى

They held celebrations and feasts in

Every town and village crowded with people.

ولم يدعوا أمراً به يُعربون عن

مسرَّتهم الا أتوا ذلك الامرا

They omitted nothing with which to express

Their joy but came and did it.

وان همُ في بعض الامور تجاوزوا

حدود المسرَّات التمسنا لهم عذرا

If in some matters they exceeded

The limits of joy, we pardoned them.

كفى الناسَ عذراً فيه قول مبشرٍ

لهم أبشروا قد احرز الحلفا النصرا

Sufficient excuse for the people are the words of one

Who gave them good news: “Rejoice! The allies have won victory.”

فتلكم بشرى لست وصف جمالها

بموفٍ ولو اني قضيت به العمرا

Such are the tidings I cannot describe their beauty

Even if I spent a lifetime trying.

ولله كم نفسٍ بها يومَ أُعلنت

خلاصتها طابت وكم ناظرٍ قرَّا

When its essence was announced, how many a soul

Rejoiced, and how many an eye delighted!

وكم شنَّقت اذناً وكم برَّدت حشىً

وكم ابهجت قلباً وكم شرحت صدرا

How many an ear became sharp, how many a mind exhilarated,

How many a heart gladdened, how many a bosom expanded!

وكم بسط الناس الا كفَّ وقدموا

لخالقهم من اجلها الحمد والشكرا

How the people clapped hands and offered

Their Lord praise and thanks on its account!

وبالحلفا خصُّوا جميل ثنائهم

وقد عمَّ حتى ما استطاعوا له حصرا

They singled out the Allies for the finest praise,

Which spread until they could no longer limit it.

وأما ملايين الضحايا فرحمّوا

عليهم وأحيوا بالرثاءِ لهم ذكرا

As for the millions of victims, they had mercy

On them and commemorated them with eulogies.

مصائب هذي الحرب عمَّت بنى الورى

فلم يبقَ مَن لم يشك من نارها حرَّا

The calamities of this war afflicted all humankind,

So none remained who did not suffer its heat.

ولكنه قد يُنتج الخيرَ شرُّها

وربَّ مفيد نافعٍ يعقب الضَّرا

But its evil may produce good,

And great benefit may follow harm.

فان تمَّ ما يسعى له الحلفاءُ في

مجالسهم واستأصلوا للوغى الجذرا

If what the Allies strive for in

Their councils is achieved, and tyranny uprooted at the root;

وصارت كبار المشكلات باسرها

تحال على جمعية الامم الكبرى

If all major issues become

The concern of the grand League of Nations;

ولم يبقَ خوفٌ من شعوبٍ كبيرةٍ

تجور على الصغرى وتحكمها قسرا

If there remains no fear of great nations

Oppressing smaller ones and forcing their rule;

ولم يُهضم الشعبُ الضعيف حقوقه

وأصبح في الدنيا كما ينبغي حُرَّا

If the rights of weak peoples are not violated,

And all in the world become free as they should be;

اذا تمّ هذا كلهُ والرجاءُ أن

يتمَّ وعمَّ الخيرُ منه الورى طرَّا

If all this is achieved - and hopefully

It will be, with goodness spreading through the world -

محا إثمَ هذي الحرب عنها ولم ترق

دماءُ الملايين التي سفُكت هدرا

Then the sin of this war will be erased from it,

And the blood of the millions spilled will not have flowed in vain.