ويم الدردنيل زقا صداه

وصرّ فأَودع الآذان وقرا

The rumble of the Dardanelles shook loudly,

And the echoes penetrated the ears.

ففيه بوارج الحلفاء شامخات

تناطح منه طوداً مشمخرا

In it, the allies' ships loomed high,

Jostling peaks foaming with rage.

مجانقها رمته ولم يكن ما

رمته به حصىً بل كان جمرا

Their artillery bombarded but did not throw

Pebbles - rather, embers - at what they bombed.

قذائف لو أصبن صميم صخر

أصم أذَبنه سحقاً وصهرا

Shells that, had they hit the heart of a boulder,

Would have pulverized and melted it utterly.

دككن حصونه الاولى فباتت

على عبريه للرائين اثرا

They pounded its outer fortresses until they became

Traces for onlookers.

واوغلت الدوارع فيه تمشي

الى ابراجه الوسطى السبّطري

The ironclads advanced into it, walking

Toward its middle towers.

واصلتها قنابل ماطرات

لها بالنار والفولاذ مطرا

Torrential bombs poured down on them

A rain of fire and steel.

فقاضتها واذ كادت تذيقُ ال

أخيرةَ ضربها الاحمى الاحرّا

They destroyed them. And when the last

Was about to taste the blow, the fiercest struck.

أصابت بعضها متفجراتٌ

من الألغام فيه بُذرنَ بذرا

Some mines planted within it exploded,

Scattered about like seeds.

فكنَّ ككهرباءَ يشعُّ منها ال

ضياءُ اذا لها لامستَ زرَّا

They were like electricity, radiating

Light when sparking a little.

وذلك الانفجارُ حمى عبور ال

مضيق وعن فروقَ الخوفَ سرى

That explosion heated the passage

Of the strait, and dread was dispelled.

بهِ نُسفت ثلثُ مدرَّعاتٍ

كمثل عصافةٍ بالريح تُذرى

With it, a third of the armored ships were blasted

Like chaff blown away in the wind.

وكان الخطبُ للحلفا نذيراً

بان وراءهُ شرًّا شمرا

And it was an omen to the Allies

That behind it lurked evil ready to be unleashed.

وأعوزهم على العسرِ اصطبارٌ

ولو صبروا قليلاً صار يسرا

Impatience under difficulty failed them

When a little endurance would have brought ease.

فظل الدردنيل كما نراهُ

طليقاً من قيود الاسر حرَّا

So the Dardanelles remains as we see it:

Free of the shackles of captivity.