ثلثهُ أشهر مرّت ونار ال

وغى مشبوبة برّاً وبحرا

Three months passed, and the fires of war,

Raging on land and sea, still roar.

وليل الحرب جن وطال حتى

حسبنا الموت منه اجتث فجرا

The night of battle grew long and drear,

We thought death had rooted out the morn.

واظهر الاتحاديون فيها رواغاً

رواغاً ساسة الحلفاءِ غرَّا

The Ottomans feigned neutrality,

Deceiving the Allies most vilely.

بهم مكروا وقالوا قد لزمنا

حياداً لا نرى منه مفرا

They plotted and said, "We're obliged to be

Neutral, though this allows no flight."

وان ملنا فليس يكون الا

اليكم ميلنا سرًّا وجهرا

"If we're inclined, it can only be

In secret and openly, towards thee."

كذا قالوا وانور كان سرا

الى الالمان ضمهمُ اقرا

Thus they spoke, while Enver was preparing

To join with Germans most eagerly.

وفي استعداده للحرب معهم

قضى التسعين يوماً مستمرا

Ninety days he spent getting ready,

Plunging his people in recklessly,

واقحم قومه فيها اعتباطاً

واوغرهم على الحلفاءِ صدرا

Inciting them against the Allies,

Their hearts bitter enmity.

وهاجوا الدب فانهمرت عليهم

فيالقهُ من القوقاس همرا

So they provoked the bear, and down upon them

Came his legions furiously.

ودارت بينهم حربٌ عوان

تراوح سيرها مداً وجزرا

A grueling war ensued between them,

Its tides ebbing and flowing unceasingly.

وبينا انورٌ يرجو انتصاراً

اذا الاقدار قد رمقته شزرا

While Enver hoped for victory,

Fate looked at him disdainfully.

فحاق بجيشه الغازي انكسارٌ

مريع بعده لم يلقَ جبرا

His army suffered a terrible rout,

No remedy could mend them speedily.

ودب اليه في القوقاس سوس ال

خطوب وعظمه اوهاه نخرا

In the Caucasus moths of decay

Began gnawing them gradually.

فمن لم يقضِ في الهيجاء منهم

وسهم الروس اخطأ منه نحرا

Those whom battle did not kill

Perished from Russian arrows certainly.

فمن طما ولغبٍ ارهقاه

وجوعٍ ما استطاع عليه صبرا

Some starved, some suffered miserable thirst,

No patience could succor them utterly.

ومن لم تردهِ هذي البلايا

هراه الزمهرير فمات قرّا

Those whom these plagues did not drive away

Were taken by typhus fever, expiring miserably.