هو السّيفُ لا يُغنيكَ إِلاّ جِلادُهُ
وهل طوّق الأَملاكَ إِلاّ نِجادُهُ
It is the sword—nothing avails you but its stroke;
and is the necklace of kings anything but its baldric?
فيا ظفراً عمَّ البلادَ صَلاحُه
بمن كان قد عمّ البلادَ فسادُه
How splendid a victory—its righteousness spread through the lands
over one whose corruption had spread throughout the lands!
غَداةَ كأَنّ الهامَ في كلِّ قَوْنَسٍ
كمائمُ نبتٍ بالسُّيوف حَصَادُهُ
At dawn, the heads within every helmet seemed
like the buds of plants, their harvest reaped by swords.
فما مُطْلَقٌ إِلاّ وَشُدَّ وَثاقهُ
ولا مُوثَقٌ إِلا وحُلّ صِفاده
No free man remained but his bonds were tightened,
and no bound man but his fetters were loosed.
ولا مِنْبَرٌ إِلاّ ترنّح عودُه
ولا مُصْحَفٌ إِلاّ أنارَ مِدادُه
No pulpit but its wooden frame swayed,
and no Qur’an codex but its ink shone.
إِلى أَين يا أَسرى الضَّلالةِ بعدها
لقد ذَلّ علويكم وعزّ رشادُه
Where can you go now, O captives of error, after this?
Your high estate has been humbled, while his right guidance is exalted.
رويدَكُمُ لا مانعٌ من مُظَفَّرٍ
يعانِدُ أَسبابَ القضاءِ عِنادُه
Stand back—none can ward off a victorious man
whose defiance challenges the workings of destiny.
فَقُلْ لملوك الكُفر تُسْلِم بعدها
ممالكَها إِنّ البلاد بلادُه
Tell the kings of unbelief: after this, their kingdoms
shall submit—for all lands are his lands.
كذا عن طريق الصّبح أَيّتها الدُّجى
فيا طالما غالَ الظّلامَ امتدادُه
Make way, then, from the path of dawn, O darkness;
how often its advance has engulfed the dark!
فلو دَرَجُ الأَفلاك عنه تحصّنت
لأَمْستْ صِعاداً فوقَهنّ صِعادُه
Even if the tiers of the celestial spheres fortified themselves against him,
his rising lances would tower above them.
ومن كان أَملاك السموات جُنده
فأَيّةُ أَرضٍ لم تطأها جيادُه
For one whose host is the angels of heaven,
what land have his steeds not trodden?
سمعت قِبلةُ الإِسلام فخراً بطَوْله
ولم يك يسمو الدين لولا عمادُه
I heard Islam’s qibla boasting of his might;
religion would not have risen, were it not for his support.
