عَلى قَدرِ أَهلِ العَزمِ تَأتي العَزائِمُ

وَتَأتي عَلى قَدرِ الكِرامِ المَكارِمُ

According to the resolve of the resolute ones, resolutions come,

Great resolutions come in the measure of those with great resolve, / And noble deeds descend to match the measure of the noble.

And noble deeds come according to the nobility of noble men.

In the eyes of the small, small deeds seem mighty, / While mighty deeds seem small in the eyes of the great.

وَتَعظُمُ في عَينِ الصَغيرِ صِغارُها

وَتَصغُرُ في عَينِ العَظيمِ العَظائِمُ

Small things seem big to small minds,

Sayf al-Dawla charges the army with his own boundless drive, / Though large, tumultuous armies fail to bear his load.

And big things seem small to big minds.

He demands from ordinary men what lies within himself, / A standard that even lions do not claim to hold.

يُكَلِّفُ سَيفُ الدَولَةِ الجَيشَ هَمَّهُ

وَقَد عَجَزَت عَنهُ الجُيوشُ الخَضارِمُ

The sword of the state imposes on the army its concern,

The longest-living birds of prey offer their lives for his sword, / The desert eagles, both the fledglings and the old.

Though mighty armies are helpless against it.

No harm befalls them that they were born without claws, / For his swords and their hilts were created to provide.

وَيَطلِبُ عِندَ الناسِ ما عِندَ نَفسِهِ

وَذَلِكَ مالا تَدَّعيهِ الضَراغِمُ

And from people he seeks what he has in himself,

Does the Red Fortress of al-Hadath know its own true hue? / Does it know which of the two pourers gave the clouds their tide?

Though that is not claimed by the weak.

Bright clouds watered it before he descended there, / But when he drew near, it was watered by the skulls of men.

يُفَدّي أَتَمُّ الطَيرِ عُمراً سِلاحُهُ

نُسورُ المَلا أَحداثُها وَالقَشاعِمُ

Its weapon redeems the longest-lived bird in life,

He built it high while spears clashed against spears, / And the waves of death crashed around it again and again.

The young buzzards and vultures.

It suffered a kind of madness, so now it stands / Adorned with corpses of the slain as amulets for a cure.

وَما ضَرَّها خَلقٌ بِغَيرِ مَخالِبٍ

وَقَد خُلِقَت أَسيافُهُ وَالقَوائِمُ

And no harm was done by a creation without claws

A fugitive of Fate, driven away, but you restored her / To the Faith with spear-points, though Fate was unwilling and unsure.

Since its swords and spears were created.

You make the Nights lose hold of all you seize, / While for what they take from you, they remain in debt.

هَلِ الحَدَثُ الحَمراءُ تَعرِفُ لَونَها

وَتَعلَمُ أَيُّ الساقِيَينِ الغَمائِمُ

Does the young red-haired camel know its color

If what you intend is an act in the present tense, / It passes into the past before the checking particles are set.

And recognize which of the two rain-clouds is rainy?

How can the Byzantines and Rus hope to tear it down, / When this very stabbing is its foundation and pillar stone?

سَقَتها الغَمامُ الغُرُّ قَبلَ نُزولِهِ

فَلَمّا دَنا مِنها سَقَتها الجَماجِمُ

The rain-cloud watered it when remote,

They brought it to trial with Death acting as the judge, / So no oppressed died, nor did the oppressor live on.

But when it drew near, skulls watered it.

They came to you dragging iron armor, as if they / Marched on horses that had no legs to stride.

بَناها فَأَعلى وَالقَنا تَقرَعُ القَنا

وَمَوجُ المَنايا حَولَها مُتَلاطِمُ

It built high the arch, yet the arch rings

When they glittered, one could not distinguish the swords from the men, / For their garments and turbans were of steel and pride.

And the waves of death crash around it.

A vast army, its crawling mass spans East and West, / And in the ear of Gemini, its clamor rings loud.

وَكانَ بِها مِثلُ الجُنونِ فَأَصبَحَت

وَمِن جُثَثِ القَتلى عَلَيها تَمائِمُ

And it was like madness, but dawned

Gathered within it is every tongue and every race, / Only interpreters can make the speakers understood in the crowd.

With the corpses of the slain erected on it as charms.

God be praised for a time whose fire melted all fraud, / Leaving nothing but the sharp sword and the lion-hearted warrior.

طَريدَةُ دَهرٍ ساقَها فَرَدَدتَها

عَلى الدينِ بِالخَطِّيِّ وَالدَهرُ راغِمُ

An outcast of time which led it back

All that could not shatter armor and spears was shattered, / And he who could not clash fled from the champions, a worrier.

To religion, while time is uncontrollable.

You stood firm—where any other would see death as certain— / As if you stood in the eyelid of Destruction, and it slept.

تُفيتُ اللَيالي كُلَّ شَيءٍ أَخَذتَهُ

وَهُنَّ لِما يَأخُذنَ مِنكَ غَوارِمُ

Nights efface everything they take,

Heroes passed you by, wounded and in defeat, / Yet your face was luminous, and your lips smiled and kept.

Yet they are for what takes you easy to take.

You transcended the limits of courage and reason both, / Until people said you knew the Unseen and the hidden.

إِذا كانَ ما تَنويهِ فِعلاً مُضارِعاً

مَضى قَبلَ أَن تُلقى عَلَيهِ الجَوازِمُ

If what you intend equals action,

You crushed their army’s wings against its very heart, / A crushing where the secondary feathers and the primaries were ridden.

It is done before the decisive strikes you.

With blows that struck skulls when victory was yet unseen, / And descended to the throats when victory had arrived.

وَكَيفَ تُرَجّي الرومُ وَالروسُ هَدمَها

وَذا الطَعنُ آساسٌ لَها وَدَعائِمُ

And how do Rome and Russia hope for its destruction

You disdained the spears until you cast them aside, / As if the sword were reviling the lance, so victory thrived.

When stabbing is its foundation and pillars?

Whoever seeks a conquest of glorious magnitude, / His keys are the light, sharp, cutting blades.

وَقَد حاكَموها وَالمَنايا حَواكِمٌ

فَما ماتَ مَظلومٌ وَلا عاشَ ظالِمُ

They have ruled it while death rules.

You scattered them over the entire hill of al-Uhaydib, / Just as coins are scattered over a bride by her maids.

Thus no wronged man died, nor did an unjust man live.

Your horses trample the eagles' nests upon the peaks, / For around those nests, the feasts of flesh are laid.

أَتوكَ يَجُرّونَ الحَديدَ كَأَنَّهُم

سَرَوا بِجِيادٍ ما لَهُنَّ قَوائِمُ

They came to you dragging iron as if they were

The vulture chicks imagine you have visited them / With their mothers, for your steeds are strong and well-made.

Brisk steeds with no legs.

When the horses slipped on steep slopes, you made them slide on their bellies, / Like snakes moving across the desert sand.

إِذا بَرَقوا لَم تُعرَفِ البيضُ مِنهُمُ

ثِيابُهُمُ مِن مِثلِها وَالعَمائِمُ

When they shine, the whites are not known from them,

Is this Domesticus attacking every single day? / While the back of his neck blames his face for this command?

Their clothes are of its like and the turbans.

Does he deny the scent of the lion until he tastes the bite? / Even the cattle know the scent where lions roam.

خَميسٌ بِشَرقِ الأَرضِ وَالغَربِ زَحفُهُ

وَفي أُذُنِ الجَوزاءِ مِنهُ زَمازِمُ

Thursday over East and West its march,

You bereaved him of his son and his son-in-law, / And by the son-in-law, the Prince's crushing attacks struck home.

And from it in Scorpio's ear are small bells.

He fled, thanking his companions that he escaped the blades, / Only because their own skulls and wrists kept the swords engaged.

تَجَمَّعَ فيهِ كُلُّ لِسنٍ وَأُمَّةٍ

فَما تُفهِمُ الحُدّاثَ إِلّا التَراجِمُ

In it gathered every offensive tongue and nation.

He understands the voice of the swords hacking through them, / Even though the voices of swords are foreign and un-staged.

Thus the slain understand only interpretations.

He is pleased with what he surrendered to you, not out of ignorance, / But a survivor is a winner, though stripped of his gain.

فَلِلَّهِ وَقتٌ ذَوَّبَ الغِشَّ نارُهُ

فَلَم يَبقَ إِلّا صارِمٌ أَو ضُبارِمُ

By God's time which melted the dross, its fire,

You are not merely a king defeating a rival king; / You are Monotheism defeating Polytheism on the plain.

So naught remained but a cutting blade or striking blades.

All of Adnan finds honor in him, not just the tribe of Rabi'a, / And the whole world boasts of him, not just the border cities.

تَقَطَّعَ مالا يَقطَعُ الدِرعَ وَالقَنا

وَفَرَّ مِنَ الأَبطالِ مَن لا يُصادِمُ

It cuts what mail and armor do not cut

Yours is the praise for these pearls, though the wording is mine; / You are the giver of deeds, I am but the stringer of ditties.

And flees from heroes what clashes not.

Your gifts carry me swiftly into the heat of battle, / So I am not blamed, nor are you regretful of your art.

وَقَفتَ وَما في المَوتِ شَكٌّ لِواقِفٍ

كَأَنَّكَ في جَفنِ الرَدى وَهوَ نائِمُ

You stood while death has no doubt for a stander

On every steed that flies toward war with its legs, / When the confusion of battle falls upon the ear and heart.

As if you were in the eye of fate while it sleeps.

O Sword that is never sheathed in rest, / In whom no doubt exists, from whom no protection is found.

تَمُرُّ بِكَ الأَبطالُ كَلمى هَزيمَةً

وَوَجهُكَ وَضّاحٌ وَثَغرُكَ باسِمُ

The heroes pass by you defeated

Congratulations to the skull-cleaving blow, to glory, and to height, / And to Islam, and your hopefuls, that you are safe and sound.

While your face smiles and your mouth grins.

Why should the Merciful not protect your two edges as He has done, / When the splitting of enemy skulls by you is eternal and profound?

تَجاوَزتَ مِقدارَ الشَجاعَةِ وَالنُهى

إِلى قَولِ قَومٍ أَنتَ بِالغَيبِ عالِمُ

You surpassed the extent of valor and prohibition

To the saying of a folk: you know the unseen.

ضَمَمتَ جَناحَيهِم عَلى القَلبِ ضَمَّةً

تَموتُ الخَوافي تَحتَها وَالقَوادِمُ

You folded their wings over the heart folded

Under which the thoughts die and the oncomers.

بِضَربٍ أَتى الهاماتِ وَالنَصرُ غائِبُ

وَصارَ إِلى اللَبّاتِ وَالنَصرُ قادِمُ

With a blow the decisive blow came and victory absent

And to the gums and victory became present.

حَقَرتَ الرُدَينِيّاتِ حَتّى طَرَحتَها

وَحَتّى كَأَنَّ السَيفَ لِلرُمحِ شاتِمُ

You regarded the small swords so as to discard them

As if the sword rebuked the spear.

وَمَن طَلَبَ الفَتحَ الجَليلَ فَإِنَّما

مَفاتيحُهُ البيضُ الخِفافُ الصَوارِمُ

And he who sought great openings

Its keys are the white light blades.

نَثَرتَهُمُ فَوقَ الأُحَيدِبِ كُلِّهِ

كَما نُثِرَت فَوقَ العَروسِ الدَراهِمُ

You scattered them over the whole plain

As money was scattered over the bride.

تَدوسُ بِكَ الخَيلُ الوُكورَ عَلى الذُرى

وَقَد كَثُرَت حَولَ الوُكورِ المَطاعِمُ

Under you the horses trample the stallions

Though around the stallions are many feeding-troughs.

تَظُنُّ فِراخُ الفُتخِ أَنَّكَ زُرتَها

بِأُمّاتِها وَهيَ العِتاقُ الصَلادِمُ

The chicks of the conquests think you visited them

With their mothers while they are the firm slayers.

إِذا زَلِفَت مَشَّيتَها بِبِطونِها

كَما تَتَمَشّى في الصَعيدِ الأَراقِمُ

When they walk proudly with their abdomens

As the short-legged walk proudly in the plains.

أَفي كُلِّ يَومٍ ذا الدُمُستُقُ مُقدِمٌ

قَفاهُ عَلى الإِقدامِ لِلوَجهِ لائِمُ

Is this blood-spiller leading every day

His nape to the feet suited to the face?

أَيُنكِرُ ريحَ اللَيثَ حَتّى يَذوقَهُ

وَقَد عَرَفَت ريحَ اللُيوثِ البَهائِمُ

Does he deny the smell of the lion until he tastes it

When the cattle know the smell of lions?

وَقَد فَجَعَتهُ بِاِبنِهِ وَاِبنِ صِهرِهِ

وَبِالصِهرِ حَملاتُ الأَميرِ الغَواشِمُ

It has saddened him with his son, his son-in-law

And his father-in-law and the sisters of the Emir of the predators.

مَضى يَشكُرُ الأَصحابَ في فَوتِهِ الظُبى

بِما شَغَلَتها هامُهُم وَالمَعاصِمُ

He went thanking the comrades for their loss of antelopes

For what their zeal and wristguards distracted.

وَيَفهَمُ صَوتَ المَشرَفِيَّةِ فيهِمِ

عَلى أَنَّ أَصواتَ السُيوفِ أَعاجِمُ

And he understands the sound of Mashrafiyya in them

For the sounds of swords are foreign.

يُسَرُّ بِما أَعطاكَ لا عَن جَهالَةٍ

وَلَكِنَّ مَغنوماً نَجا مِنكَ غانِمُ

He is pleased at what He gave you, not out of ignorance,

But rather as war booty saved from you, victor.

وَلَستَ مَليكاً هازِماً لِنَظيرِهِ

وَلَكِنَّكَ التَوحيدُ لِلشِركِ هازِمُ

You are not a defeating king to your peer,

Rather you are the oneness defeating polytheism.

تَشَرَّفُ عَدنانٌ بِهِ لا رَبيعَةٌ

وَتَفتَخِرُ الدُنيا بِهِ لا العَواصِمُ

Adnan boasts of it, not Rabia,

And the world prides itself on it, not the capitals.

لَكَ الحَمدُ في الدُرِّ الَّذي لِيَ لَفظُهُ

فَإِنَّكَ مُعطيهِ وَإِنِّيَ ناظِمُ

To you be praise for the pearl which my words string

Since you are the giver and I the stringer.

وَإِنّي لَتَعدو بي عَطاياكَ في الوَغى

فَلا أَنا مَذمومٌ وَلا أَنتَ نادِمُ

And gifts outrace me in battle,

Thus I am not blamed, nor are you regretful.

عَلى كُلِّ طَيّارٍ إِلَيها بِرِجلِهِ

إِذا وَقَعَت في مِسمَعَيهِ الغَماغِمُ

To it heads every flier on foot

When the unclear sounds reach his ears.

أَلا أَيُّها السَيفُ الَّذي لَيسَ مُغمَداً

وَلا فيهِ مُرتابٌ وَلا مِنهُ عاصِمُ

O sword which is not sheathed

And in which is no doubt or protection from it.

هَنيئاً لِضَربِ الهامِ وَالمَجدِ وَالعُلى

وَراجيكَ وَالإِسلامِ أَنَّكَ سالِمُ

Congratulations for the decisive blow, glory and loftiness,

And your seeker and Islam that you are safe.

وَلِم لا يَقي الرَحمَنُ حَدَّيكَ ما وَقى

وَتَفليقُهُ هامَ العِدا بِكَ دائِمُ

Why does the Merciful not protect your edge what He protected

And its drawing the resolving blow of the enemy continuously?