هو نصرٌ قد جاء يَعقُبُ نَصراً

وكذا الأفقُ نَجمَةٌ تِلوَ أخرى

It is a victory that came after victory

And so is the horizon, star after star

يَتَوالى حتى يَحينَ منَ الإش

راقِ وقتٌ لها فتَسطعُ فَجرا

Continuing until the dawn rises

When it is time for it to shine brightly

هكذا شأنُ كلِّ باغٍ أثيمٍ

زَرَعَ الشَّرَّ فهو يحصُد شَرَّا

Such is the way of every wicked transgressor

Who planted evil and reaped evil

كورسيكا مَوطِنُ اللُّيوثِ فتَأبى

أن تَرى فيها لِلثَّعالب وَكرَا

Corsica, the home of lions, refuses

To see dens for foxes within it

مثلُ حَظِّ الأفرادِ حظُّ شُعوبٍ

فهيَ طَوراً تَشقى وتَسعدُ طَورا

The fortunes of individuals are like the fortunes of nations

Now suffering, now prospering

لم يَزِدهُم على يقينٍ يَقيناً

فَبِه قَبلَ وقعِه همُ أدرى

It did not increase their certainty beyond certainty

For with it, before it happened, they were most knowing

بل أتاهُم بِرايةٍ لانتِصارٍ

طالما قد أتاهُ سِرًّا وجَهرا

Rather, it brought them a banner of victory

After it had come to them secretly and openly

وإذا البَدءُ كانَ فَتحاً مُبيناً

فختامٌ مِن بابِ أولى وأحرى

And if the beginning was a clear conquest

Then the ending is even more deserving

ساء فالٌ لَهم فقد حَسِبوها

لَهُمُ قَصراً لكنَ ألفوَه قبرا

Evil befell them, for they thought it

Would be a palace for them, but found it a grave

غامضٌ سِرُّ ذي الحَياةِ فما يَد

ري الفَتى لِلحياةِ ما عاشَ سِرّاً

The secret of life is obscure, so the youth

Does not know life's secret until he lives it secretly

كم مُجِدٍّ يَسيرُ سَيراً حَثيثاً

وهوَ لِلحَتفِ والرَّدى جُرَّ جَرَّا

How many glorious ones walk quickly

Yet are dragged to ruin and decay

حاط فيها بِهِم منَ الأسرِ جَيشٌ

غَرَسوا في الذِّئابِ ناباً وظُفرا

They surrounded them there with a host of captives

Who had planted fangs and claws in the wolves

يَمَّموها وهُم جِياعٌ ولكن

اُطعِموا عَلقماً وصاباً وصِبرا

They resolved while hungry, but

Were fed bitterness, poison, and patience

لا يَضيرُ الحسناءَ يَخطُبُها فَد

مٌ لها كانت روحُه بَعدُ مَهرا

A base suitor does no harm to the beautiful one

If her spirit remains aloof from him afterwards

طَلَبوا ظهرَها لَهُم مُستَقَرَّا

فأعارَتهُم بطنَها مُستَقَرَّا

They sought her back as a dwelling place

So she lent them her belly as a dwelling place

فلِهِتلِيرِهِم عَزاءً عَزاءً

عظَّم اللهُ في انتِصاركَ أجرا

As consolation for their defeat, consolation

May God magnify your reward in victory

حجَبوا عنهُم السَّماءَ بِجُندٍ

مُمطِرٍ فَوقَهُم صَواعِقَ تَترى

They veiled the sky from them with an army

Raining thunderbolts down upon them

ثم سَدُّوا علَيهِمُ كُلَّ بابٍ

لِلنَّجاةِ المُرَجَّاةِ بِرّاً وبَحرا

Then they closed upon them every door

To hoped-for salvation, by land and sea

وأتَوهُم كأنَّهم في سَلامٍ

هل رأيتَ الحَمامَ أبصرَ صَقرا

And came to them as if in peace

Have you seen a pigeon sight a falcon?

فأَسيرٌ لم يُغنِ عنه قَتيلٌ

وقتيلٌ لم يُغنِهم عنهُ أسرى

So a prisoner was no use to a casualty

And a casualty did not avail them a prisoner

أحدَقوا بِهِم ونادَوا هلُمُّوا

واعلَموا مِن هَلاَكِكُم لا مَفَرَّا

They glared at them and cried, "Surrender!"

"And know that from your destruction there is no escape"

هو نَصرٌ أتى يُبَرهِنُ عَمَّا

كانَ أهلُ النُّهى تَقولُه جَهرا

It is a victory that came to prove

What the people of resolve said openly

لم يَعيشوا من فوقِها غَيرَ نَزر

حَسِبوهُ في آخِرِ الأمرِ دَهرا

They did not live above it except briefly

In the end they thought it an age