تَهُزُّ بك الْخُطوبُ من الْخِطابِ

وتَنْهَزِمُ الكتائِبُ بالكتابِ

The speeches shake you with tribulations,

And the battalions are defeated by the book.

وتخشى نارَ حربِكَ وَهْيَ تَخْبُو

فكيف إِذا ارْتَمَتْ شَرَرُ الحِرابِ

They fear the fire of your war when it is ablaze,

So what will happen when the sparks of war fly?

ومذ جَرَّدْتَ عَزْمَكَ وَهْوَ سَيْفٌ

رَقَبْنَا ما يكونُ من الرقابِ

Since you girded your resolve, which is a sword,

We awaited whatever would come to pass.

فما وَجَّهْتَهُ حتى حَكَمْنَا

هُنَالك بالغنيمةِ والإِيابِ

You did not even face it before we judged

To be there with the spoils and the returning.

وَكَزْتَ حَشَا اللَّعِينِ بمُنْكِصَاتٍ

على الأَعقابِ من جِهَةِ العُقَاب

You thrust the vile mob with setbacks

Upon their heels from the side of punishment,

قطائِعُ تستهلُّ بها المنايا

فتحسَبُ أَنها قِطَعُ السَّحابِ

Cutting blades that death inaugurates with them,

You'd think they were pieces of clouds.

يصارِعُها العُبابُ فيعتليهِ

بأَهْوَلَ في العُبابِ من العُبابِ

The dust storms battle them and climb upon them

With the most terrifying of dust storms within dust storms,

إِذا انْعَطَفَتْ عليه أَو اسْتَقَامَتْ

فقُلْ لَعِبَ الحُبابُ على الحُبابِ

Whether they twist upon it or move straight,

Say the clouds sported upon the clouds.

وعُرْبٌ ماجَ منها البَرُّ بحراً

أَليس البحرُ من صِفَةِ العِرابِ

And a people whose land the wilderness flowed into a sea,

Is not the sea of the attributes of nomads?

إِذا أُهَبُ القتال تناقَلُوها

أَقَلُّوها أَخَفَّ من الإِهابِ

When the battle flares up they pass it between them,

Making it lighter than feathers.

أَغِرْبَانَ الشّآمِ حَذَارِ شُؤْمًا

لكم مُسْتَوْطَنًا في الاغْتِرابِ

Beware of ill omens, estranged Syrians,

For you have dwelt too long in estrangement.

هَفَتْ بكمُ المُنَى فأَطَعْتُمُوهَا

على الأَمْواهِ من عَدَدِ التُّرابِ

Death beckoned you, and you obeyed it

Over the waterholes, to the number of specks of dust.

فكان لكُمْ من التَّضْعِيفِ فَأْلٌ

على مقدارِ تضعيفِ الحِسابِ

So for you the doubling was a disaster

To the extent of doubling the account.

وعند الطَّيْرِ في الرّاياتِ رأْيٌ

فما يخلو عُقابٌ من عِقابِ

And in the view of the birds in the flags, there is an opinion,

No falcon is devoid of claws.