مَا اسْمٌ لِآلَةِ حَرْبٍ

يَقْضِي بِهَا الْمَرْءُ نَحْبَهْ

What name for this war machine

What is the name of a weapon of war,

By which a man meets his end?

By which a man meets his appointed end?

تَصْحِيفُهُ اسْمُ بِلاَدٍ

وُقِيتَ يَا صَاحِ حَرْبَهْ

Its maker but the name of a land

Shifting its dots yields the name of a land—

Cease, o maker of war

May you be spared, my friend, from its war.