السَيفُ أَصدَقُ أَنباءً مِنَ الكُتُبِ

في حَدِّهِ الحَدُّ بَينَ الجِدِّ وَاللَعِبِ

The sword is more truthful than books

The sword bears truer tidings than the books,

In its edge lies the distinction between jest and earnest

In its edge is the boundary between earnestness and play.

بيضُ الصَفائِحِ لا سودُ الصَحائِفِ في

مُتونِهِنَّ جَلاءُ الشَكِّ وَالرِيَبِ

The whiteness of blades, not the blackness of pages

The white of blades, not the black of pages;

In their texts lies the clarity from doubt and suspicion

In their broad texts lies the clearing of doubt and suspicion.

وَالعِلمُ في شُهُبِ الأَرماحِ لامِعَةً

بَينَ الخَميسَينِ لا في السَبعَةِ الشُهُبِ

And knowledge lies in the flashing spears

And true knowledge is found in the gleaming spear-points,

Not in the seven stars and their alignment

Between the two raucous armies, not in the seven planets.

أَينَ الرِوايَةُ بَل أَينَ النُجومُ وَما

صاغوهُ مِن زُخرُفٍ فيها وَمِن كَذِبِ

Where are the stories, rather where are the stars and what

Where is the prophecy? Nay, where are the stars and what

they fabricated in them of ornament and lies

They forged within them of adornment and lies?

تَخَرُّصاً وَأَحاديثاً مُلَفَّقَةً

لَيسَت بِنَبعٍ إِذا عُدَّت وَلا غَرَبِ

Prattling and patched up tales

Mere conjecture and fabricated tales,

That are neither confirmable if counted nor strange

Not worth a source if counted, nor a willow branch.

عَجائِباً زَعَموا الأَيّامَ مُجفِلَةً

عَنهُنَّ في صَفَرِ الأَصفارِ أَو رَجَبِ

Wonders they claimed the days concealed

Wonders they claimed the days would startle us with,

In the empty months or Rajab

In the zero month of zeros, or in Rajab.

وَخَوَّفوا الناسَ مِن دَهياءَ مُظلِمَةٍ

إِذا بَدا الكَوكَبُ الغَربِيُّ ذو الذَنَبِ

And frightened people of ominous darkness

And they terrified the people with a dark calamity,

When the western planet with tail becomes visible

When the western star with the tail appeared.

وَصَيَّروا الأَبرُجَ العُليا مُرَتَّبَةً

ما كانَ مُنقَلِباً أَو غَيرَ مُنقَلِبِ

And made the highest mansions ordered

And they made the high zodiac signs arranged,

Whether moving or fixed

Predicting what would change or remain unchanged.

يَقضونَ بِالأَمرِ عَنها وَهيَ غافِلَةٌ

ما دارَ في فُلُكٍ مِنها وَفي قُطُبِ

They judge the matter about them while they are heedless

They judge matters by them while the stars are heedless

What revolved in an orbit or pole among them

Of what revolves in an orbit among them or on a pole.

لَو بَيَّنَت قَطُّ أَمراً قَبلَ مَوقِعِهِ

لَم تُخفِ ما حَلَّ بِالأَوثانِ وَالصُلُبِ

If a star ever clarified a matter before its occurrence

Had they ever clarified a matter before its occurrence,

It would not conceal what befell the idols and crucifixes

They would not have hidden what befell the idols and crosses.

فَتحُ الفُتوحِ تَعالى أَن يُحيطَ بِهِ

نَظمٌ مِنَ الشِعرِ أَو نَثرٌ مِنَ الخُطَبِ

So the openings of openings, exalted is He who encompasses it

The Conquest of Conquests; it is beyond the encompassment

A prose of poetry or prose of sermons

Of the organization of poetry or the prose of sermons.

فَتحٌ تَفَتَّحُ أَبوابُ السَماءِ لَهُ

وَتَبرُزُ الأَرضُ في أَثوابِها القُشُبِ

An opening whose doors the heavens opened for it

A conquest for which the gates of heaven open,

And the earth emerges in her coarse clothing

And the earth comes forth in its new, embroidered robes.

يا يَومَ وَقعَةِ عَمّورِيَّةَ اِنصَرَفَت

مِنكَ المُنى حُفَّلاً مَعسولَةَ الحَلَبِ

O day of the battle of Amorium, from you

O Day of the Battle of Amorium! Hopes departed

wishes returned oozing with softened butter

From you, flowing abundantly, sweet to the milking.

أَبقَيتَ جَدَّ بَني الإِسلامِ في صَعَدٍ

وَالمُشرِكينَ وَدارَ الشِركِ في صَبَبِ

You left the backbone of the children of Islam in peaks

You left the fortune of the Sons of Islam ascending,

And the polytheists and the land of polytheism in plains

And the polytheists and the abode of polytheism in decline.

أُمٌّ لَهُم لَو رَجَوا أَن تُفتَدى جَعَلوا

فِداءَها كُلَّ أُمٍّ مِنهُمُ وَأَبِ

A mother to them, if they hoped she could be ransomed, they would ransom her

A mother to them—had they hoped to ransom her, they would have given

with every mother among them and father

Every mother and father of theirs as her ransom.

وَبَرزَةِ الوَجهِ قَد أَعيَت رِياضَتُها

كِسرى وَصَدَّت صُدوداً عَن أَبي كَرِبِ

And the barefaced one, her worship exhausted her

A secluded beauty whose taming exhausted

Kisra and she built barriers against Abu Karib

Chosroes, and who turned firmly away from Abu Karib.

بِكرٌ فَما اِفتَرَعتَها كَفُّ حادِثَةٍ

وَلا تَرَقَّت إِلَيها هِمَّةُ النُوَبِ

Bikr, so no palm of events could snatch him

A virgin; no hand of calamity had deflowered her,

Nor any ambition of time could reach him

Nor did the ambition of misfortunes ascend to her.

مِن عَهدِ إِسكَندَرٍ أَو قَبلَ ذَلِكَ قَد

شابَت نَواصي اللَيالي وَهيَ لَم تَشِبِ

Since the era of Alexander or before that indeed

From the era of Alexander or before that,

the temples of nights grew old while still unaged

The forelocks of the nights turned gray while she did not turn gray.

حَتّى إِذا مَخَّضَ اللَهُ السِنينَ لَها

مَخضَ البَخيلَةِ كانَت زُبدَةَ الحِقَبِ

Until when Allah delivered for it the years in birth pangs

Until when God churned the years for her,

It birthed the essence of eras

The churning of a stingy woman, she was the cream of the ages.

أَتَتهُمُ الكُربَةُ السَوداءُ سادِرَةً

مِنها وَكانَ اِسمُها فَرّاجَةَ الكُرَبِ

There came to them a black affliction raging

Black grief came to them nonchalantly

from it, and its name was the relief of afflictions

From her, though her name was 'The Reliever of Griefs.'

جَرى لَها الفَألُ بَرحاً يَومَ أَنقَرَةٍ

إِذ غودِرَت وَحشَةَ الساحاتِ وَالرُحَبِ

Fate ran well for it the day of Ankara

The omen ran for her as distress on the day of Ancyra,

When it was demolished, desolate of plains and expanses

When she was left a desolation of courtyards and spaces.

لَمّا رَأَت أُختَها بِالأَمسِ قَد خَرِبَت

كانَ الخَرابُ لَها أَعدى مِنَ الجَرَبِ

When it saw its sister yesterday destroyed

When she saw her sister destroyed yesterday,

Destruction was more hateful to it than scabies

Ruin was more contagious to her than mange.

كَم بَينَ حيطانِها مِن فارِسٍ بَطَلٍ

قاني الذَوائِبِ مِن آني دَمٍ سَرَبِ

How many valiant cavaliers between its walls

How many a heroic knight within her walls,

Whose hands run red from the blood they shed

With hair dyed red from hot, flowing blood.

بِسُنَّةِ السَيفِ وَالخَطِيِّ مِن دَمِهِ

لا سُنَّةِ الدينِ وَالإِسلامِ مُختَضِبِ

By the law of sword and war, not the law of religion and Islam

By the law of the sword and the spear, dyed in his blood,

Adorning themselves with blood

Not by the law of religion and Islam, is he dyed.

لَقَد تَرَكتَ أَميرَ المُؤمِنينَ بِها

لِلنارِ يَوماً ذَليلَ الصَخرِ وَالخَشَبِ

Indeed you left the Commander of the Faithful in it

You left the Commander of the Faithful in her

For the fire, humbled rocks and trees

For the fire, on a day when rock and wood were humbled.

غادَرتَ فيها بَهيمَ اللَيلِ وَهوَ ضُحىً

يَشُلُّهُ وَسطَها صُبحٌ مِنَ اللَهَبِ

Abandoning in it animals by night, while by day

You left the dark night in her looking like mid-morning,

Dawn from flames enfeebles it

Driven amidst her by a dawn of flames.

حَتّى كَأَنَّ جَلابيبَ الدُجى رَغِبَت

عَن لَونِها وَكَأَنَّ الشَمسَ لَم تَغِبِ

Until it was as if the robes of darkness were disgusted

Until it seemed the robes of darkness desired

By its color, as if the sun never set

To leave their color, and as if the sun had not set.

ضَوءٌ مِنَ النارِ وَالظَلماءِ عاكِفَةٌ

وَظُلمَةٌ مِن دُخانٍ في ضُحىً شَحِبِ

A glow from fire, and darkness stationed

Light from the fire while darkness was lingering,

And darkness from smoke at dawn wan

And darkness from smoke in a pallid mid-morning.

فَالشَمسُ طالِعَةٌ مِن ذا وَقَد أَفَلَت

وَالشَمسُ واجِبَةٌ مِن ذا وَلَم تَجِبِ

So the sun is rising from this, and it had set

So the sun rises from this one while it has set,

And the sun is obligated from that, and did not oblige

And the sun sets from that one while it has not set.

تَصَرَّحَ الدَهرُ تَصريحَ الغَمامِ لَها

عَن يَومِ هَيجاءَ مِنها طاهِرٍ جُنُبِ

Fate disclosed to it clearly like clouds

Fate cleared up for her, like the clearing of clouds,

Of a day of tumult in it, pure, ritually cleansed

Revealing a day of battle, pure and untouched.

لَم تَطلُعِ الشَمسُ فيهِ يَومَ ذاكَ عَلى

بانٍ بِأَهلٍ وَلَم تَغرُب عَلى عَزَبِ

The sun did not rise in it that day upon

The sun did not rise on that day upon

Inhabited or uninhabited ruins

A man with family, nor did it set upon a bachelor.

ما رَبعُ مَيَّةَ مَعموراً يُطيفُ بِهِ

غَيلانُ أَبهى رُبىً مِن رَبعِها الخَرِبِ

What a cultivated quarter of Mayyafariqin revolving around it

The quarter of Mayya, inhabited, around which

More beautiful maiden camels than its ruined quarter

Ghaylan circles, is not more beautiful in its hills than her ruined quarters.

وَلا الخُدودُ وَقَد أُدمينَ مِن خَجَلٍ

أَشهى إِلى ناظِري مِن خَدِّها التَرِبِ

Nor cheeks, made rosy from shyness

Nor are cheeks, reddened by shyness,

More pleasing to my eyes than its dusty cheek

More appetizing to my eyes than her dust-covered cheek.

سَماجَةً غَنِيَت مِنّا العُيونُ بِها

عَن كُلِّ حُسنٍ بَدا أَو مَنظَرٍ عَجَبِ

An intoxication they deprived our eyes with

An ugliness through which our eyes became rich,

From all beauty occurring or wondrous sight

Beyond every beauty that appeared or wondrous sight.

وَحُسنُ مُنقَلَبٍ تَبقى عَواقِبُهُ

جاءَت بَشاشَتُهُ مِن سوءِ مُنقَلَبِ

And the beauty of reversal, its consequences remain

And the beauty of a return whose consequences remain,

Its cheer came from the evil of reversal

Its cheerfulness came from an evil return for the enemy.

لَو يَعلَمُ الكُفرُ كَم مِن أَعصُرٍ كَمَنَت

لَهُ العَواقِبُ بَينَ السُمرِ وَالقُضُبِ

If disbelief knew how many eras

If Unbelief knew how many ages lay in ambush

Fate knotted for it between rocks and sticks

For it, the consequences between the spears and the swords.

تَدبيرُ مُعتَصِمٍ بِاللَهِ مُنتَقِمٍ

لِلَّهِ مُرتَقِبٍ في اللَهِ مُرتَغِبِ

Al-Mu'tasim's management, with Allah avenging

The planning of One holding fast to God, avenging

For Allah awaiting, in Allah coveting

For God, watching for God, desiring God.

وَمُطعَمِ النَصرِ لَم تَكهَم أَسِنَّتُهُ

يَوماً وَلا حُجِبَت عَن رَوحِ مُحتَجِبِ

And feeding victory, tongues did not silence for him

And one fed on victory, whose spearheads never dulled

A day, nor was the breath of the secluded veiled from him

A single day, nor were they veiled from the spirit of the veiled enemy.

لَم يَغزُ قَوماً وَلَم يَنهَض إِلى بَلَدٍ

إِلّا تَقَدَّمَهُ جَيشٌ مِنَ الرَعَبِ

He did not raid a people nor march against a land

He did not attack a people nor rise against a land,

Except an army of dread preceded him

Except that an army of terror preceded him.

لَو لَم يَقُد جَحفَلاً يَومَ الوَغى لَغَدا

مِن نَفسِهِ وَحدَها في جَحفَلٍ لَجِبِ

If he did not lead a horde on the day of strife

If he had not led a vast army on the day of battle, he would have been

He would suffice alone in a horde unbreakable

By himself alone, a clamorous vast army.

رَمى بِكَ اللَهُ بُرجَيها فَهَدَّمَها

وَلَو رَمى بِكَ غَيرُ اللَهِ لَم يُصِبِ

Allah cast you at its two towers so you demolished them

God threw you against her two towers, and destroyed them,

And had another than Allah cast you, you would not hit

And had other than God thrown you, he would not have hit the mark.

مِن بَعدِ ما أَشَّبوها واثِقينَ بِها

وَاللَهُ مِفتاحُ بابِ المَعقِلِ الأَشِبِ

After they fortified it, trusting in it

After they had fortified it, trusting in it,

Yet Allah is key to the gate of the unassailable fortress

But God is the key to the door of the fortified stronghold.

وَقالَ ذو أَمرِهِم لا مَرتَعٌ صَدَدٌ

لِلسارِحينَ وَلَيسَ الوِردُ مِن كَثَبِ

And their commander said no pasturing cows

And their commander said: 'There is no grazing ground near

For the steeds released, and the roses are not from foam

For the grazing animals, and the watering hole is not close.'

أَمانِياً سَلَبَتهُم نُجحَ هاجِسِها

ظُبى السُيوفِ وَأَطرافُ القَنا السُلُبِ

Hopes robbed them, the delusions of their brooding

Wishes—the success of their thoughts was stolen by

Drew them to the blades of swords and spearheads

The edges of swords and the tips of stripping spears.

إِنَّ الحِمامَينِ مِن بيضٍ وَمِن سُمُرٍ

دَلوا الحَياتَينِ مِن ماءٍ وَمِن عُشُبِ

Verily the two doves, white and brown

Indeed, the two dooms, of white swords and brown spears,

Misguided the two snakes, of water and vegetation

Poured out the two lives, of water and of grass.

لَبَّيتَ صَوتاً زِبَطرِيّاً هَرَقتَ لَهُ

كَأسَ الكَرى وَرُضابَ الخُرَّدِ العُرُبِ

You cried a zebra-like voice, for it

You answered a Zibatrian voice, for which you spilled

You poured the cup of vintages and robes of fleece

The cup of slumber and the saliva of Arab maidens.

عَداكَ حَرُّ الثُغورِ المُستَضامَةِ عَن

بَردِ الثُغورِ وَعَن سَلسالِها الحَصِبِ

None but you, protector of the boiling frontiers against

The heat of the oppressed frontiers distracted you from

the cold of frontiers, and their chains the witnesses

The cool of lips and their pebbly fresh water.

أَجَبتَهُ مُعلِناً بِالسَيفِ مُنصَلِتاً

وَلَو أَجَبتَ بِغَيرِ السَيفِ لَم تُجِبِ

You answered it declaring with the sword, slaughtering

You answered it announcing openly with the sword, drawn,

And had you answered with other than sword, you would not answer

And had you answered with other than the sword, you would not have answered.

حَتّى تَرَكتَ عَمودَ الشِركِ مُنعَفِراً

وَلَم تُعَرِّج عَلى الأَوتادِ وَالطُنُبِ

Until you left the pillar of polytheism furious

Until you left the pillar of polytheism covered in dust,

And did not detour to the tent pegs and sticks

And you did not turn aside for the pegs or the rope.

لَمّا رَأى الحَربَ رَأيَ العَينِ توفِلِسٌ

وَالحَربُ مُشتَقَّةُ المَعنى مِنَ الحَرَبِ

When Theophilus saw war in the eyes' view

When Theophilus saw the war with his own eyes,

And war derived in meaning from war

And 'War' derives its meaning from 'Plunder.'

غَدا يُصَرِّفُ بِالأَموالِ جِريَتَها

فَعَزَّهُ البَحرُ ذو التَيّارِ وَالحَدَبِ

He went to spend his money on its fines

He began trying to divert its flow with money,

Yet the sea with currents and depths frustrated him

But the sea with currents and swelling waves overwhelmed him.

هَيهاتَ زُعزِعَتِ الأَرضُ الوَقورُ بِهِ

عَن غَزوِ مُحتَسِبٍ لا غَزوِ مُكتَسِبِ

Alas! The solid earth was not shaken by him

Far from it! The dignified earth was shaken by him

From the invasion of an earner, not usurper

For the invasion of one seeking God's reward, not one seeking gain.

لَم يُنفِقِ الذَهَبَ المُربي بِكَثرَتِهِ

عَلى الحَصى وَبِهِ فَقرٌ إِلى الذَهَبِ

He did not spend the gold producing in its abundance

He did not spend gold, which increases with abundance,

On gravel, yet in poverty to gold

Upon the pebbles, while he was in need of gold.

إِنَّ الأُسودَ أُسودَ الغيلِ هِمَّتُها

يَومَ الكَريهَةِ في المَسلوبِ لا السَلَبِ

Indeed the black lions, their ambition

Indeed lions, the lions of the thicket, their ambition

On the day of hate is in the plundered, not the plunder

On the day of battle is in the glory won, not the loot.

وَلّى وَقَد أَلجَمَ الخَطِّيُّ مَنطِقَهُ

بِسَكتَةٍ تَحتَها الأَحشاءُ في صَخَبِ

He turned, and the war stopped his speech

He turned his back, while the spear had bridled his speech,

With a silence, beneath which his entrails roared

With a silence beneath which his entrails were in clamor.

أَحذى قَرابينُهُ صَرفَ الرَدى وَمَضى

يَحتَثُّ أَنجى مَطاياهُ مِنَ الهَرَبِ

His steeds went off redirecting calamity, and he went

His finest horses gave him the turn of death, and he went

Urging on the best of his horses in flight

Urging on his mounts that were safest for flight.

مُوَكِّلاً بِيَفاعِ الأَرضِ يُشرِفُهُ

مِن خِفَّةِ الخَوفِ لا مِن خِفَّةِ الطَرَبِ

Entrusting the ground's aid, raised by

Entrusting himself to the high ground of the earth, honoring it

Lightness of fear, not lightness of vein

Out of lightness of fear, not lightness of joy.

إِن يَعدُ مِن حَرِّها عَدوَ الظَليمِ فَقَد

أَوسَعتَ جاحِمَها مِن كَثرَةِ الحَطَبِ

If he counts the hot dark one as his enemy, then you

If he runs from its heat the run of an ostrich, then indeed

Widened its burner from the abundant fuels

You have widened its furnace with an abundance of firewood.

تِسعونَ أَلفاً كَآسادِ الشَرى نَضِجَت

جُلودُهُم قَبلَ نُضجِ التينِ وَالعِنَبِ

Ninety thousand like lions of evil, their skins

Ninety thousand, like lions of the forest, their skins ripened

Ripened before the ripening of figs and grapes

Before the ripening of figs and grapes.

يا رُبَّ حَوباءَ حينَ اِجتُثَّ دابِرُهُم

طابَت وَلَو ضُمِّخَت بِالمِسكِ لَم تَطِبِ

O Lord of Al-Hawba when their roots were torn out

Oh, many a soul, when their roots were cut off,

It was pleasant, and if steeped in musk still unpleasant

Became pleasant, though if perfumed with musk it would not be pleasant.

وَمُغضَبٍ رَجَعَت بيضُ السُيوفِ بِهِ

حَيَّ الرِضا مِن رَداهُم مَيِّتَ الغَضَبِ

And wrathful the whites of swords returned with it

And a joyous Caliph, whom the white swords returned

To the abode of contentment by their repulse, deadened of rage

Alive with satisfaction from their destruction, dead to anger.

وَالحَربُ قائِمَةٌ في مَأزِقٍ لَجِجٍ

تَجثو القِيامُ بِهِ صُغراً عَلى الرُكَبِ

And war persists in narrow, deep straits

While war stood in a clamorous strait,

Standing in it seems small to knees

Where the standing ones crouched humbly on their knees.

كَم نيلَ تَحتَ سَناها مِن سَنا قَمَرٍ

وَتَحتَ عارِضِها مِن عارِضٍ شَنِبِ

How much soft smoothness beneath its brilliance

How much was attained under its brilliance of the brilliance of moon-like faces,

And beneath its cheek from soft cheek

And under its rain-cloud of the rain-cloud of smiling teeth.

كَم كانَ في قَطعِ أَسبابِ الرِقابِ بِها

إِلى المُخَدَّرَةِ العَذراءِ مِن سَبَبِ

How many in cutting the ties of necks through it

How many ties to the secluded virgin

To the numb virgin were cause

Were in the severing of the ties of necks by it.

كَم أَحرَزَت قُضُبُ الهِندِيِّ مُصلَتَةً

تَهتَزُّ مِن قُضُبٍ تَهتَزُّ في كُثُبِ

How many staffs of Indians did it reap balanced

How many drawn Indian swords obtained

Shaken by staves shaken between bundles

Quivering branches from quivering branches nearby.

بيضٌ إِذا اِنتُضِيَت مِن حُجبِها رَجَعَت

أَحَقَّ بِالبيضِ أَتراباً مِنَ الحُجُبِ

Whites when drawn from their veils return

White women, when unsheathed from their veils, returned

More deserving of whiteness than the veils

More deserving of being peers to the white swords than the veils.

خَليفَةَ اللَهِ جازى اللَهُ سَعيَكَ عَن

جُرثومَةِ الدِينِ وَالإِسلامِ وَالحَسَبِ

Caliph of Allah, may Allah reward your effort against

Caliph of God, may God reward your effort on behalf of

The rabble of religion, Islam, and legitimacy

The root of Religion, Islam, and noble lineage.

بَصُرتَ بِالراحَةِ الكُبرى فَلَم تَرَها

تُنالُ إِلّا عَلى جِسرٍ مِنَ التَعَبِ

You saw the great comfort yet did not see it

You saw the Great Rest, but did not see it

Attained except over a bridge of exhaustion

Attainable except across a bridge of fatigue.

إِن كانَ بَينَ صُروفِ الدَهرِ مِن رَحِمٍ

مَوصولَةٍ أَو ذِمامٍ غَيرِ مُنقَضِبِ

If there is among the twists of fate a womb

If there is between the changes of time any kinship

Connected or unsevered bond

Connected, or a covenant not severed,

فَبَينَ أَيّامِكَ اللاتي نُصِرتَ بِها

وَبَينَ أَيّامِ بَدرٍ أَقرَبُ النَسَبِ

Then between your days you were given victory in

Then between your days in which you were aided

And the days of Badr the closest lineage

And the days of Badr, is the closest lineage.

أَبقَت بَني الأَصفَرِ المِمراضِ كَاِسمِهِمُ

صُفرَ الوُجوهِ وَجَلَّت أَوجُهَ العَرَبِ

It left the jaundiced sons of jaundice as their name

They left the Sons of the Pale One sickly like their name,

Yellow of faces, and the faces of Arabs beamed

Pale of face, and brought glory to the faces of the Arabs.