وَبارِقَةٍ تَمَخَّضُ بِالمنايا

صَخُوبِ الرّعْدِ دامِيَةِ الظِّلالِ

And lightning that gives birth to death

With the roar of thunder, gloomy shadows

تُشيبُ ذَوائِبَ الأَيامِ رُعْباً

وَيَنْفُضُ رَوْعُها لِمَمَ اللَّيالي

That make the days gray with fear

And its horror shakes the darkness of nights

إِذَا خَطَرَتْ رِياحُ النَّصْرِ فيها

تَلَقَّتْها خَياشِيمُ العَوالي

When the winds of victory blow through it

The heights receive it with open mouths

وَقَدْ شَامَتْ مَخيَلَتَها سُيوفٌ

تَلَمَّظُ في دمٍ سَرِبِ العَزالي

And it imagines swords in its mind's eye

Glinting in blood, quenching thirsts

فَكمْ أَجَلٍ طَوَيْناهُ قَصيرٍ

وَآمَالٍ نَشَرْناهَا طِوالِ

So many brief lifetimes we have lived

And hopes we have harbored so long

بِيَوْمٍ خَاضَ جانِحَتَيْهِ عَمْروٌ

لَقَى حَرْبٍ تُلَقَّحُ عَن حِيالِ

On a day when Amr plunged his wings

Into battle, finding glory

وَلمَّا جَرَّتِ الظَّلْماءُ ذَيْلاً

يُوارِي مَسْلَكَ الأَسَلِ النِّهالِ

And when the dark night drew its train

Concealing the path of the rising saplings

وَلاحَ كَجِلْدَة النَّمِرِ الثُّرَيّا

بِلَيْلٍ مِثْلِ ناظرَةِ الغزالِ

There appeared like the coat of a leopard

In a night with the gaze of a doe

تَوَلَّى وَالظَّلامُ لَهُ خَفيرٌ

عَلى مُتَمَطِّرٍ خَذِمِ النِّعالِ

He turned away and the darkness was his guard

Over one treading with worn-out sandals

وَباتَ كَأَنَّ خَافِيَةَ النُّعَامَى

تَنوءُ بِهِ وَقادِمَةَ الشّمالِ

And he spent the night as if the ostrich's hiding place

Swayed under him, approached by the north wind