خلّوا الشام و داميات كلاهما

لا تهتكوا الأستار عن آلامها

Leave Damascus and its lands alone

Leave Sham and its bleeding wounds alone,

Do not unveil its pains and sorrows

Do not tear the veils from its pains.

عربيّة الأنساب تطرب للوغى

في جاهليّتها و في إسلامها

Arab in lineage, it revels in battle cry

Of Arab lineage, it delights in battle,

Pagan or Muslim, such is its nature

In its pre-Islamic days and in its Islam.

فإذا أراد زمامها ذو قّوّة

شمست على الباغي بفضل زمامها

When held tight by a powerful ruler

And if a man of power desires to seize its reins,

It rises against the oppressor in its reins

It fiercely rebels against the oppressor, casting off its reins.

عطفت عليه بالسّيوف كأنّها

من حزمها صيغت و من إقدامها

It turns to him with swords as if

It turns upon him with swords, as though they

Molded by its resolve and daring

Were forged from its resolve and its bold courage.

السمر حول قبابها مركوزة

و البيض لامعة بظلّ خيامها

The dark tents clustered around its domes

Brown spears are planted firmly around its domes,

The white glistening in the shade of its tents

And white swords gleam in the shadows of its tents.

و لقد أراد بها القويّ تحكّما

فتنمّرت أنفا على حكّامها

The mighty wished to control it

The mighty one sought to impose his rule upon it,

Yet it rebelled against its rulers

But out of pride, it bared a leopard's fangs at its rulers.

إن صدّها ذو التاج عن حاجاتها

سألته حاجتها بحدّ حسامها

If the crowned pushed away its needs

If the crowned one blocks it from its needs,

It asked with the edge of its swords

It demands its needs with the edge of its blade.

ألغارة الشعواء عيد كماتها

و دم اللطّلى المشبوب كأس مدامها

The raids of its zealous heroes a feast

The fierce, sweeping raid is the festival of its brave warriors,

The blood of sacrifices fills its cups

And the blazing blood of necks is the cup of its wine.

ورأيتها ظمأى الجوانح للعلى

فعلى الدم المهراق بلّ أوامها

I saw it, a thirsty soul seeking glory

And you see it, its heart thirsting for glory,

With spilled blood it wets its threshing floors

So upon spilled blood, its burning thirst is quenched.

الروض محتاج لقطر دمائها

يوم الحميّة لا لقطر غمامها

The garden needs its blood drops

The garden is in need of the drops of its blood,

Not raindrops on a dry day

On the day of fiery zeal, not the drops of its clouds.

و الحق تبلغه ببأس حماتها

لا باستكانتها و لا استرحامها

With the might of its protectors reaches its rights

And right is attained through the valor of its protectors,

Not by submission or begging

Not by its submission, nor by its begging for mercy.

البأس كلّ البأس كالأشجّ فباهها

أو كالأعزّ الوائليّ فسامها

Might is all might, like the fierce acacia

Absolute valor is like Al-Ashajj, so boast of it,

Or the most prized Arabian horse in its valor

Or like Al-A'azz Al-Wa'ili, so match its heights.

يا ابن الشام و ما نظمت قصائدي

إلاّ لهزّ عراقها و شامها

Oh son of Damascus, I composed no poems

O son of Sham, I did not compose my poems

Except to shake its Iraq and Levant lands

Except to shake its Iraq and its Sham.

تشدو الحمائم في الشّام و إنّما

أنغام هذا الشعر من أنغامها

The doves sing in Damascus, but

The doves sing in Sham, but indeed,

The melodies of this poetry are its own

The melodies of this poetry are derived from their songs.

الحرّ يؤسر و الحمائم حرّة

يا ليت لي في الشام حظّ حمامها

The free are imprisoned, the doves are free

The free man is taken captive, while the doves remain free;

Would that I have the luck of its pigeons

Oh, how I wish I had in Sham the fortune of its doves.

أليوم معركة الحياة فما الذي

أعددت من عدد ليوم صدامها

Today is the battle of life, so what did I prepare

Today is the battle of life, so what have you

Of weapons and armor for its clashes?

Prepared of arms for the day of its clash?

من ليس يمنع حقّه في حربها

هيهات يمنع حقّه بسلامها

Whoever does not defend his rights in its war

He who does not defend his right in its war,

Will never gain them through peace

Will never defend his right in its peace.

و إذا تنكّبت الزحام ففترة

و تخرّ منجدلا غداة زحامها

If it falters in the fray, it is but respite

And if you shy away from the fray, it is but a brief pause,

To charge anew in the throngs on the morrow

Before you fall slain in the dust on the morning of its throng.

للأقوياء شريعة مكتوبة

بالسيف شيب حلالها بحرامها

The mighty have a law written

The strong possess a written law,

With swords, making the forbidden as lawful

Where, by the sword, its lawful is mixed with its unlawful.

أمنّول الأمم الضعيفة حقّها

و مديلها القهّار من ظلاّمها

They stole the rights of weak nations

O Bestower of rights to the weak nations,

As the conqueror extends his injustice

And their conquering Avenger against their oppressors!

فصل الخطاب دنا فأيّد أمّة

لم تبغ إلاّ حقّها بقيامها

Cut short this talk, and support a nation

The decisive judgment is near, so support a nation

That wanted nothing but its rights by rising up

That sought nothing but its right in its uprising.

و اسمح لنصرك أن يرفرف فوقها

و يطاول الجوزاء في أعلامها

Allow your victory to flutter over it

And allow Your victory to flutter above it,

And reach the stars in its banners

And reach the heights of Gemini among its banners.

يا ربّ علّمها المسير إلى الردى

بسبيل عزّتها و نيل مرامها

Oh Lord, teach it the path to demise

O Lord, teach it the march toward death,

By way of its dignity and fulfilling its hopes

On the path to its dignity and the attainment of its desire.

هذي دماء كرامها مطلولة

فاقبل ضحيّتها دماء كرامها

So accept their sacrifice, the blood of its nobles

These are the bloods of its noble ones, spilled unavenged,

It hopes for nothing but a free life

So accept as its sacrifice the blood of its noble ones.

لا ترتجي إلاّ حياة حرّة

يا ربّ ، أجر صلاتها و صيامها

Oh Lord, reward its prayers and fasts

It hopes for nothing but a life of freedom;

If you do not grant it success before its battle

O Lord, reward its prayers and its fasting.

إن لم ترجّ الفوز قبل حمامها

فاسمح به يا ربّ بعد حمامها

Then allow it after the battle, Oh Lord

If it does not hope for triumph before its death,

You will find after death in its souls

Then permit it, O Lord, after its death.

فتراه بعد الموت في أرواحها

إن لم تكن شهدنه في أجسامها

What you did not find in its bodies during life

So it may see it after death in its souls,

Never will Damascus falter, now that

If it could not witness it in its bodies.

هيهات تنخذل الشام و قد بدا

أثر القراع على شبا صمصامها

The signs of conflict have appeared on its youths

Far be it for Sham to be defeated, when the mark

Beyond the rights of its two abodes, a group

Of clashing strikes has appeared on the edge of its sharp sword.

ووراء حقّ الغوطتين عصابة

آساد غابتها شموس ظلامها

Of Asads whose darkness is lit by its suns

And behind the right of the two Ghoutas stands a band,

The self-sacrificers on the day of battle

The lions of its forest, the suns of its darkness.

ألباذلون دماءهم يوم الوغى

و الثائرون بها على أخصامها

And those who rise with it against its foes

Those who sacrifice their blood on the day of battle,

No wolves can reside in its quarters

And rise with it in revolt against its adversaries.

ما للذئاب مدلّة في حيّها

أو لا تخاف الشرّ من ضرغامها

Or fear not evil with its clubs

Why are the wolves so emboldened in its territory?

The dormant fire, so beware

Or do they not fear the wrath of its lion?

النار خامدة اللهيب فحاذروا

يا ظالمي قحطان من إضرامها

Oh oppressors of Qahtan, of its ignition

The fire's flames are dormant, so beware,

If you kill its fathers with your swords

O oppressors of Qahtan, of its igniting.

إن تقتلوا آباءها بسيوفكم

قترقّبوا الغارات من أيتامها

Expect assaults from its orphans

If you slay its fathers with your swords,

Then await the raids from its orphans.