عفت الديار و أنكرت قصّادها

حيّا الحيا تلك الديار و جادها

The dwellings are obliterated and have rejected their visitors,

May the rain greet those dwellings and water them generously.

أبلت بشاشتها الخطوب و أقصدت

فرسانها و تخرّمت أجوادها

Calamities have worn away their radiance, striking down

Their knights and destroying their generous men.

و أباد فتيتها الزمان و طالما

مرّ الزمان بفتية فأبادها

Time has annihilated their youth, and how often

Has Time passed by youths and annihilated them!

هي حسرة فازدد و أنت أخو هوى

حقّ الوفاء عليك أن تزدادها

It is a heartbreak, so increase it, since you are a brother of passion;

The duty of loyalty upon you is to increase it.

حيّيتهنّ منازلا مهجورة

سبت المنيّة هندها و سعادها

I greeted them as abandoned dwellings,

Where death has taken captive their Hind and Su'ad.

و حبست فيهنّ المطيّ مسائلا

عن أهل ودّك نؤيها و ثمادها

And I halted the mounts among them, questioning

Its trenches and puddles about the people of your affection.

و سكبت ما شاء الهوى بطلولها

حمر الدّموع . أما تخاف نفادها ؟

And I poured over its ruins whatever passion willed

Of red tears. Do you not fear their depletion?

تلك الدموع قصيدة قد جوّدت

عيناك يوم فراقهم إنشادها

Those tears are a poem whose recitation

Your eyes mastered on the day of their departure.

من أنّه الثكلى أخذت رويّها

و من القلوب قد استعرت مدادها

From the moan of the bereaved mother it took its rhyme,

And from the hearts you borrowed its ink.

جاءت مهذّبة القوافي ما اشتكت

إبطاءها و زحافها و سنادها

It came with refined rhymes, never complaining

Of slowness, irregularity, or flawed meter.

فإذا تلتها العين و هي نديّة

سكر الزمان بلحنها فأعادها

And when the weeping eye recites it,

Time becomes intoxicated by its melody and repeats it.

الحزن أرسلها و وقّع لحنها

واختار في شوط القريض جيادها

Sorrow dispatched it and composed its melody,

And chose the finest steeds in the race of poetry.

غرّاء هذّبها و أحكم صنعها

صنع البيان فأتعبت نقّادها

A brilliant poem, refined and perfectly crafted

By the art of eloquence, tiring its critics.

الشعر ما ملك النفوس و هزّها

و أثار ثائرها الكمين وقادها

Poetry is what possesses souls and shakes them,

Stirring their hidden rebellion and leading them.

تتلو الطبيعة في الصباح قصائدا

بذّت بهنّ لبيدها وزيادها

Nature recites poems in the morning

Surpassing their Labid and their Ziyad.

إنّي لتطربني الحمامة أنشدت

فوق الغصون فرنّحت ميّادها

Indeed, the dove enchants me when it sings

Upon the branches, swaying their tender shoots.

و يهزّني لحن النسيم مقبّلا

نور الخمائل لاثما أورادها

And the melody of the breeze moves me as it kisses

The blossoms of the thickets, kissing their roses.

و الصبح مرّ على الربى بحنانه

فكسى بلؤلؤ دمعه أجيادها

And the morning passed over the hills with its tenderness,

Draping their necks with the pearls of its tears.

والموج يخطب في الصخور مثرثرا

حنقا و ينقم كبرها و عنادها

And the wave preaches to the rocks, chattering

In rage, resenting their arrogance and stubbornness.

و الليل غطّى في رداء سكونه

جسم البسيطة شمّها ووهادها

And the night covered with the cloak of its silence

The body of the earth, its peaks and its valleys.

يا نفحة حملت إليّ من الربى

غبّ الرّبيع شقيقها و زبادها

O breeze that brought to me from the hills

After the spring its anemones and civet-perfume,

أمّي الجزيرة و اسرقي من غيدها

برد الثغور على الصبا و برادها

Head for the Peninsula and steal from its beautiful maidens

The coolness of lips upon the morning breeze, and its refreshing touch.

ما للجزيرة. لا تفيق من الكرى

طلع الصباح فنبّهي آسادها

What is wrong with the Peninsula? It does not wake from slumber!

The morning has dawned, so rouse its lions.

ملّ الشعوب من الرقاد و بكّروا

للطيّبات فهل تملّ رقادها

The nations have tired of sleep and risen early

For good things; so will it ever tire of its sleep?

بنت الغزاة الفاتحين تحكّمت

فيها العداة و أحكمت أصفادها

Daughter of conquering invaders, enemies have

Taken control of her and tightened her shackles.

ملكوا عليها الدجلتين و حرّموا

بردى وذادوا بالظبى ورّادها

They seized from her the two great rivers of Mesopotamia, forbade

Barada, and repelled its water-seekers with swords.

و كست جنودهم العواصم فارتدّت

ثوب الحداد وودّعت أعيادها

Their soldiers overwhelmed the capitals, so they donned

The garb of mourning and bid farewell to their festivals.

يا للعواصم خطّة مغزوّة

ملك الغريب بياضها و سوادها

O capitals, an invaded territory

Whose white and black lands the stranger has possessed!

الدهر فلّ سيوفها هنديّة

بيضا و حطّم بالقراع صعادها

Time has notched her white Indian swords

And shattered her spears in the clash of battle.

مدّت إلى الفيحاء كفّ رجائها

متروكة و ترقّبت إسعادها

She extended the hand of her hope to Al-Fayhaa,

Forsaken, anticipating its aid.

ما أسرع الفيحاء ، لولا أنّها

طغت الخطوب فرّيثت أنجادها

How swift Al-Fayhaa would be, were it not that

Calamities overwhelmed her and delayed her reinforcements.

و شكت لبغداد الخطوب و ما درت

أنّ الخطوب تعرّقت بغدادها

And she complained of calamities to Baghdad, unaware

That calamities had stripped Baghdad to the bone.

حبست مياه الرّافدين و حلاّت

عن ورد دجلة لخمها و إيادها

The waters of Mesopotamia were withheld, and driven away

From the watering place of the Tigris were its Lakhm and Iyad tribes.

و يح العروبة ! حلّمت أحبابها

ريب الزمان و نزّقت حسّادها

Alas for Arabism! The vicissitudes of Time have made its lovers forbearing

And made its enviers reckless.

هي جنّة ما ارتادها ذو شرّة

إلاّ و أطمع حسنها مرتادها

It is a paradise that no wicked man has ever visited

Without its beauty tempting the visitor.

كالطير أسكر لحنها صيّادها

فمشى إليها بالردى و اصطادها

Like a bird whose melody intoxicated its hunter,

So he approached it with death and hunted it.

ذاك الجمال جنى على أبنائها

ظلما و جلّل بالأذى أحفادها

That beauty brought ruin upon its sons

Unjustly, and shrouded its grandsons in harm.

و لقد أقول لغاصبين مشوا بها

مرحا و أثقلها الشقاء و آدها

And I say to the usurpers who walked upon it

Exultantly, while misery burdened and oppressed it:

هي جذوة حاولتم إطفاءها

و الظلم راح محولا إيقادها

It is a burning ember you tried to extinguish,

But oppression ended up igniting it.

أقبلتم كالمرشدين و ساءكم

بعد الكرى أن تستبين رشادها

You arrived like guides, yet it displeased you,

After slumber, that she should perceive her right path.

قلتم نؤيّد منعة استقلالها

لكنكم أيّدتم استبعادها

You said, 'We support the strength of her independence,'

But you supported her enslavement.

إنّ الغزالة لو ملكتم أمرها

لحبستم عن جلّق آرادها

If you had control over the sun,

You would have withheld its rays from Jilliq.

يا عصبة الأمم القوية . حاذري

بأس الضعاف و حزمها و كيادها

O League of Strong Nations, beware

The might of the weak, their resolve, and their scheming.

لا تأمني بأس الأعراب إنّهم

كادت تفارق بيضهم أغمادها

Do not feel safe from the might of the Arabs, for

Their swords have almost left their sheaths.

و كأنّني بالصيد من أمرائها

يوم الحميّة أنكرت أحقادها

And it is as if I see the proudest of her princes

On the day of zeal, renouncing their grudges.

و كأنّني بالتاج ألّف شملها

نظما و لمّ نثيرها و بدادها

And it is as if I see the crown uniting her dispersion

In order, gathering her scattered and dispersed parts.

هلّلت للنشء الجديد و قد مشى

يصلى الحياة و حربها و جهادها

I cheered for the new generation as it marched,

Braving the fire of life, its war, and its struggle.

و خشعت للنشء الجديد و قلت ذا

جند الشام فمن يطيق جلادها

And I stood in awe of the new generation and said: This

Is the army of the Levant, so who can endure its combat?

حيّيت فيه حماتها أبطالها

يوم النزال كماتها قوّادها

In it, I greeted its protectors, its heroes

On the day of battle, its brave warriors, its commanders.

تلك المهار و لا أكابد لوعة

إن مدّ في عمري شهدت طرادها

Those are the swift steeds, and I shall suffer no anguish,

For if my life is prolonged, I shall witness their charge.