حَيِّ الشَآمَ مُهَنَّدا وَكِتابا

وَالغوطَةَ الخَضراء وَالمِحرابا

O Damascus, the inspired and bookish,

Salute Damascus as a drawn sword and a holy book,

And the green Ghouta, and the prayer niche,

The verdant Ghouta and the sacred prayer niche.

لَيسَت قِباباً ما رَأَيت وَإِنَّما

عَزمٌ تَمَرَّدَ فَاِستَطالَ قِبابا

It is not domes that I saw, but rather,

Those are not mere domes that meet your eye;

A will that rebelled, so domes rose high.

It is a rebellious resolve that soared high to become domes.

فَاِلثُم بِروحِكَ أَرضَها تَلثُم عُصوراً

لِلعُلى سَكَنَت حَصى وَتُرابا

With your spirit, kiss its land through the ages,

Kiss its soil with your very soul, and you kiss the ages,

For the sublime resided in pebbles and dust.

Where glory has dwelt within the pebbles and the dust.

وَاِهبِط عَلى بَرَدى يُصَفِّقُ ضاحِكاً

يَستَعطِفُ التَلعات وَالأَعشابا

And descend upon Barada clapping and laughing joyfully,

Descend to the Barada river, clapping in laughter,

Begging saplings and grass to forgive it.

As it gently courts the hillsides and the meadows.

روحٌ أَطَلَّ مِنَ السَماءِ عَشِيَّةً

فَرَأى الجَمالَ هُنا فَحَنَّ فَذايا

A spirit peered from the sky one evening,

It is a spirit that gazed down from heaven at eventide,

And saw the beauty here, so it yearned and faded away,

And seeing such beauty here, it yearned and melted away.

وَصَفا وَشَفَّ فَأَوشَكَت ضِفّاتُهُ

تَنسابُ مِن وَجدٍ بِهِ مُنسابا

It described and healed, until its rivulets

It became so pure and translucent that its banks

Were about to pour from ecstasy overwhelming it.

Nearly flowed away themselves from their passion for it.

بَل أَدمُعٌ حورُ الجِنانِ ذَرَفنَها

شَوقا وَلَم تَملِك لَهُنَّ إِيابا

Nay, but tears the maidens of heaven shed

Nay, it is but tears shed by the maidens of Paradise,

Yearningly, unable to hold them back.

Wept in longing, tears they could never call back.

بَرَدى ذَكَرتُكَ لِلعَطاشى فَاِرتَوَوا

وَبَني النُهى فَتَرَشَّفوكَ رِضابا

O Barada, I remembered you to the thirsty, so they drank their fill,

O Barada, I spoke your name to the thirsty and they were quenched;

And the pious drank you in willingly.

And the people of wisdom sipped you like sweet nectar.

مَرَّت بِكَ الأَدهارُ لَم تَخبِث وَلَم

تَفسُد وَكَم خَبَثَ الزَمان وَطابا

The ages passed you by without corrupting you,

Ages have passed over you, yet you remained pure and uncorrupted,

While how many times did time decay and fade.

While time itself has so often turned foul or fair.

بِأَبي وَأُمّي في العَراءِ مُوَسَّدٌ

بَعَثَ الحَياةَ مَطامِعا وَرِغابا

With my father and mother as pillows in the wilderness,

May my father and mother be ransom for the one pillowed in the open wild,

It awakened ambitions and desires.

Who breathed life into ambitions and high desires.

لَمّا ثَوى في مَيسَلونَ تَرَنَّحَت

هَضَباتُها وَتَنَفَّسَت أَطيابا

When it lodged in Maysaloon, its plateaus sighed

When he fell to rest in Maysalun, its very hills staggered,

And its fragrances breathed out perfumes.

And the land exhaled a breath of perfume.

وَأَتى النُجومَ حَديثُهُ فَتَهافَتَت

لِتَقومَ حُرّاساً لَهُ حُجّابا

And tales of it came to the stars, so they scrambled

The tale of his deeds reached the stars, and they tumbled down,

To stand guard over it as veiled watchwomen.

To stand as guards and gatekeepers over his grave.

ما كانَ يوسُفُ واحِداً بَل مَوكِباً

لِلنورِ غَلغَلَ في الشُموسِ فَغابا

Joseph was not one, but a procession,

Yusuf was not a single man, but a vast procession

For light, cascading into the suns until hidden.

Of light that penetrated the suns and vanished within.

هَذا الَّذي اِشتاقَ الكَرى تَحتَ الثَرى

كَي لا يَرى في جُلَّقِ الأَغرابا

This one whom the soil yearned for beneath the sod,

It is he who longed for slumber beneath the soil,

Lest he see the faces of strangers in death.

Only that he might not witness invaders in Damascus.

وَإِذا نَبا العَيشُ الكَريمُ بِماجِدٍ

حُرٍّ رَأى المَوتَ الكَريمَ صَوابا

And if life's fertility comes through glorious deeds,

When a dignified life turns its back on a noble soul,

He sees noble death as the right course.

The free man deems a dignified death the only right path.

إِنّي لِأَزهى بِالفَتى وَأُحِبُّهُ

يَهوى الحَياةَ مَشَقَّة وَصِعابا

I take pride in the lad, loving him,

I truly exult in such a youth and hold him dear,

Who craves life with hardship and tribulation,

Who embraces life as a challenge and a struggle.

وَيُضَوِّعُ عِطراً كُلَّما شَدَّ الأَسى

بِيَدَيهِ يَعرُكُ قَلبَهُ الوَثّابا

And gives off scent whenever grief tightens

He wafts fragrance whenever sorrow tightens its grip,

Its hands to wrench at his tossing heart,

Rubbing his leaping heart between its hands.

وَيَسيلُ ماءً إِنحَواهُ فَدفَدٌ

وَإِذا طَواهُ اللَيلُ شَعَّ شَهابا

And pours forth water - if he inclines toward it, a flood,

He flows like water if the barren desert surrounds him,

And if night wraps it, a shooting star bursts forth.

And if the night enshrouds him, he blazes like a meteor.

وَإِذا العَواصِفُ حَجَّبَت وَجهَ السَما

جَدَلَ العَواصِفَ لِلسَما أَسبابا

And when storms veil the face of the sky,

If tempests veil the face of the heavens,

He disputes with storms, supplying reasons for the sky.

He braids those very storms into ladders to the sky.

وَإِذا تَقَوَّضَ صَرحُ آمالٍ بَنى

أَمَلاً جَديداً مِن رَجاءٍ خابا

And if the castle of hopes is shattered,

And if the edifice of his hopes should collapse, he builds

He builds a new hope from hopes dashed.

A new hope from the very ruins of the one that failed.

فَاِبنُ الكَواكِبِ كُلُّ أُفقٍ أُفقُهُ

وَاِبنُ الضَراغِمِ لَيسَ يَعدِمُ غابا

So the son of stars - every horizon is his horizon,

For the son of the stars claims every horizon as his own,

And the son of afflictions - he does not lack for tests.

And the son of lions never lacks a forest to roam.

عَجَباً لِقَومي وَالعَدُوِّ بِبابِهِم

كَيفَ اِستَطابوا اللَهو وَالأَلعابا

How strange are my people, with the enemy at their gate,

I marvel at my people: with the enemy at their very gates,

Content with diversion and frivolity!

How can they find sweetness in amusement and games?

وَتَخاذَلَت أَسيافُهُم عَن سَحقِهِ

في حينِ كانَ النَصرُ مِنهُم قابا

Their swords shirked from crushing him

Their swords hung back from crushing the foe,

At a time when victory was near for them.

Even when victory was within their grasp.

تَرَكوا الحُسامَ إِلى الكَلامِ تَعَلُّلاً

يا سَيفُ لَيتَكَ ما وَجَدتَ قِرابا

They left the sword for rhetoric, on the pretext

They abandoned the sword for words, seeking excuses;

"O sword, would that you had not found a sheath!"

O sword, would that you had never found a scabbard!

دُنياكَ يا وَطَنَ العُروبَةِ غابَةٌ

حَشَدَت عَلَيكَ أَراقِما وَذِئابا

O homeland of Arabism, your world is a jungle

Your world, O homeland of the Arabs, is a savage jungle

Crammed with wild beasts and creatures of prey.

That has amassed vipers and wolves against you.

فَاِلبِس لَها ماءَ الحَديدِ مَطارِقاً

وَاِجعَل لِسانَكَ مَخلِباً أَو نابا

So don them the water of iron as pummeling hammers,

So clothe yourself in the essence of iron, forged into hammers,

And make your tongue a claw or fang.

And let your tongue become a claw or a fang.

لا شَرعَ في الغاباتِ إِلّا شَرعَها

فَدَعِ الكَلامَ شِكايَة وَعِتابا

The law of the jungle prevails in jungles -

For there is no law in the jungle but the law of the wild,

Leave off complaining and rebuke.

So abandon speech, complaint, and reproach.

هَذي هِيَ الدُنيا الَّتي أَحبَبتَها

وَسَقَيتَ غَيرَكَ حُبَّها أَكوابا

This is the life you loved,

This is the very world that you have loved,

And made others drink its love in cups.

And whose love you poured out for others in brimming cups.

وَضَحِكتَ مَعَ أَحلامِها وَبَكَيتَ في

آلامِها وَجَرَعتَ مَعَها الصابا

You laughed with its dreams and cried in

You laughed along with its dreams, and you wept

Its sorrows, and drank the treacherous wine with it.

Amidst its pains, and with it, you swallowed bitterness.

وَأَضَلَّ روحُكَ في السُرى وَأَضَلَّها

ما خِلتَهُ ماءً فَكانَ سَرابا

Your soul went astray in the mirages, and misled them -

Your soul was led astray in the night journey, deceived

What you thought was water turned out a mirage.

By what you deemed water, but proved to be a mirage.

وَنَظَرت وَالأَوصابُ تَنهَشُ قَلبَها

فَرَأَيتَ كُلَّ لَذاذَةٍ أَوصابا

And you looked on as the predators tore its heart,

You gazed on while agonies gnawed at its heart,

So you saw every sweetness turn bitter.

Until you saw every pleasure turned into pain.

شاءَ الظَلومُ خَرابَها فَإِذا الوَرى

لا يُبصِرونَ سِوى نُهاهُ خَرابا

The oppressor willed its ruin - and so people

The tyrant willed its ruin; yet behold, the people

See only desolation at its end.

See ruin only in his own designs.

دُنيا تَأَلَّقَ أَمسُها في يَومِها

فَاِستَجمَعَ الأَنساب وَالأَحسابا

A world whose yesterday shone in its time,

It is a world whose yesterday shone brightly in its today,

Bringing lineages and accounts together.

Gathering all lineages and noble virtues together.

وَسَرى سَناءُ الوَحيِ مِن آفاقِها

يَغشى العُصور وَيَغمِرُ الأَحقابا

The luster of revelation spread from its horizons

The brilliance of revelation streamed from its horizons,

Enveloping eras and inundating epochs.

Enveloping the ages and flooding the eras.

الحَقُّ ما رَفَعَت بِهِ جُدرانُها

وَالخَيرُ ما زانَت بِهِ الأَبوابا

True is what its walls elevated,

Truth is the foundation upon which its walls were raised,

And good what adorned its gates.

And goodness is the ornament that graces its gates.

فَاِستِنطِقِ التاريخَ هَل في سِفرِهِ

مَجدٌ يُضاهي مَجدَها الخَلّابا

Question history - is there in its book

Ask History to speak: is there within its tome

Glory equal to its most wondrous glory?

Any glory that rivals her captivating glory?

شابَت حَضارات وَدالَت وَاِنطَوَت

أُمَم وَمَجدُ أُمَيَّةٍ ما شابا

Civilizations have withered and nations vanished,

Civilizations have grown old, withered, and faded away,

Yet the glory of Umayyah remains unblemished.

Nations have vanished, yet the glory of the Umayyads has not grayed.

الأَمسُ كانَ لَها وَإِنَّ لَها غَدا

تَتَلَفَّتُ الدُنيا لَهُ إِعجابا

Yesterday was its, and tomorrow will still be its -

Yesterday belonged to her, and indeed, she holds a tomorrow

The world turns to it full of admiration.

Toward which the world turns in admiration.

غَنَّيتَ مِن قَبلُ المَحولَة وَالعَرى

أَفَلا تُغَنّي الرَوضَةَ المِخصابا

You sang of migration and the barren valley before -

You have sung before of barren lands and desolation;

Will you not sing of the flowering garden?

Will you not now sing of the fertile, verdant garden?

عَطَفَت لَيالِيَها عَلَيكَ بَشاشَةً

فَاِنسَ اللَيالي غُربَة وَعَذابا

Its nights have shown you kindness,

Its nights have turned towards you with a cheerful smile,

So forget the nights of alienation and torment.

So forget those nights of exile and torment.

وَاِنشُر جَناحَكَ فَالفَضاءُ مُنَوِّرٌ

وَاِملَء كوأُسَكَ قَد وَجَدتَ شَرابا

Spread your wings - for the sky is luminous,

Spread wide your wings, for the heavens are illuminated,

And fill your cup - for you have found your drink.

And fill your cups, for you have found wine at last.

فَلِشَدوِ مِثلَكَ كُوِّنَت وَلِمِثلِها

خَلَقَ الإِلَهُ البُلبُلَ المِطرابا

For the rapture of one like you the nightingales were created,

For the song of one like you she was formed, and for one like her,

And for the like of it God created the singing bulboul.

God created the melodious nightingale.

لَيتَ الرِياضَ تُعيرُني أَلوانَها

لِأَصوغَ مِنها لِلرَئيسِ خِطابا

Would that the gardens lend me their colors

Would that the gardens might lend me their colors,

That I may fashion from them a speech for the president.

That I might craft from them an address to the President.

وَأَقولُ إِنّي عاجِزٌ عَن شُكرِهِ

عَجزَ الأَنامِلِ أَن تَلُم عُبابا

And say that I cannot thank him enough -

And declare that I am helpless to offer him due thanks,

As the eloquence of fingers cannot gather clouds.

Just as fingertips are helpless to grasp the ocean waves.

أَشكو إِلى نَفسي العَياءَ فَتَشتَكي

مِثلي وَتَصمُتُ لا تَحيرُ جَوابا

I complain to myself of incapacity, and it complains

I complain of weariness to my soul, and it complains back,

Like me, then falls silent, perplexed for an answer.

Just as I do, then falls silent, finding no answer.

فَلَقَد رَأَيتُ البَحرَ حينَ رَأَيتُهُ

فَوَقَفتُ مُضطَرِبَ الرُأى هَيّابا

For I saw the sea when I saw it,

For I beheld the boundless sea when I beheld him,

And I stood there, my sight troubled and in awe.

And I stood with vision blurred, struck by awe.

أَعَميدَ سُرِيّا وَكاشِفَ ضَرِّها

خَلَقَت يَداكَ مِنَ الشُيوخِ شَبابا

The pillar of Syria and rescuer of its harm -

O Dean of Syria, you who lifted her distress,

your hands created youth out of old men.

Your hands have fashioned youth from the very elders.

وَبَلابِلٌ كانَت تَإِنُّ سَجينَةً

أَطلَقَتها عَلى أَطَرتَها أَسرابا

And nightingales that once lamented captive

And nightingales that once groaned in captivity—

You set free over their nests in droves.

You released them, and sent them soaring in flocks.

يا صاحِبَ الخَلقِ المُصَفّى كَالنَدى

لَو لَم تَكُن بَشَراً لَكُنتَ سَحابا

O you of immaculate nature, like dew,

O you whose character is as pure as the dew,

Had you not been human, you would have been a cloud.

Were you not a man, you would surely be a rain-giving cloud.

أَمَلُ الشَبيبَةِ في يَدَيكَ وَديعَةٌ

فَاِرفَع لَها الأَخلاق وَالآدابا

The hope of the youth lies in your hands as a trust -

The hope of the youth is a sacred trust in your hands,

So teach them good morals and etiquette.

So elevate their morals and their culture.

فَالجَهلُ أَنّى كانَ فَهوَ عُقوبَةٌ

وَالعِلمُ أَنّى كانَ كانَ ثَوابا

For ignorance, wherever it is found, is a punishment,

For ignorance, wherever it exists, is a punishment,

And knowledge, wherever it is found, is a reward.

While knowledge, wherever it be found, is a reward.

يا وَيحَ نَفسي كَم تُطارِدُني النَوى

وَتَهُدُّ مِنّي القَلب وَالأَعصابا

Oh woe to my soul, how the pangs pursue me

Woe to my soul, how exile relentlessly pursues me,

And shake my heart and nerves.

Shattering my heart and fraying my nerves.

وَدَّعتُ خَلفَ البَحرِ أَمسُ أَحِبَّةً

وَغَداً أُوَدِّعُ هاهُنا أَحبابا

I left loved ones beyond the sea yesterday,

Yesterday, beyond the sea, I bade farewell to loved ones,

And tomorrow I will bid farewell to loved ones here.

And tomorrow, I must bid farewell to loved ones here.