هَذي الوَغى مَشبوبَةُ النيرانِ

مَشدودَةُ الأَسبابِ وَالأَقرانِ

This raging storm, its fires are blazing,

This is war, its fires blazing high,

Its causes and peers stretched taut.

Its causes tight, its adversaries locked in combat.

شابَت مَفارِقُها وَكانَت طِفلَةً

عَذراءَ مُنذُ دَقائِقٍ وَثَوانِ

Its youth has grayed, though it was but an infant,

Her hair turned gray though she was but a child,

A maiden, mere moments and hours ago.

A virgin only minutes and seconds ago.

طُوِيَ السَلامُ فَلَيسَ يُنشَرُ بَعدَها

أَو يُبعَثُ المَلحودُ في الأَكفانِ

Peace is shrouded, never to be unfurled,

Peace has been folded away, never to be unfurled again,

Or the interred exhumed from their shrouds.

Unless the entombed are raised within their shrouds.

شُقّوا الطُروسَ وَحَطِّموا أَقلامَكُم

اليَومَ يَومُ شَواجِرِ المُرّانِ

Break the lutes and smash your pens,

Tear up the parchments and smash your pens;

Today is a day for the clash of blades.

Today is the day for the clashing of spear-shafts.

هانَت عَلى الصَمصامِ كُلُّ يَراعَةٍ

ما لِليَراعَةِ في الحُروبِ يَدانِ

All chivalry is worthless against swords,

Every reed pen is humbled before the sharp sword;

Chivalry has no place in wars.

The pen has no power within the realm of war.

يا صاحِبي لَيسَ الوَغى مِن مَذهَبي

هاتيكَ وَسوَسَةٌ مِنَ الشَيطانِ

My friend, this storm is not of my making,

O my friend, war is not of my creed;

These are the devil's evil whisperings.

That is but a dark whispering from Satan.

فَالناسُ إِخوانٌ وَلَيسَ مِنَ النُهى

أَن يَفتِكَ الإِخوانُ بِالإِخوانِ

For people are brothers, it is not right

For mankind are brothers, and it is not wisdom

That brothers should destroy each other.

That brothers should slaughter their own kin.

لَو تَعقِلُ الأَجنادُ أَنَّ مُلوكَها

أَعدائُها اِنقَلَبَت عَلى التيجانِ

If armies understood their kings

If the soldiers but realized that their kings

Are their enemies, thrones would tumble.

Were their true enemies, they would overthrow the crowns.

قَومٌ إِذا شاؤوا الصُعودَ لِمَطلَبٍ

تَخِذوا مَراقِيَهُم مِنَ الأَديانِ

A people, when seeking to ascend,

Rulers who, when they desire to ascend to a goal,

Take their steps upon religions.

Build their stairways out of religions.

أَو إِن كَرِهتَ الحَربَ كُنتَ يَراعَةً

وَإِذا قَتَلتَ أَخاكَ غَيرَ جَبانِ

If you abhor war, you are craven,

Yet if you loathe war, you are deemed a mere reed,

Yet when you kill your brother, no coward.

But if you kill your brother, you are no coward.

إِن كانَ قَتلُ النَفسِ غَيرَ مُحَرَّمٍ

ما الفَرقُ بَينَ المَرءِ وَالحَيَوانِ

If taking a soul is not forbidden,

If the killing of a soul is not forbidden,

What distinguishes man from beast?

Then what distinguishes man from the beast?

الحَربُ مَجلَبَةُ الشَقاوَةِ لِلوَرى

وَالحَربُ يَعشَقُه بَنو الإِنسانِ

War brings misery unto the earth,

War is the bringer of misery to all creation,

Yet man loves war.

Yet war is adored by the sons of men.

لِمَنِ الخَميسُ خَوافِقٌ راياتُهُ

مُتَماسِكُ الأَجزاءِ كَالبُنيانِ

Whose is the army on Thursday, its banners

Whose is that vast army with fluttering banners,

United as one building?

Its ranks held tight like a solid edifice?

مُتَأَلِّبٌ كَاللَيلِ جَنَّ سَوادُهُ

مُستَوفِزٌ كَالقَدَرِ في الغَلَيانِ

As dark as night in its mass,

Gathering like the night when its darkness descends,

Seething like a boiling cauldron.

Restless as a cauldron reaching its boil.

مُتَدَفِّقٌ كَالسَيلِ في الغُدرانِ

مُتَدَفِّعٌ كَالعاصِفِ المِرنانِ

Coursing like a torrent in floods,

Surging forth like a torrent through the valleys,

Thrusting like a howling gale.

Driving forward like a howling gale.

تَتَزَلزَلُ الأَطوادُ مِن صَدَماتِهِ

وَتَظَلُّ مِنهُ الأَرضُ في رَجَفانِ

The battalions shake from its blows

The great mountains quake from its impacts,

And the earth quakes in terror.

And the earth remains trembling in its wake.

عَجلانُ يَكتَسِحُ البِلادَ وَأَهلَها

إِنَّ الشَقِيَّ العاجِزُ المُتَواني

A raging beast that ravages the land and its people,

Hasty to sweep away lands and their people;

Wretched is the weak and hesitant man.

Truly wretched is the one who is helpless and slow.

في كُلِّ سَرجٍ ضَيغَمٌ مُتحَفِّزٌ

في كَفِّهِ ماضي الشَباةِ يَمانِ

In every saddle, an enraged lion

In every saddle sits a poised lion,

In his grip, a sword that flashes like lightning.

In his hand, a sharp-edged Yemeni blade.

سَمحٌ إِذا ضَنَّ الجَبانُ بِروحِهِ

فَكَأَنَّما في جِسمِهِ روحانِ

Open-handed, though the coward hoards his soul,

Generous with his life when the coward clings to his,

As if he had two souls in his body.

As though his body harbored two souls.

ما صانَ مُهجَتَهُ الَّتي في صَدرِهِ

إِلّا لِيَبذُلَها بِيَومِ طِعانِ

Nothing protected his brain, ensconced in his chest,

He guarded the life-blood within his chest

Except to expend it on a day of stabbing.

Only to spend it on the day of the thrusting spears.

لا شَيءَ يَومَ الرَوعِ أَجمَلُ عِندَهُ

مِن أَن يُرى وَالقِرنَ يَصطَرِعانِ

On the day of battle, nothing is more beautiful to him

Nothing on the day of terror is more beautiful to him

Than to be seen plunging his spear.

Than to be seen grappling with his foe.

يا رُبَّ مَعرَكَةٍ تَرَكَمَ نَقعُها

حَتّى اِختَفى في ظِلِّها الجَيشانِ

O Lord of a battle, its carnage so deep

Oh, how many battles have seen dust pile so high

The two armies disappeared into its shadow.

That both armies vanished within its shadow.

باتَت صِقالُ الهِندِ في أَفيائِها

كَالبَرقِ يَسطَعُ مِن خِلالِ دُخانِ

Indian swords gleamed through its smoke

The polished Indian swords flashed in that gloom,

Like lightning in the midst of thick clouds.

Like lightning tearing through the smoke.

وَالخَيلُ طائِرَةً عَلى أَرسانِها

تَهوى لَوِ اِنعَتَقَت مِنَ الأَرسانِ

The horses flew atop their saddles

And horses flying against their reins,

As if yearning to be freed of their saddles.

Longing to break free from their tethers.

دَوَتِ المَدافِعُ كَالرُعودِ قَواصِفاً

نَطَقَ الحَديدُ فَعِيَّ كُلُّ لِسانِ

The cannons roared like thunder, speaking out,

Cannons roared like thundering storms,

Every tongue fell silent.

Iron spoke, and every human tongue fell mute.

تَرمي بِأَشباهِ الرُجومِ تَخالُها

حَمراءَ قَد صيغَت مِنَ المُرجانِ

They cast forth projectiles that seemed like comets,

Hurling projectiles like meteors, which you would deem

Red, as if molded from coral.

To be red gems fashioned from coral.

ما إِن تَطيشُ وَإِن نَأَت أَغراضُها

وَلَكَم تَطيشُ قَذائِفُ البُركانِ

They swerve not from their targets,

They do not err, though their targets lie far,

Though volcanic bombs swerve often.

While often the volcano's rocks go wide.

صَخّابَةً تَذَرُ الحُصونَ بَلاقِعاً

وَتَدُكُّها دَكّاً إِلى الأَركانِ

Showering destruction, reducing forts to ruins

Screaming, they leave fortresses as barren wastelands,

And pounding them into rubble and debris.

Pounding them down to their very foundations.

تَنقَضُّ وَالفُرسانُ في آثارِها

تَنقَضُّ مِثلَ كَواسِرِ العُقبانِ

Swooping down as the eagles do

They strike, with cavalry following in their wake,

Upon their prey.

Swooping down like predatory eagles.

هِيَ وَقعَةٌ ضَجَّت لَها الدُنيا كَما

ضَجَّت وَضَجَّ الناسُ في سيدانِ

A clash that shook the world as it did

It was a clash that made the world cry out, just as

And people shook in Saydan.

It cried out—and men cried out—at Sedan.

مَشَتِ المَنايا حاسِراتٍ عِندَها

تَتَطَلَّبُ الأَرواحَ في الأَبدانِ

Death marched destructive, taking lives

Death walked there with face unveiled,

Seeking souls in bodies.

Hunting for souls within the bodies.

فَعَلى أَديمِ الجَوِّ ثَوبٌ أَسوَدُ

وَعَلى أَديمِ الأَرضِ ثَوبٌ قانِ

Upon the sky's surface, a black robe,

Across the sky's skin lies a black shroud,

Upon the earth's surface, a robe of blood.

And across the earth's skin, a crimson robe.

وَإِذا نَظَرتَ إِلى الجُسومِ عَلى الثَرى

أَبصَرتَ كُثباناً عَلى كُثبانِ

And if you looked at the bodies on the ground,

If you were to gaze at the bodies on the ground,

You saw dunes upon dunes.

You would see dunes piled upon dunes.

لَمّا رَأَوا بورغاسَ ضَرَّةَ مَكدَنٍ

حَمَلوا عَلَيها حَملَةَ اليابانِ

When they saw Burgas bristling like a porcupine,

When they saw Burgas, that rival to Mukden,

They charged upon it with the fierceness of Japan.

They charged upon it with the ferocity of Japan.

وَقَدِ اِنجَلَت فَإِذا الهِلالُ مُنَكَّسَ

عَلَمٌ طَوَتهُ رايَةُ الصُلبانِ

When the crescent cleared, it was inverted,

When the smoke cleared, behold: the Crescent lowered,

A banner twisted, the cross's banner.

A banner folded away by the flags of the Cross.

رَجَحَت قِواهُم أَيَّما رُجحانِ

فيها وَشالَ التُركُ في الميزانِ

Their strength prevailed decidedly,

Their forces tipped the scales with overwhelming weight;

And the Turks tilted in the scales.

There, the Turks rose light in the balance.

نَفَروا لَكَالحُمرِ الَّتي رَوَّعتَها

بِاِبنِ الشَرى المُتَجَهِّمِ الغَضبانِ

They fled like the red horses frightened

They fled like wild asses startled

By the scowling, wrathful son of lu'ayy.

By the frowning, wrathful lion of the thicket.

وَقُلوبُهُم قَد أَسرَعَت ضَرَباتُها

وَطَظُنُّها وَقَفَت عَنِ الخَفَقانِ

Their hearts raced in their chests

Their hearts raced with such frantic beats,

And their arrogance ceased its beating.

You would think they had ceased to pulse at all.

مُتَلَفِّتينَ إِلى الوَراءِ بِأَعيُنٍ

تَتَخَيَّلُ الأَعداءَ في الأَجفانِ

Looking behind with eyes that saw

Glancing backward with eyes that

Enemies in their eyelids.

Imagined enemies lurking in their very eyelids.

يَتَلَمَّسونَ مِنَ المَنِيَّةِ مَهرَباً

هَيهاتَ إِنَّ المَوتَ كُلَّ مَكانِ

Seeking escape from death's blow,

Groping for some escape from doom—

Alas, death is everywhere.

In vain! For death is in every place.

وَاللَهِ ما يَنجونَ مِن أَشراكِهِ

وَلَوِ اِستَعاروا أَرجُلَ الغُزلانِ

By God, they will not be saved from its traps,

By God, they shall not escape its snares,

Not even if lent the legs of gazelles.

Even if they borrowed the legs of gazelles.

أَسلابُهُم لِلظافِرينَ غَنيمَةٌ

وَجُسُمُهُم لِلحاجِلِ الغَرثانِ

Their corpses are spoils for the victors

Their spoils are booty for the victors,

And their bodies food for the scavenging hyenas.

And their bodies, a feast for the famished raven.

إِن يَأمَنو وَقعَ الأَسِنَّةِ وَالظُبى

فَالذُعرُ طاعِنُهُم بِشَرِّ سِنانِ

Whether saved from the swords and the lances,

Even if they survive the strike of spears and swords,

Terror pierced them with its sharp teeth.

Panic pierces them with the cruelest lance.

ما أَنسَ لا أَنسى عِصابَةَ خُرَّدٍ

في اللَهِ مَسعاهُنَّ وَالإِحسانِ

Unforgettable are the wretches

I shall never forget that band of maidens,

In God's grace was their endeavor and care.

Whose endeavor was for God and charity.

عِفنَ الوَثيرَ إِلى وَسائِدَ قَضَّةٍ

وَنَزَحنَ عَن أَهلٍ وَعَن أَوطانِ

Who left their soft beds for harsh bedrolls

Forsaking soft beds for rough pillows,

And their homelands and families behind.

They departed from kin and homeland alike.

وَوَقفنَ أَنفُسَهُنَّ في الدُنيا عَلى

تَأمينِ مُلتاعٍ وَنُصرَةِ عانِ

And stood themselves in this world upon

They dedicated their souls in this world

Providing aid and supporting the helpless.

To comforting the anguish and aiding the captive.

يَحمِلن أَلوِيَةَ السَلامِ إِلى الأُلى

حَمَلوا لِواءَ الشَرِّ وَالعُدوانِ

Bearing the flags of peace to the ravaged,

Bearing banners of peace to those who

While they carried the flags of evil and injustice.

Bore the flags of evil and aggression.

كَم مِن جَريحٍ بِالنَجيعِ مُخَضَّبٍ

في الأَرضِ لا يَحنو عَلَيهِ حانِ

How many lie bloodied and moaning,

How many a wounded man, dyed in his own blood,

With none to care upon them.

Lay upon the earth with none to show him mercy,

ما راعَهُ طَيفُ المَنِيَّةِ مِثلَما

راعَت حَشاهُ فُرقَةُ الخِلّانِ

Not wary of death like wary

Not even the specter of death terrified him

Of their comrades in villainy.

As much as the anguish of parting from friends.

فَلَهُ إِذا ذَكَرَ الدِيارَ وَأَهلَهُ

آهُ الغَريبِ وَأَبَّةُ الثَكَلانِ

For him, when remembering his home and family,

When he remembers his home and kin, he heaves

The stranger's sigh and the bereft man's lament.

The sigh of the stranger, the moan of the bereaved.

نَفَّسنَ مِن بُرَجائِهِ وَأَسَونَهُ

وَأَعَضنَهُ مِن خَوفِهِ بِأَمانِ

They breathed life into his hopes and consoled him,

They relieved his distress and tended his wounds,

And secured him from his fears.

And exchanged his terror for safety.

ما حَبَّبَ الجَنّاتِ عِندِيَ أَنَّها

مَثوى سَلامٍ مُستَقَرُّ حِسانِ

The gardens' allure for me is not

Nothing endeared Paradise to me save that it is

That they are the abode of lasting peace and beauty.

A dwelling of peace, a home for the beautiful.

لَولا حَنانُ الغانِياتِ وَعَطفُها

ما كانَتِ الدُنيا سِوى أَحزانِ

Were it not for the affection of the gentle ladies,

Were it not for the tenderness and grace of women,

The world would be naught but sorrows.

This world would be nothing but sorrow.

مَن مُسمِعُ الأَيّامَ عَنّي نَبأَةً

يَرتاعُ مِنها كُلُّ ذي وُجدانِ

Let the days not hear any news from me

Who will carry a message from me to the ages,

That would alarm every person of conscience.

At which every soul of conscience shall shudder?

إِنَّ الأُلى جَبُنوا أَمامَ عُداتِهِم

شَجُعوا عَلى الأَطفالِ وَالنُسوانِ

The ravaged showed cowardice before their enemies,

That those who cowered before their enemies

Showed courage against children and women.

Found courage only against children and women!

وَصَوارِماً قَد أُغمِدَت يَومَ الوَغى

شُهِرَت عَلى الأَضيافِ وَالقُطّانِ

And swords sheathed during the fury,

And swords that remained sheathed in the heat of war

Were brandished upon guests and cotton farmers.

Were drawn instead against guests and neighbors.

أَكَذا يُجازي الآمِنونَ بُدورِهِم

أَو هَكَذا قَد جاءَ في القُرآنِ

Is this how the trusted reward their towns?

Is this how the peaceful are repaid for their shining ones?

Or does the Quran thus decree?

Or is this what was revealed in the Quran?

أَخنى عَلى الأَتراكِ دَهرٌ حُوَّلٌ

أَخنى عَلى اليونانِ وَالرومانِ

Time has betrayed the Ottomans,

A shifting fate has brought ruin upon the Turks,

Betrayed the Greeks and the Romans.

Just as it ruined the Greeks and Romans before.

وَطَوى مَحاسِنَ يَلدِزٍ قَدَرٌ طَوى

رَبَّ السَديرِ وَصاحِبَ الإيوانِ

And time has erased the virtues of Yildiz,

Destiny has folded away the splendors of Yildiz, just as it folded

The palace of springs and the hall of fountains.

The Lord of Sadir and the Master of the Iwan.

فَاليَومَ لا أَستانَةُ أَستانَةٌ

تَزهو وَلا السُلطانُ بَِلسُلطانِ

Today no sublime capital remains sublime,

Today, the Capital is the Capital no more;

Nor does the Sultan rule a sultanate.

It does not bloom, and the Sultan is no true Sultan.

دارَت دَوائِرُهُ عَلَيها مِثلَما

دارَت دَوائِرُهُ عَلى طَهرانِ

Its cycles turned against it as they did

Misfortune has circled upon it, just as

Against Tehran.

It circled upon the city of Tehran.

أَمُنَبِّهي الأَضغانَ كَيفَ هَجَعتُمُ

لَمّا تَنَبَّهَ نائِمُ الأَضغانِ

Why, my slumbering people, as I cried out,

O you who awaken grudges: how could you sleep

Did you plug your ears as the sleeping awoke?

Once the sleeping hatreds were aroused?

وَحُكومَةَ الأَشياخِ وَيحَكِ ما الَّذي

خالَفتِ فيهِ عُصبَةَ الفِتيانِ

The rule of elders - speak! What has it contravened

And you, Government of Elders—woe to you!—

Of the league of youths?

In what did you oppose the League of Youth?

قالوا لَنا المُلكُ العَريضُ وَجاهُهُ

كَذَبوا فَإِنَّ المُلكَ لِلرَحمَنِ

They told us the extensive kingdom and its grandeur,

They claimed, 'Ours is the vast dominion and its glory.'

They lied! For the kingdom belongs to the Merciful.

They lied; for dominion belongs only to the Merciful.

ما بالُ قَومي كُلَّما اِستَصرَختُم

وَضَعوا أَصابِعَهُمُ عَلى الآذانِ

Why, my people, do you plug your ears

What ails my people? Whenever I cry out to them,

Whenever I cry out?

They press their fingers into their ears.

أَبناءَ سورِيّا الفَتاةِ تَضافَروا

وَخُذوا مَثالَتُكُم عَنِ البَلقانِ

Syria's children united,

O sons of Young Syria, unite your strength;

And took your example from the Balkans.

And take your warning from the Balkans.

ما التُركُ أَهلٌ أَن يَسودوا فيكُمُ

أَو رُحكَمُ الآسادُ بِالظُلمانِ

The Turks do not deserve to rule you,

The Turks are not fit to hold sovereignty over you,

Or for their lions to make your bed their den.

Nor for ostriches to govern lions.

هُم أُلبِسوا الشَرقِيَّ ثَوبَ غَضاضَةٍ

وَسَقوهُ كَأسَي ذِلَّةٍ وَهَوانِ

They dressed the East in the garb of humiliation,

They have clothed the Easterner in a robe of shame,

And gave it the cup of disgrace and lowliness to drink.

And forced him to drink the cups of abasement and scorn.

فَإِذا جَرى ذِكرُ الشُعوبِ بِمَوضِعٍ

شَمَخَت وَطَأطَأَ رَأسَهُ العُثماني

So when the people are mentioned in any place,

So when the nations are named in any assembly,

The Ottoman stands tall while the Eastern bows his head.

They stand tall, while the Ottoman bows his head.