دارَت رَحَى الهَلَكاتِ بِالسِّبطاطِ

وَسَطا بِها رَيبُ الزَّمانِ السَّاطي

The grinding wheel of destruction turned in Damascus

And its evil was a calamity for the age

وَأُهِينَ فيها الشِّركُ أَيَّ إِهانَةٍ

شَفَعَت كَريهَ هِياطِها بِمِياطِ

Polytheism was humiliated there most disgracefully

Its shame tempered by the vices of its abandonment

إِن لَم تَقُم فيها قِيامَةُ مُلكِهِم

فَلَقَد رَأَوا جُمَلاً مِنَ الأَشراطِ

If the Day of their kingdom did not arise there

They certainly saw piles of dire calamities

وَأَصارَها وَطءُ الجِيادِ هَشِيمَةً

سَودَاءَ مُعتَبراً لِعَينِ الوَاطي

And the trampling of steeds made it into debris

Jet-black, a lesson for the beholder’s eye

لَولا خُروجُ الفَصلِ عَن مُعتادِهِ

لَم يُمهَلوا مِقدارَ سمِّ خِياطِ

Had the season not departed from its custom

They would not have been given respite, even to sew

وَلَعايَنوا مِن أَخذِهِم بِذُنوبِهِم

ما عايَنَ النُّعمَانُ في ساباطِ

And they would have witnessed their seizing for their sins

What al-Nu’man witnessed in Sheba

جَيشٌ مِنَ العُربِ الَّذينَ إِذا غَزَوا

كَوَوا الأَعاجِمَ في الطُّلى بِعِلاطِ

An army of Arabs who, when they attacked

Pounded the non-Arabs into bits with clubs

قَومٌ إِذا شَمَخَ العِنادُ بِأَنفِهِ

وَضَعوا السُّيوفَ مَواضِعَ الأَسواطِ

A people who, when obstinacy reared its head

Struck with swords in places for whips

مِن كُلِّ ذِمرٍ يَنثَني في دِرعِهِ

فَكَأَنَّهُ في السِّربِ مِن ذِمياطِ

Of every fully-armed warrior wearing mail

It was as if he was, in the fray, a roaring lion