لستُ أَدري بأَيِّ فتحٍ تُهنَّا

يا مُنيلَ الإِسلام ما قد تمنَّى

I know not for which conquest I should congratulate you

O you who has brought Islam victory after victory

كلُّ فتح يقول إِنِّيَ أَولى

وهْوَ أَولى لأَنَّه كان أَهْنا

Each conquest says "I am more deserving of praise"

Yet the most recent is the most deserving of all

أَنُهنِّيك إِذ تملكتَ شاماً

أَم نهنّيك إِذ تملكت عَدْنا

Should I congratulate you on taking Damascus

Or on taking Yemen into your dominion?

قد ملكتَ الجِنان قصراً فقَصْرا

إِذ فتحتَ الشآمَ حِصناً فحِصْنا

You have taken the gardens palace after palace

As you captured fortresses in Damascus one by one

إِنّ دِينَ الإِسلام مَنَّ على الخلـ

ـق وأَنتَ الذي على الدِّين منَّا

Indeed the religion of Islam has blessed all people

And you are the one who has blessed this religion

أَنت أَحيَيْتَه وقد كان مَيْتاً

ثم أَعتقتَه وقد كان قِنَّا

You revived it when it was dead

Then you freed it when it was captive

شكر الله ما صنعتَ على العر

ش وفي عَرْصَةِ الملائِك أَثْنَى

Thanks be to God for what you have done in the Levant

And what He has praised you for in the company of angels

لك مدحٌ فوق السموات يُنشا

ومحلٌّ فوق الأَسِنَّة يُبنى

You have praise above the heavens that is proclaimed

And a station above all tongues that is built

شاق جبريلَ بيتُه بيت جبريـ

ـلَ فوافى إِليه شوقاً وحَنّا

Gabriel's home became too small for Gabriel

So he came to you longing and humbled

تُخْرِجُ السَّاكنين منه ورَبُّ

البيتِ في بَيْتِه أَحقُّ بسُكْنَى

You remove those living there while the Home's Lord

Is most deserving of dwelling in His home

شَهِدَ النَّاسُ أَنهم شاهدوا جب

ريلَ ردّ الأَقرانَ قِرْناً فَقِرنا

People witnessed that they saw Gabriel

Repel enemies, regiment after regiment

فَلكَمْ ضَرْبةٍ ولم تَر ضَرْباً

ولكم طعنةٍ ولم ترَ طَعْنا

How many blows you struck that went unseen

How many stabs that went unfelt

مَلِكٌ جُندُه ملائكةُ اللَّـ

ـه فُرادى جاءَت إِليه ومَثْنى

A king whose soldiers are God's angels

Came to you one by one and two by two

كم تأَنَّى النصرُ العزيز عن الشا

م ولما نهضتَ لم يتأَنَّ

Victory was slow to come to Damascus

But when you rose, you did not hesitate

قد تعنَّيتَ حين أَحببتَ وجهَ

الله بالحرب والمحبُّ مَعنَّى

You were determined when you loved God's cause

And the lover is always determined

ولَعَمْرِي من حاز فتحاً جليلا

وتعنَّى فإِنَّه ما تعنَّى

By my life, whoever attains a great conquest

And is determined, is truly determined

قمتَ في ظُلمةِ الكريهة كالبد

ر سَناً والبدرُ يطلعُ وَهْنَا

You arose in the dark of adversity like the moon

Rising gently in the dark of night

لم تقفْ قطُّ في المعارِك إِلاَّ

كنت يا يوسفُ كيوسفَ حُسْنا

Never in battle did you stand but as Joseph

You were beautiful in courage

تجْتَني النَّصْر من ظُباكَ كأَنَّ الـ

ـغَضْبَ قد صحَّفوه أَو صَار غُصنا

Victory followed you from your sheath as if

Anger rewrote its name and became a branch

قصدَتْ نحوك الأَعادي فردَّ

الله ما أَمَّلُوه عنك وعنَّا

The enemies came at you and God repelled

All the hopes they pinned on you and on us all

حملوا كالجبال عِظْماً ولكن

جعلَتْها حَمْلاَتُ خيلك عِهْنَا

They carried themselves like mountains but

Your horses' onslaught made them like docile lambs

جمعوا كيدَهم وجاءُوك أَركا

ناً فمن قدَّ فارساً هدَّ رُكنا

They assembled their tricks and came like pillars

So who could stand against a charging stallion?

لم تُلاقِ الجيوشَ منهم ولك

نَّكَ لاقيتَهُم بلاداً ومُدْنا

You did not meet their armies, but met them

As lands and cities instead

كُلُّ من يَجْعَل الحديدَ له ثَوْ

باً وتَاجاً وطَيْلسَاناً ورُدْنا

All who don armor and crown as their garb

Claiming riches from the people, yet with conquest

يدَّعون الغنى من الناس لكن

أَنْتَ بالنَّصر كنتَ أَغْنَى وأَقْنى

You were the richest and most content

Their weapons failed them, neither spear bent

خانهم ذلك السلاحُ فلا الرُّمـ

ـح تَثَنَّى ولا المهنَّدُ طنَّا

Nor lance broke

Their steeds disappointed, though they deserved

وتولَّت تلك الخيولُ فكم يُثْـ

ـنَى عليها بأَنَّها ليس تُثنى

No disappointment, they were beyond rebuke

The enemy clamor fell mute when your boldness

واسْتَحالَت شَقاشِقُ الكُفْرِ صمْتاً

حينَ عادتْ تِلْكَ الشَّجاعةُ جُنْنَا

Returned their valor into insanity

The bravest among them made spears into

أَشجعُ القوم فيهمُ جاعلُ الدِّرْ

عِ هُروباً أَو الفرارِ مجَنَّا

A refuge or an escape, a coat of mail

Not out of weakness or inability did they flee

لم يُطِيقُوا الهُروبَ ضَعْفاً وعَجْزاً

هل يُطيقوا الهروبَ عَقْرى وزَمْنى

If they could not bear fleeing, wrath and time

You snared them in a snare of entrapment

وتصيَّدتَهم بحلقةِ صيدٍ

تجمعُ الليثَ والغزالِ الأَغَنَّا

That gathered lion and fawn alike

Their blood flowed in rivers above which

وجَرَتْ مِنْهُم الدِّماءُ بِحارا

فجَرَتْ فوْقَها الجزائُر سُفنا

Our ships flowed like streams

A feast was made of them in which

صُنِّعت منهم وليمة وحش

رقَصَ المَشرَفِيُّ فيها وغنَّى

Al-Musharrif danced and sang

Their worshipped one remains a prisoner with you

ظلَّ معبودُهم لديك أَسيراً

مُسْتَضَاماً فاجعل له النارَ سِجْنا

Disgraced, so make the fire his cage

They crucified their Lord but it did not avail them

صلبوا ربّهم فلم يُغن عنهم

من رَأَى بعد صلبه قَطُّ أَغْنَى

Who after his crucifixion gained any advantage?

Loss seized every king who thought his kingdom

وحوى الأَسْرُ كُلَّ مَلْك يظن الدّ

هرَ يَفْنى وملكُه ليس يفنى

Would last, though only God's kingdom remains

The Great King among them is a captive

والمليكُ العظيم فيهمْ أَسيرٌ

يتَثنَّى في أَدهمٍ يتثنَّى

Whimpering in darkness, whimpering

He mistakes sleep for wakefulness, and imagines

يَحْسِبُ النَّومَ يقْظَةً ويظن الشَّخص

طوداً ويُبصرُ الشَّمْس دَجْنا

A person to be a mountain, and sees the sun as smoke

How he longed for the meeting, until he saw you

كم تمنَّى اللقاءَ حتى رآهُ

فتمنَّى لو أَنَّه ما تَمنَّى

And wished he had never wished at all

He supposed, while your certainty in God

ظَن ظنَّاً وكُنْتَ أَصْدقَ في

الله يَقيناً وكان أَكذَبَ ظَنَّا

Was truer, and his supposition utterly wrong

In mercy, his shackles and chains softened

رقَّ من رحمةٍ له القيدُ والغُلّ

عليه فكلّما أَنَّ أَنَّا

Whenever he moaned and groaned

And the accursed Ibn Arnat became

واللَّعين الإِبْرَنْس أَصبح مذبو

حاً تمنَّى لم يَعْدِم اليومَ يُمنا

Disgraced, though today he wished for good fortune

You did wake him, fulfilling a vow

أَنت ذكِّيْتَه فوفَّيتَ نذراً

كنت قدَّمته فجوزيتَ حُسْنا

You had made, so you were rewarded for your goodness

The brides of cities were unveiled as spoils

وتهادَتْ عرائِسُ المدْنِ تُجْلَى

وثِمَارُ الأَمْوالِ مِنْهُنَّ تُجْنى

And fruits of wealth were plucked from them

Damascus is not alone in celebrating you

لا تُخصُّ الشآمُ فيك التَّهاني

كلُّ صُقع وكُلُّ قُطْرٍ مهنَّى

Every region and every place congratulates you

You have conquered the lands, east and west

قد ملكْت البلادَ شرقاً وغرْباً

وحويت الآفاق سهلاً وحَزْنا

And encompassed the horizons, plain and rugged

You are alone at the pinnacle

وتفرّدتَ بالذي هو أَسمى

وتوحَّدت بالذَّي هو أَسْنَى

And peerless in highest place

Description has fallen short describing your heights

واغْتدى الوصفَ في عُلاك حسيراً

أَيُّ لفظٍ يُقال أَو أَيُّ مَعْنى

What can be said? What meaning conveyed?

We heard God say "Obey Him" - we heard

وسَمعْنا الإِلَه قال أَطيعُو

هُ سَمِعْنا لربنا وأَطَعْنَا

Our Lord and obeyed