بدولة التُّركِ عزَّت ملَّةُ العربِ
وبابن أَيّوبَ ذلَّت شيعةُ الصُّلب
The glory of the Arabs revived in the land of the Turks,
And the followers of the Cross were humiliated by the son of Ayyub,
وفي زمانِ ابن أَيوبٍ غَدتْ حلبٌ
من أَرض مصرَ وعادت مصرُ من حلبِ
In the time of the son of Ayyub, Aleppo attained
The status of Egypt, and Egypt attained that of Aleppo,
ولابن أَيّوبٍ دانت كُلُّ مملكةٍ
بالصَّفْح والصُّلحِ أَو بالْحربِ والحَرَبِ
To the son of Ayyub submitted every kingdom
Either willingly or through war and fighting,
مظفَّرُ النَّصرِ منعوتٌ بهمته
إلى العزائِم مدلولٌ على الغلَبِ
Victorious, aided by his resolve,
His determination leading him to triumph,
والدَّهرُ بالقَدرِ المحتومِ يَخْدُمُه
والأَرضُ بالخلقِِ والأَفلاكُ بالشُّهب
While fate in its prescribed course serves him
And the earth with its creatures and the stars with their orbits,
ويَجتلي الخلقُ من راياتهِ أَبداً
مبيضةَ النَّصرِ من مصفَّرة العَذَب
Before his banners creation perpetually appears
White with victory, yellow with ripened fruit.
إِنَّ العواصمَ كانت أيّ عاصمةٍ
معصومةً بتعاليها عن الرُّتَبِ
The citadels - which citadel ever
Was immune in its loftiness from all change?
ما دارَ قطُّ عليها دورُ دائرةٍ
كلاَّ وَلاَ وَاصَلَتْها نوبةُ النُّوبِ
Never did the cycle of vicissitudes revolve around it
Nor did the stroke of fate reach it.
لو رامَها الدَّهرُ لم يظفَرْ بِبُغْيَتهِ
ولَوْ رماهَا بِقوسِ الأُفْقِِ لم يصُب
Had time desired to vanquish it, it would not have succeeded,
Had it shot at it with the bow of the horizon, it would have missed.
ولوْ أَتَى أَسدُ الأَبْراجِ مُنْتَصراً
خَارتْ قوائمهُ عنها ولم يَثِبِ
Had the lion of the zodiac attacked it victoriously,
Its feet would have slipped and it would not have pounced.
جَليسةُ النَّجْمِ في أَعْلَى منازِله
وطَالما غَابَ عنْها وهْي لَمْ تَغِبِ
It sits with the stars in their highest mansions,
Though they set, it does not set.
تُلقِي إذا عطشت والبرقُ أَرشيةٌ
كواكبَ الدَّلو في بئرٍ من السُّحب
When thirsty, it draws the stars in the bucket of the clouds
As the water-carrier draws water from the well.
كُلُّ القلاعِ ترومُ السُّحبَ في صَعَدٍ
إِلاَّ العواصمَ تَبْغِي السُّحبَ في صَبَب
All fortresses seek clouds on high ground,
While the citadels seek clouds from low valleys.
حتَّى أَتَى مَنْ مَنالُ النَّجْمِ مَطْلبُه
يا طالبَ النَّجم قَدْ أَوْغَلْتَ في الطَّلَب
Until the one whose destiny was the stars came,
“O seeker of stars, you have plunged deep into seeking!”
مَنْ لو أَبى الفلكُ الدَّوارُ طاعتَه
لصيَّر الرأْسَ منه موضعَ الذَّنَب
One who, had the revolving sphere refused him obedience,
Would have reversed it, making its head its tail.
أَتَى إِليها يقودُ البحرَ مُلتَطِماً
والبِيضُ كالمَوْجِ والبَيْضَاتُ كالْحبَبِ
He came to it, leading the roaring sea,
With his whites like waves and his tents like pearls.
تبدو الفوارسُ منه في سَوابِغِها
بين النقيضين من ماءٍ ومن لهبِ
The horsemen in their armours appear
Between the opposites of water and flame.
مُسْتَلْئِمين ولولا أَنَّهم حَفِظُوا
عوائدَ الحْربِ لاسْتَغْنَوا عن اليَلَبِ
Their beauty as they return from their raids,
Not carrying firewood but leading captives.
جِمَالُهم من مَغازيهم إِذا قَفَلوا
حَمَّالةُ السَّبْيِ لا حمُّالةُ الحَطبِ
He circled a sanctuary which no tongue touches
Except the tips of canes made slender by peeling.
فطافَ منها بركنٍ لا يقبِّلهُ
إِلا أَسنَّةُ أَطرافِ القَنا السُّلُبِ
He descended around it on a revolving sphere
And circled its highest tower on an axis.
وحلَّ من حولِها الأَقْصى على فلكٍ
ودَارَ من بُرجِها الأَعلى على قُطُبِ
It denied him access like a reluctant beloved,
Sweeter to him than honey or sweetest wine.
وَمَانَعَتْه كمعشوقٍ تمنُّعُه
أَحلى من الشَّهدِ أَو أَحْلَى من الضَّرَبِ
So he passed it by neither angry nor annoyed
And marched on neither spiteful nor wrathful.
فمرَّ عنها بلا غيظٍ ولا حَنَقٍ
وسار عنها بلا حِقْدٍ ولا غَضَب
His battalions folded up the lands and their inhabitants
As books are folded by their binders.
تطوى البلادَ وأَهليها كتائبُه
طيَّاً كما طَوتِ الكتَّابُ للكُتُبِ
He reached the Euphrates and found in it a ferocious lion
Who sat mocking its flowing waters.
وافى الفراتَ فأَلفى فيه ذا لَجَبٍ
يظلُّ يهزأُ مِنْ تَيَّارِه اللَّجِبِ
His troops plunged into the waves, throwing themselves in,
Floating in it like straws and scraps of paper.
رمَت به الجُرْدُ في التَّيارِ أَنْفسَها
فعومها فيه كالتقريب والخبب
They scorned to cross it in boats and carry them,
For their glory scorned the ignominy of wood.
لم ترضَ بالسُّفنِ أَن تَغْدو حواملَها
فعزُّها ليس يَرْضى ذِلَّة الخَشب
He had taught them to cut across the Euphrates with him,
Learning to swim in a sea of blood.
وكان علَّمها قطعَ الفراتِ به
تعلُّمُ العومِ في بحر الدَّم السَّرب
They crossed it and left behind them in its twists and turns
Scattered pearls atop ridge and dune.
وجاوزتْه وأَبْقَى من فواقِعه
درّاً ترصَّعَ فوق العُرف واللَّبَبِ
To lands that had responded ere called
By their suitors, else, fearing ruin, they would not have consented.
إِلى بلادٍ أَجابت قبلما دُعيت
للخاطبين ولولا الخوفُ لم تُجب
Had they not answered Joseph's call,
Their lands would have become like a desolate valley.
لو لم تُجِب يُوسفاً من قبلِ دعْوَتَه
لَعادَ عامِرُها كالجوسق الخَرِبِ
Their kings feared and fled, the cities panic-stricken,
The people scattered and lands deserted.
خَافَتْ وخافَ وفرَّ المالكون لَها
فالْمُدْنُ في رَهَب والقومُ في هَرب
Then they consented, and no fortress remained inaccessible,
No kingdom unviolated.
ثم استجابَتْ فلا حصنٌ بممتنعٍ
مِنْها عليهِ ولا مُلْك بِمُحتَجِبِ
Dawn overtook them anxious and dusk left them drunk
With revelry, play, and musical pipes.
وأَصبَحوا مِنْه في هَمٍّ وصبَّحهم
وهُمْ سُكَارَى بكأْسِ اللَّهوِ والطَّربِ
Free of all cares, they indulged in the pleasures of life
And neglected their frontiers for kisses and youths.
تفرَّغُوا لنعيم العيشِ واشْتغلوا
عن الثُّغورِ بلثمِ الثَّغْرِ والشَّنَبِ
The lands of Syria attained no clever ruler
Or wise counselor to guide them aright.
أَرضُ الجزيرةِ لم تظفَرْ ممالِكُها
بمالكٍ فطِنٍ أَو سَائِسٍ دَرِبِ
Kingdoms ruled not by their appointed ruler
But by the whims of eunuchs or minds of boys.
ممالكٌ لم يُدَبِّرها مدبرها
إِلا برأْي خَصِيٍّ أَو بعَقلِ صَبِي
Until Salah al-Din came and reformed them,
Saving them from corruption as a body is cured of disease.
حتَّى أَتاها صلاحُ الدِّينِ فانْصَلَحَتْ
من الفسادِ كَما صحَّتْ مِنَ الوَصَبِ
He took governance seriously, heedless of frivolity,
As if it were in earnest rather than a game.
واستعملَ الجِدَّ فيها غيرَ مكترثٍ
بالجَدِّ حتى كأَنَّ الجِدَّ كاللَّعِب
He embraced it all and freely granted some of it,
For he is the one who grants dominion, and did not receive it as a gift.
وقد حَواها وأَعْطى بعضَها هِبةً
فهوَ الَّذِي يَهَبُ الدُّنْيَا ولم يَهَب
He gave to him from whom kingdoms had been seized
And would bestow on the despoiled the spoils themselves.
يُعطيِ الذي أُخِذت منه ممالكُه
وقد يَمُنُّ على المسلوبِ بالسَّلب
He gifted cities to those who asked of him,
While he himself remained aloof from wealth.
ويمنحُ المدنَ في الجَدْوى لسائِله
كمَا ترفَّعَ في الجدْوى عن الذَّهب
Since Aleppo saw him deny it his presence,
While joining it to the lands of sweetest aleppine.
ومذ رأَتْ صدَّه عن رَبْعها حلبٌ
ووصلَه ببلادِ حُلْوةِ الحَلَب
It turned on him, hands outstretched in need,
Beseeching him, face gloomy and sad.
غارَتْ عليه ومدَّتْ كفَّ مفْتقِر
مِنْها إِليه وأَبْدَت وجهَ مُكْتَئِب
He was merciful to its pleas,
Solidly concluding a peace it had urgently sought.
واستعطفَتْه فَوافَتْها عواطفُه
وأَكثبَ الصُّلْحَ إِذ نادَتْه عن كَثبِ
He entered it with unwavering resolve
For those who rise up, and unshakable stronghold.
وحلَّ مِنْها بأُفْقٍ غيرِ منخفضٍ
للصَّاعدين وبُرجٍ غيرِ مُنقلِب
The openings of victory without obstacles, and its hero
The sovereign of sovereigns, its master without falsehood.
فتحُ الفتوحِ بلا مَيْنٍ وصاحبُه
مَلْكُ الملوكِ ومَوْلاها بِلا كَذِبِ
The marvels that came to us from him are many,
His wondrous talents turned the marvelous into the unmarvelous.
ومعجزٍ كَمْ أَتانا منه مُشْبِهُه
فصارَ لا عجباً من فَضْلهِ العَجَبِ
Rejoice at the conquest, O greatest of all people,
For it is your heritage from your noble forefathers.
تَهنَّ بالفتحِ يا أَوْلَى الأَنامِ به
فالفتحُ إِرْثُك عَنْ آبائِك النُّجُبِ
So glory in your conquest, for yours is a glory for the glorious,
A treasure for the treasurer, gain for the gainer.
وافخَرْ فَفَتْحُك ذا فخرٌ لمفتخرٍ
ذُخْرٌ لمدَّخِرٍ كسبٌ لمكتَسبِ
Through you the citadels were set right after rotting
Under their rulers. Without you, they would not have prospered.
بكَ العواصمُ طَبَت بعدما خَبُثَتْ
بِمَالِكِيها ولولاَ أَنْتَ لم تَطِبِ
Would that each dawn whose radiance breaks
Were a ransom for the knight of knights in Aleppo!
فليت كلَّ صباح ذرَّ شَارقُه
فداءُ ليلِ فَتَى الفتيانِ في حَلَبِ
I love a land in which you dwell,
And its dwellers, though they are not my kinfolk,
إنِّي أُحِبُّ بِلاداً أَنت ساكنُها
وساكنِيها وليسُوا مِنْ ذَوِي نَسَبي
Only because you have become its master,
Beyond all other men. Is love without cause?
إِلاَّ لأَنَّكَ قد أَصبحتَ مالكَها
دون الأَنامِ وهل حُبٌّ بلا سَبَب
So the bounty of your hand is my treasure and my hand’s,
And love of your abode my inheritance from my father and his father.
فجود كفِّكَ ذُخْرٌ في يَدِي ويدي
وحُبُّ بيتكِ إِرْثِي عن أَبِي فَأَبِي
For the praise of you has diverted my poetry from amorous verse,
Making it concise after diffuseness.
ألهى مديحُك شِعْري عن تَغَزُّلِه
فجاءَ مقتضَباً في إِثرِ مُقْتَضَبِ
I have not said in it, "My youth was the day I departed,"
Nor "The beautiful one is with me."
فلم أَقُلْ فيه لاَ أَنَّ الصبابةَ لِي
يومَ الرَّحيلِ ولا أَنَّ المليحةَ بِي
