أدالَ اللهُ (جلَّقَ) من عداها

وَأحسنَ عن أضاحيها عزاها

God avenged those who opposed her

And did good for her sacrifices

فكم حملتْ عن العربِ الرزايا

كذاك الأُمُّ تدفعُ عن حماها

So how much she carried for the Arabs of calamities

Thus is the mother who protects her offspring

مضتْ عشر عليها حالكات

كقطعِ الليلِ لم يكشفْ دجاها

Ten passed over it, disastrous

Like pieces of the night whose darkness was not uncovered

أعادتْ عصرَ (تيمورٍ) إليها

فظنتْ مرةً أُخرى غزاها

It brought back the era of (Taimur) to it

So she thought once again of its invasion

وَما شابتْ لها الأطفالُ لكنْ

بشرعِ طغاتِها وَردتْ رداها

And the children did not turn white for it but

With the laws of its tyrants, it returned its repeal

عرفنَا يومَ (يوسف) مبتداها

فهلْ مِنْ مخبرٍ عن منتهاها

We knew the day of (Yusuf) its beginning

So who can inform of its ending?

(أَيوسفُ) والضحايا اليومَ كثرٌ

ليهنك كنتَ أولَ من بداها

(Oh Yusuf), and the victims today are many

Be delighted, you were the first to initiate it

زكا نبتُ البلادِ وَليس بدْعاً

زكيّاتُ الدما كانت حياها

The country's plants thrived, and it is no wonder

The blood of martyrs was its life

فديتُك قائداً حيّاً وَميْتا

رفعتَ لكل مكرمة صُواها

I sacrifice you, alive and dead, as a leader

You raised every glory high

غضبتْ لأُمةٍ منها معدٌ

فأرضيتَ العروبةَ والإِلها

A nation got angry at her, and she has a grudge

So you satisfied Arabism and the Lord

فيالك راقداً نبّهتَ شَعباً

وأيقظتَ النواظرَ من كراها

Oh you, lying dead, you awakened a people

And awakened the sights from their disdain

وَيا لك ميِّتاً أحييتَ منا

نفوساً لا تقرُّ عَلَى أذاها

And oh you, dead, you revived in us

Souls that do not settle for their harm

سمتْ بك للمعالي نفسُ حرٍ

لقدْ كانت منيّتها مناها

The soul of a free man only aspired to glory through you

Indeed its purpose had become its end

هويتَ عَلَى المنيةِ لا تبالي

كما تهوى الثواقبُ من سماها

You plunged into death, not caring

As plummets plunge from its sky

فداً لك بل لنعلك كلُّ تاجٍ

تصرّفه الطغاةُ عَلَى هواها

I sacrifice for you, rather for your shoes, every crown

Which the tyrants manipulate according to their desires

مصيبةُ (ميسلون) وَإن أَمضّتْ

أخفُّ وَقيعة مما تلاها

The tragedy of (Maysalon), though it was devastating

Is lighter than the impact that followed it

فما من بقعةٍ بدمشق إلاّ

تمثل ميسلونَ وَما دهاها

So there is no place in Damascus except

It depicts Maysalon and what afflicted it

فروعُ النارِ قد طالتْ ذراها

وَبالدمِ لم يزلْ رطْباً ثراها

The branches of fire have reached its homes

And with blood, its land always stayed wet

فسلْ عمّا تصبّبَ من دماءٍ

تخبّركَ الحقيقةَ (غوطتاها)

Ask about the blood that was shed

Reality will inform you, it overflowed

وَلم أر جنّةً أمسى بنوها

وقودَ النارِ فائرةٍ سواها

And I have not seen a paradise whose people

Became firewood for raging fire but it

وَما زالتْ بقايا السيفِ منهم

تعاني غربةً شطّتْ نواها

And remnants of the sword are still suffering from them

Exile that tore their determination

هُمُ كتبوا صحائفَ خالداتٍ

أرى صدرَ الزمانِ لقدْ وَعاها

They wrote eternal scriptures

I see the breast of time has accommodated them

وَمحنتُهمْ عَلَى مرِّ الليالي

يرنُّ بسمعِ الدنيا صداها

And their affliction through the long nights

Rings in the ears of the world its echo

عشقتُ دمشق إِذْ هِيَ دارُ خلدٍ

مقيم سعدُها دانٍ جناها

I loved Damascus, for it is the abode of immortality

Its happiness residing, humbling its neighbors

فلما شبّتِ النيرانُ فيها

وَطال لهيبُها أعلى ذراها

So when the fires flared up in it

And its flames reached its highest homes

أرتنيها المحبةُ بيتَ نارٍ

يلوح (لموبذ) وَهْناً سناها

Love showed it to me as a house of fire

Looming weakness flickers its years

عبدناها نعيماً أو جحيماً

وألهمتِ النفوسُ بها هداها

We worshipped it, bliss or inferno

And souls were inspired by it as guidance

وكان تمامَ محنتِها أمورٌ

لقد ضحكَ الزمانُ بها سفاها

And the consummation of its tribulation was matters

Time really laughed foolishly at it

بهزلِ الدهرِ تاه بها وضيعٌ

كما إبليسُ في الفردوس تاها

With the jest of fate, a wretch got lost in it

As Iblis got lost in Paradise

وَشرذمةٌ تسابق في المخازي

عجبتُ لربنا أنّى براها

And riffraff competing in vulgarities

I wonder at our Lord, how He justified it!

أظنُّ مقاطعَ المأساةِ تمّتْ

بمهزلة تَظرَّفَ من رواها

I think the scenes of tragedy are over

With a farce that was fabricated by its storytellers

إذا ما ليلةٌ حلكتْ وَطالتْ

فأجدرْ أن يكونَ دنا ضحاها

If a night comes and lingers

It is best that its morning draws near

وَعاقبةُ الشدائدِ والرزايا

إلى فرجٍ إذا بلغتْ مداها

And the outcome of hardships and calamities

Is relief, when it reaches its extent

سأقصرُ فالقوافي اليوم جمرٌ

أخافُ على المسامعِ من لظاها

I will stop, for rhymes today are embers

I fear for the ears from their heat