1. لِمَنْ تَجمعُ الُّرومُ أبطالها

    وتحملُ للحربِ أثقالَها

    To face whom do the Romans muster their champions

    And shoulder their burdens for war?

  2. أللجاعِلينَ نُفوسَ العبادِ

    وَدائِعَ يَقْضونَ آجالَها

    Is it against those who regard people's souls

    As trusts whose appointed spans they bring to an end?

  3. إذا استعجلوها ببيضِ الظُّبَى

    فلن يملكَ القومُ إمهالَها

    If they hasten their end with gleaming sword-edges,

    Then the people cannot grant them respite.

  4. جُنودٌ تُقدِّمُ أرواحَها

    وتَبذلُ في اللهِ أموالَها

    Troops offer up their lives

    And spend their wealth for God.

  5. لئن جاوزَتْ غايةَ العاملين

    لقد بَارَكَ اللهُ أعمالها

    If indeed they have surpassed the reach of those who labor,

    God has indeed blessed their deeds.

  6. وَمَنْ مِثلُ عُثمَانَ يَرْعَى النُّفوسَ

    إذا آدَها الأمرُ أو عَالَها

    And who, like Uthman, tends to souls

    When trouble burdens or overwhelms them?

  7. كثيرُ النَّوالِ رَحِيبُ المجالِ

    إذا رَامَ مَنزلةً نالَها

    Lavish in giving, broad in scope,

    Whenever he seeks a rank, he attains it.

  8. أبا بكرٍ اخْترتَ أبقى الثراء

    وجَنَّبتَ نَفْسَكَ بَلبالَها

    O Abu Bakr, you chose the most enduring wealth

    And spared your soul its turmoil.

  9. تَمنَّيتَها نِعمةً سمحةً

    فألبَسَكَ اللَّهُ سِرْبَالَها

    You wished for it as a bountiful blessing,

    So God clothed you in its robe.

  10. وإنّ لِصحبِكَ في الباذلين

    مَناقِبَ نُدمِنُ إجلالَهَا

    And indeed your companions, among those who give,

    Have virtues we constantly revere.

  11. ألحَّ النِّساءُ على حَلْيهِنّ

    وأقبلنَ في ضَجّةٍ يا لها

    The women eagerly turned to their ornaments

    And came forward in a clamor—what a clamor!

  12. نَبِيَّ الهُدَى أتُلِمُّ الحقوقَ

    فنأبَى ونُؤثِرُ إهمالَها

    O Prophet of guidance, do you gather the dues,

    While we refuse and prefer to neglect them,

  13. وتذهبُ منّا ذَواتُ الحِجالِ

    تُجرجِرُ في الحيِّ أذيالَها

    And the women of curtained chambers among us go out,

    Trailing their hems through the settlement?

  14. لقد طافَ طائِفُها بالفتاةِ

    فأرَّقها ما عَنَا آلها

    Indeed, their haunting thought visited the maiden,

    So what troubled her family kept her awake.

  15. فما أمسكَ البُخلُ دُمْلُوجَها

    ولا مَلَكَ الحِرصُ خلخَالَها

    So stinginess did not withhold her armlet,

    Nor did greed hold on to her anklet.

  16. مشَى الجحفلُ الضَّخمُ في جحفلٍ

    يُحِب الحُروبَ وأهوالَها

    The mighty host marched amid a host

    That loves wars and their terrors.

  17. وخافَ من الحرِّ أهلُ النِّفاقِ

    فقالوا البيوتَ وأظلالَها

    And the hypocrites feared the heat,

    So they said, 'The houses and their shade!'

  18. وأهْلَكَهُمْ شَيْخُ أشياخِهم

    بِشَنعاءِ يَأثَمُ مَن قَالها

    And the chief of their chiefs brought them to ruin

    With a vile utterance whose speaker incurs sin.

  19. بَني الأصفر استبِقوا للوغى

    وخَلُّوا النُّفوسَ وآمالها

    Sons of al-Asfar, race to battle,

    And leave souls and their hopes behind.

  20. وقفتم من الرُّعبِ ما تُقدمون

    وما هَاجتِ الحربُ أغوالَها

    You have halted in terror, not advancing,

    Though war has not yet stirred its ghouls.

  21. فكيف بكم بَيْن أنْيَابِها

    إذا جَمَع اللَّهُ آكالَها

    How, then, will you fare between its fangs,

    When God gathers its prey?

  22. رأى عُمَرٌ رأيَهُ في الرَّحيلِ

    فلا تُكْثِرِ الرُّومُ أوجالَها

    Umar made his decision to depart,

    So let the Romans not multiply their fears.

  23. لهم دَونَ مَهلكِهمْ مُدّةٌ

    مِنَ الدّهرِ يَقضونَ أحوالَها

    They have a span before their destruction,

    Of time, whose phases they pass through.

  24. تَبوكُ اشْهَدِي نَزَواتِ الذّئاب

    وحَيِّ الأسودَ وأشبالها

    Tabuk, witness the wolves' leaps,

    And salute the lions and their cubs.

  25. أما يَنبغِي لكِ أن تَعرفِي

    شُيوخَ الحُروبِ وأطفالها

    Should you not recognize

    The elders of war and its children?

  26. هي المِلَّةُ الحقُّ لن تَستكين

    ولن يدَعَ السَّيفُ أقتَالَها

    It is the true faith; it will not yield,

    And the sword will not spare its foes.

  27. رأتْ ملّةَ الكُفرِ تغزو النُّفوس

    فجاءَتْ تُمزِّقُ أوصالَها

    It saw the creed of unbelief invade souls,

    So it came to tear its limbs apart.

  28. لها من ذويها حُماةٌ شِداد

    يُبيدونَ مَن رامَ إذلالَها

    Among its own, it has mighty defenders

    Who destroy whoever seeks to humiliate it.

  29. فلن يَعرِفَ النّاسُ أمثالَهم

    ولن يَشهد الدّهرُ أمثالَها

    So people will never know their like,

    Nor will time ever witness its like.

  30. ولن تَستبينَ سَبيلُ الهُدَى

    إذا اتَّبعَ النَّاسُ ضُلَّالها

    And the path of guidance will not become clear

    If people follow its misguided ones.

  31. فَمَنْ كانَ يُحزِنُه أن تَبِيد

    قُوَى الشّركِ فَلْيَبْكِ أطلالَها

    So whoever is grieved that there should perish

    The forces of polytheism, let him weep over their ruins.

  32. لأهلِ المُفَصَّلِ من آيهِ

    مَوَارِدُ يُسقَوْنَ سِلْسَالَها

    For the people of al-Mufassal, its verses offer

    Watering places whose sweet, flowing water they are given to drink.

  33. تردُّ القُلوبَ إلى ربِّها

    وتَفتحُ للنُّورِ أقفالَها

    They bring hearts back to their Lord

    And open their locks to the light.