1. ملأت بقاع الأرض خيلُ جنوده

    فقرونُها مقرونةٌ بحدودهِ

    The cavalry of his armies has filled the earth’s expanses;

    Its outer ranks are joined to his frontiers.

  2. كتموج الأجناح سودُ بُنودِهِ

    وتبلُّج الأصباح لمعُ حديده

    His black banners billow like wings,

    And his steel gleams like the breaking dawn.

  3. فكأنما جَمَعَ النهار بضوئه

    والليلَ في أغواره ونجوده

    So it is as though he has gathered day with its light,

    And night, in his lowlands and uplands.

  4. يَعيا عن الأَبصار حُصرُ قريبه

    ويُعاجز الأفكار نيلُ بعيده

    His nearer ranks defy the eye’s reckoning,

    And his farther ranks defy the reach of thought.

  5. يغدو ويتبعه الردى فصدوده

    بصدوره وورودُه بوروده

    He goes forth in the morning, and death follows him; its withdrawal

    Is with his departure, and its arrival with his arrival.