1. هُوَ ذا البَحر مزبداً يَتعالى

    إِثر بَعض أَمواجه تَتَوالى

    Behold the sea, foaming as it rises;

    its waves follow one upon another,

  2. تَلطم الصَخر كَبرياءً وَعنفاً

    ثُم تَرتَد للخضم خذالى

    striking the rock in pride and violence,

    then recoiling into the deep, defeated,

  3. بِضَجيج كَأَنَّهُ زَجل الرَع

    دِ وَرَجف تَخاله زلزلا

    with a din like the rumble of thunder,

    and a tremor you would take for an earthquake.

  4. ما وَنَت عَن جهادها الدَهر لَكن

    لطف الصُبح كرّها وَالنِضالا

    They have never slackened in their struggle through the ages, but

    dawn has softened their charge and strife.

  5. وَهِيَ تَستَأنف الجِهادَ بَعَزمٍ

    كُلَّ يَومٍ إِذا النَهار تَعالى

    And they renew the struggle with resolve

    each day, when daylight rises high.

  6. عِندَ ذاكَ الخَضمّ بقعة أَرض

    قدَّرَ اللَهُ مَنحَها اِستقلالا

    Beside that vast sea lies a patch of land

    that God decreed should be granted independence.

  7. هِيَ حَدّ السوريتين شَمالاً

    وَجُنوباً وَما تَنوء مَجالا

    It marks the boundary of the two Syrias, north

    and south, though its extent is no burden.

  8. لَستَ تَلقى سوريتين وَلَكن

    قيل هَذا تَفنناً وَضَلالا

    You find no two Syrias, but

    this was said in artifice and delusion.

  9. يَبتَغون التَفريق في الجَسد الوا

    حد خابَت تِلكَ الشَياطين فَالا

    They seek division within a single body—

    may those devils be ill-fated!

  10. خَل عَني واذكر من اعتقوا العَب

    دَ وَشَدّوا مِن الطَليق العقالا

    Leave me be, and remember those who freed the slave

    and tightened the free man's tether.

  11. عِندَ ذاكَ الخَصمّ بقعة أَرض

    حَرس اللَه سَهلَها وَالجِبالا

    Beside that adversary lies a patch of land;

    may God guard its plain and mountains.

  12. لا تَرى في فَنائِها آدمياً

    وَهِيَ آوت صَوادِحاً وَصلالا

    You see no human being within its precincts,

    though it has sheltered songbirds and serpents.

  13. شَمسنا دونَ شَمسِها تَتَجلى

    بَدرَنا دونَ بَدرها يَتلالا

    Our sun shines less splendidly than hers;

    our full moon sparkles less brightly than hers.

  14. وَسُكون الدُجى يَفك عَن القَل

    بِ قيوداً وَيَبعث الآمالا

    And night's stillness unfastens from the heart

    its shackles, and awakens hope.

  15. وَيَهب النَسيم في السحر الداكن

    يحيي مِن الزهور تِلالا

    And the breeze blows in the dark hours before dawn,

    reviving hillocks of flowers.

  16. زانَها مِن لآلي الطل تيجان

    زَهَت رَونَقاً وَفاضَت جَمالا

    Crowns of dew-pearls adorn them,

    gleaming in splendor and overflowing with beauty.

  17. فَإِذا اِجتازَ تلكُم الأَرض غادٍ

    يَلبس الطلَّ ساقَه خلخالا

    And when a morning traveler crosses that land,

    he wears the dew as an anklet around his leg.

  18. وَتَرى الطَير نافِرات خفافاً

    وَثِقالاً وَيمنةً وَشَمالا

    And you see birds taking flight, some light,

    and some heavy, to right and left.

  19. وَيَلوح الصَباح لَوناً فلَونا

    كُلَما الشَمس قاربته اِستحالا

    And morning appears in color after color;

    whenever the sun draws near it, it changes.

  20. وَكَذا البَحر خاشع مُستكين

    وَهُوَ يُكسى مِن كُل لَون شالا

    And so the sea is humble and subdued,

    clothed in a shawl of every hue.

  21. يا لَها مِن مَظاهر تملك الحس

    سَ وَتوحي لِناظِريها الخَيالا

    Oh, what sights, taking hold of the senses

    and inspiring their beholders' imagination!

  22. أَيُّها السائر المَجدّ رويداً

    وَاخفض الطَرف عِندَها اِجلالا

    O traveler hastening onward, slow down,

    and lower your gaze there in reverence.

  23. تِلكَ مَأوى حرية سَلبت مِن

    نا قَديماً وَاليَوم عَزت مَنالا

    That is the refuge of freedom, stolen from

    us long ago, and now so hard to attain.

  24. إيه يا فَتنة الشُعوب وَيا أن

    شودة الكَون شَقتنا أَجيالا

    Ah, enchantment of peoples, O

    song of the universe, you have stirred our longing for generations!

  25. لَكَ وَجه مَلائِكي وَسيم

    نوره يَفعم القُلوب جَلالا

    You have a handsome, angelic face,

    whose light fills hearts with majesty,

  26. وَمَزاج جَهنَمي عَتي

    يَصدع الجور يَصهر الأَغلالا

    and a fierce, hellish temperament

    that shatters tyranny and melts chains.

  27. صانَك اللَهُ كَم فداك وَفي

    أَو تحصين كَم أَبدت رِجالا

    May God preserve you! How many faithful souls have given themselves for you!

    Or can you count how many men you have destroyed?

  28. أَنا اِستغفر الوَفا لَم يَبيدوا

    يَوم خلدت بَعدَهُم أَعمالا

    I beg loyalty's forgiveness: they did not perish,

    for you made their deeds immortal after they were gone.

  29. لَكَ في ترب مَيسَلون دَفين

    كان للذائِدين عَنكِ مثالا

    For you, in Maysalun's soil, lies one buried

    who was an example to those who defended you.

  30. ماتَ في ميعة الشَباب شَهيداً

    وَكَذا الحر لا يَموت اِكتِهالا

    He died a martyr in the prime of youth;

    thus the free man does not die in middle age.

  31. في سَبيل الأَوطان سالَت دماه

    ذي المَعالي فَليَعلُون مَن تَعالى

    For the homelands' sake, his blood flowed.

    These are lofty deeds; let whoever would rise rise thus!

  32. فَسَلام عَلَيهِ يَوم دَعاه

    وَطنٌ مُرهق فَصال وَجالا

    So peace be upon him on the day he was called

    by an overburdened homeland, and he charged and ranged.

  33. وَسَلام عَلَيهِ يَوم أُريق الد

    دَم مِنه وَضَمخ الأَجبالا

    And peace be upon him on the day blood was shed

    from him and stained the mountains.

  34. هَذِهِ روحهُ أَطلت عَلى الشا

    مِ تَزور الرُبى وَتَغشى الظلالا

    Here is his spirit, appearing over al-Sham,

    visiting the hills and passing through the shadows,

  35. وَتَحض الرِجال فيها عَلى تضحية

    النَفس ما أهينوا اِحتلالا

    and urging the men there to sacrifice

    their lives as long as occupation humiliates them.

  36. يَوم كانَت قُلوبنا تَتَلظى

    وَالعِدى توسع البِلاد اِحتِمالا

    When our hearts were blazing,

    and the enemy gave the land ever more to endure,

  37. بِرجيم لَمّا أَتاهُم وَقاح

    كانَ إِتيانُهُ عَلَيهِ وَبالا

    through an accursed, brazen man—when he came to them,

    his coming proved a calamity for him.

  38. لَم يَبت غَير لَيلة كانَ فيها

    يُبصر المَوت حَولَهُ أَشكالا

    He spent only one night, during which

    he saw death around him in many forms.

  39. وَكَأَني بِهِ تجاذبه الأَو

    هام رُعباً فَيَستوي اجفالا

    I can almost see him, pulled to and fro by

    terrifying fancies, bolting upright in alarm,

  40. قلق يَرقب الصَباح فَلَما إن

    تجلّى شَد الرِحال وَقالا

    anxiously watching for morning; and when it

    appeared, he packed his travel gear and said:

  41. الفرار الفرار القيت في الشا

    مِ نكالاً وَفتية أَبطالا

    "Flight! Flight! In al-Sham I encountered

    punishment and young heroes!"

  42. وَلَو أن المَقام طالَ بِبَيرو

    تَ لَكانَ المَصير أَسوأ حالا

    And had his stay in Beirut lasted longer,

    his fate would have been worse still.

  43. هَذِهِ شيمة الكِرام بَني الشا

    مِ سمت همة وَطابَت فعالا

    Such is the character of the noble sons of al-Sham:

    lofty in resolve and noble in deeds.

  44. عَربي إِباؤكمُ أُمويّ

    لا أَباد الزَمان تِلكَ الخلالا

    Your proud defiance is Arab, Umayyad;

    may time never destroy those virtues.

  45. كُل جُرح أَصابَكُم حلَ مِنا

    في صَميم يأبى اِندمالا

    Every wound that strikes you lodges within us,

    deep in the heart, refusing to heal.

  46. يحرس اللَهُ مَجدَنا ما بَذَلنا

    في سَبيل الأَوطان نَفساً وَمالا

    God guards our glory so long as we give

    life and wealth for the sake of the homelands.