1. (أَدمشق) ما للحسن لا يعدوك

    حتى خصصتِ به بغير شريكِ

    O Damascus, why does beauty never pass beyond you,

    so that you alone are endowed with it, with none to share?

  2. أَشغفته حباً وَتمتِ فؤادَه

    فغدا بكل طريفةٍ يصفيكِ

    Have you filled him with love and enslaved his heart,

    so that he came to favor you with every rare delight?

  3. سبحانَ من أَعطاكِ أَشهد أَنّه

    وَفّى وَزادَ بسيبه معطيكِ

    Glory to Him who gave to you! I bear witness that

    your giver gave in full and added from His bounty.

  4. فبرزتِ للأَبصارِ أَروَعَ مظهرٍ

    في الحسنِ وَالإِبداعِ عن باريكِ

    Thus you appeared to the eyes as the most wondrous manifestation

    of beauty and artistry from your Creator.

  5. الحبُ برّحَ بي وَأَنتِ بعثتِه

    أَإِليك أَشكو الحبَّ أَم أَشكوك

    Love has tormented me, and you awakened it.

    Shall I complain to you of love, or complain of you?

  6. فقْتِ الحواضرَ وَالبلادَ بنسبةٍ

    من (قاسيون) إِلى الذرى تنميكِ

    You surpassed the cities and the lands through a lineage

    from Qasioun that raises you to the heights.

  7. يا بنت مَنْ طال السها أُيتيمة

    في الحسن وَهو معمَّر يفديكِ

    O daughter of one who reaches al-Suha—are you an orphan

    in beauty, while he, long-lived, would ransom you?

  8. شابتْ مفارقُهُ وَجلَّلَ رأسَه

    صلعٌ فزدتِ جلالةً بأَبيكِ

    His hair-partings have grayed, and his head is covered

    with baldness; through your father, you grew more majestic.

  9. فكأَنه أَسدٌ بقربك رابضٌ

    من دهره وصروفه يحميك

    He seems a lion crouching beside you,

    shielding you from his era and its vicissitudes.

  10. يا مهبطَ السحرِ الحلال أَلم يكنْ

    (حسَّان) ينشي سحرَه من فيكِ

    O home of lawful magic, did not

    Hassan compose his enchantment from your mouth?

  11. رُدّيتِ من زهرِ الرياضِ مطارفاً

    ما بين محلولٍ إلى محبوكِ

    You were draped in cloaks of the gardens' blossoms,

    ranging from loose to closely woven.

  12. فكأَنما الأشجارُ فيك عرائس

    ماستْ بكل منمنمٍ وَمحوكِ

    As though the trees within you were brides,

    swaying in every embroidered and woven robe.

  13. وكأَنما (بردى) سبائكُ فضةٍ

    تجري عَلَى درٍّ بها مسلوكِ

    And Barada seems to be ingots of silver

    flowing over pearls threaded through them.

  14. وكأَنما حصباؤه وَبريقها

    عقدُ من الألماس في هاديكِ

    And its pebbles and their glitter seem

    a diamond necklace upon your neck.

  15. وإِذا الغزالةُ غازلتكِ بسمتِ عن

    ثغرٍ بأَزهارِ الرياضِ ضحوكِ

    And when the sun courts you, you smile to reveal

    a mouth laughing with the gardens' blossoms.

  16. أَهدتْ إِليكِ التاجَ حين بزوغِها

    فلبستِه من عَسْجدٍ مسبوكِ

    She gave you the crown when she rose,

    and you wore it, cast in gold.

  17. وَإِذا ارتديتِ من الليالي حلّةً

    سوداءَ تشبه حلةَ البطريكِ

    And when you donned a robe of the nights,

    black, resembling the patriarch's robe,

  18. فالنجمُ أَزرارٌ وَثاقبُ شهبها

    نثرتْ عليكِ كدرهمٍ مسكوكِ

    the stars are buttons, and its piercing meteors

    are scattered upon you like a minted dirham.

  19. وَإِذا الرياضُ تَنَفَسّتْ في سحرةٍ

    فغمت رباكِ بعنبرٍ مسحوكِ

    And when the gardens breathe in the predawn hour,

    they perfume your hills with ground ambergris.

  20. يا حبذا الأَطيارُ وَهي سواجعٌ

    فكأَنها الشعراءُ إِذْ وَصفوكِ

    O, how lovely the birds as they coo!

    They seem like the poets when they described you.

  21. (الغوطتان) وَأَنت مثل جزيرةٍ

    بحرانِ يلتطمانِ في شاطيكِ

    The two Ghutas, while you are like an island,

    are two seas crashing together at your shore.

  22. وَ (الغوطتان) وَأَنتِ بدرٌ ساطع

    لكليلةٍ ظلماء ذات حلوك

    And the two Ghutas, while you are a shining full moon,

    are like a dark night of utter blackness.

  23. كم من زكيِّ دمٍ وَنفسٍ حرّةٍ

    فاضا لوصلِكِ في حمى (اليرموك)

    How much pure blood and how many free souls

    were poured out to unite with you within Yarmuk's bounds!

  24. (عمر) الذي وَطئتْ سنابكُ خيله

    (إِيوانَ كسرى) قد ترجّلَ فيكِ

    Umar, whose horses' hooves had trodden

    the Iwan of Kisra, dismounted in your midst.

  25. رفعتْ (أُميةُ) فيك أَعظمَ دولةٍ

    كانت قواعدَها سيوفُ بنيكِ

    Umayya raised the greatest state within you;

    its foundations were the swords of your sons.

  26. كم من شموسٍ ليس يغرب نورها

    من (عبد شمس) ضمَّها ناديكِ

    How many suns, whose light never sets,

    of Abd Shams your assembly has gathered in!

  27. تهوي قلوبهمُ إليكِ صبابةً

    لولا مشاعرُ (مكةٍ) حجّوكِ

    Their hearts yearn toward you with longing;

    were it not for Mecca's sacred sites, they would have made pilgrimage to you.

  28. لولا حمى (البيت الحرام) وَشطره

    عند الصلاةِ وجوههم وَلُّوكِ

    Were it not for the Sacred House's sanctuary and its direction,

    at prayer they would have turned their faces toward you.

  29. لو لم يكونوا بعدُ في فجر الهدى

    وَرأَوا جمالكِ فتنةً عبدوكِ

    Had they not still been in the dawn of guidance,

    and seen your beauty's enchantment, they would have worshipped you.

  30. وَسللت من موسى حساماً فيصلاً؟

    قد كان مغمده (لو ذريك)؟

    And did you draw from Musa a decisive sword,

    whose sheath had been Roderic?

  31. وَرمتْ (بصقر الدينِ) دونكِ باذلاً

    نفساً يُضَنُّ بمثلها ليقيكِ

    And she hurled the Falcon of the Faith to your defense, offering

    a life whose like is not lightly given, to protect you.

  32. وَظللتِ خالصةَ العروبةِ حينما

    أُخذت بنوك بمحنة (التتريكِ)

    And you remained purely Arab when

    your sons were afflicted with the ordeal of Turkification.

  33. وَتطهّرتْ أَنسابُ من قطنوكِ من

    دعوى أَخي (السريان) وَ (الفينيكي)

    And the lineages of those who dwelt in you were cleansed of

    the claims of the Syriacs' kinsman and the Phoenician.

  34. أَوَ ما عتبتِ عَلَى الزمانِ وَريبه

    أَمسى بكل رزيةٍ يرميكِ

    And have you not reproached time and its vicissitudes,

    as it came to pelt you with every calamity?

  35. فرأَيتِ من سعدِ الزمان وَنحسه

    عزَّ المليكِ وَذلَة المملوكِ

    And you saw, through time's good fortune and its ill,

    the glory of the king and the abasement of the slave.

  36. وَجرتْ جوارٍ بالنحوسِ وَلم تكنْ

    إِلاّ بأَسعدِ طالِع تأْتيكِ

    And wandering stars moved with ill omens, though they had never

    come to you but with the most auspicious ascendant.

  37. إِني أَرى (بردى) تفيضُ عيونهُ

    بدموعِها حزناً عَلى ماضيكِ

    Indeed, I see Barada's eyes overflowing

    with their tears, in sorrow for your past.

  38. وَأَرى هضابَكِ كالقبورِ غدا بها

    من كلِّ غصنٍ نادبٌ يرثيك

    And I see your hills like graves, where there now stands

    from every branch a mourner lamenting you.

  39. وَإِذا الرياحُ تناوَحتْ ناحتْ عَلَى

    حرمِ مباحٍ أَو حمىً مهتوكِ

    And when the winds blow against one another, they wail over

    a sanctuary laid open, or a refuge violated.

  40. حقُ الملاحة أنْ تصانَ وَما أَرى

    أَهليك هذا الحق قد وَفّوكِ

    Beauty has the right to be protected, yet I do not see

    that your people have granted you this right in full.

  41. في (ميسلون) أَسى يطول وَحسرةٌ

    عانيهما ما كان بالمفكوكِ

    In Maysalun are lasting sorrow and grief,

    whose captive has never been set free.

  42. لم أَدرِ يومئذ أَمْنْتَدَبُوكِ أَمْ

    أَهلوكِ أَم حكّامهم وَتروكِ

    I did not know that day whether it was your mandate-holders,

    your people, or their rulers who had wronged you.

  43. ما أَنس لا أَنس السماءَ وَقد غدتْ

    في شهر (آب) بوبلها تبكيكِ

    Whatever I forget, I shall not forget the sky, as it began

    in the month of Ab, to weep for you with its downpour.

  44. وَبدا احمرارٌ في صفاءِ أَديمها

    فكأَنه شكوى الدم المسفوكِ

    And redness appeared upon its clear skin,

    as though it were spilled blood's complaint.

  45. وَتزاوَرتْ شمسُ النهار عن الحمى

    فكأنها في الظهرِ ذات دلوكِ

    And the sun of day turned aside from the sanctuary,

    as though it were setting at noon.

  46. قالوا اتركِ الذكرى وَلو طاوَعتهم

    ما كنتُ منها قطّ بالمتروكِ

    They said, 'Leave memory behind'; but even had I obeyed them,

    it would never once have left me.

  47. أنا لست أَعني بالسياسة إِنما

    هي نفثةٌ من ذي جوى منهوكِ

    I am not concerned with politics; this is only

    a sigh from one worn out by burning sorrow.