تألق برق عندنا وتقابلت

أثافٍ لقدر الحرب أخشى اقتبالها

Lightning flashed near us, and face to face stood

The hearthstones of war's cauldron—I fear its onset.

فدونك قدر الحرب وهي مُقرّة

لكفيك واجعل دون قدر جعالها

So take war's cauldron while it is cool

To your hands; place its lifting-cloth between you and the pot.

ولن ينتهي أو يبلغ الأمر حدَّه

فنلها برسل قبل ألا تنالها

And it will not end until the affair reaches its limit.

So take hold of it gently before you can no longer reach it.

فتجشم منها ما جشِمت من التي

بسوراء هرت نحو حالك حالها

So endure its hardships as you endured those of the war

At Sūrāʾ, whose state growled against your own.

تلافَ أمور الناس قبل تفاقم

بعقْدةِ حزم لا تخاف انحلالها

Remedy people's affairs before they worsen,

With a knot of firm resolve whose unraveling you need not fear.

فما أبرم الأقوام يوماً لحيلة

من الأمر إلا قلَّدوك احتيالها

For never did the peoples resolve upon a stratagem

In any affair without entrusting its devising to you.

وقد تخبر الحرب العوان بسرها

وإن لم تُبِحْ من لا يريد سؤالها

And seasoned war may reveal its secret,

Even if it has not disclosed it to one unwilling to question it.