أرى الشطرنج لو كانت رجالا

أرى الشطرنج لو كانت رجالا

تهزُّ صفائحاً وقناً طِوالا

تهزُّ صفائحاً وقناً طِوالا

I see that, were the chess pieces men,

If chessmen could but speak and fight,

I view the chessmen—were they living men,

Brandishing broad swords and long spears,

Steel clanging loud in duel bright,

Brandishing broadswords and long, lofty spears,

لغادرت الثواكل معولاتٍ

لغادرت الثواكل معولاتٍ

بساحتنا وأطولت القتالا

بساحتنا وأطولت القتالا

They would leave bereaved mothers wailing

The pawns would flee their servitude,

They would have left the bereaved mothers wailing

In our courtyard, and prolong the fighting.

Our war a scene of wrath and blood.

Within our courts, and drawn the battle out.

ولكني أرى خشباً ضعيفاً

ولكني أرى خشباً ضعيفاً

إذا شهد الوغى لم يَدع آلا

إذا شهد الوغى لم يَدع آلا

But I see frail wood

But I see only silent forms of wood

But I behold mere timber, frail and weak,

That, when it witnesses battle, calls upon no kin.

That make no murmur when they should;

That, witnessing the fray, raises no cry,

ولم يُصدِرن حُمراً كُنَّ بيضاً

ولم يُصدِرن حُمراً كُنَّ بيضاً

ولم يغشين من موت ظلالا

ولم يغشين من موت ظلالا

Nor do they bring back red blades that were once white,

No red Republican chargers neigh,

Nor brings back crimsoned blades that once were white,

Nor do they enter the shadows of death.

No shadows of the grave are they.

Nor casts the darkening shadows of the grave.

فلو كنا نحارب مثل هذا

فلو كنا نحارب مثل هذا

لباقينا مع الدهر الجبالا

لباقينا مع الدهر الجبالا

So, if we fought like this,

If we but fought like this in fact,

If we but waged our battles in this guise,

We would rival the mountains in enduring through the ages.

Eternal would the mountains stand intact.

We would outlast the mountains through the age.