نصول اذا حان الدفاع ولا نرى

جزاء من المولى سوى جنة الخلد

We charge when the time for defense comes, and expect no

Reward from the Lord but the Garden of Eternity.

نحب اللقا لا نبغض الطعن إن يكن

نضالا عن الأوطان والدين والمجد

We love the encounter; we do not hate the spear-thrust if it is

A struggle in defense of our homelands, faith, and glory.

هنيئاً لمن أمسى صريعا مجاهدا

له حلة من أرجوان على الجرد

Blessed is he who has fallen, fighting for the faith;

His is a crimson robe upon the sleek steeds.

فيا مغرما بنا تقدم لفتية

ترى الموت فوزا في مصادمة الضد

So, O you enamored of us, advance toward young men

Who see death as triumph in clashing with the foe.

خفاف ثقال في الجلاد جوادهم

مكر مفر مصدر القرب والبعد

They are swift yet formidable in combat; their steed

Is swift to charge and retreat, the source of nearness and distance.

أيا بطلاً رام النزال بضعفه

ألم تشف غلا نكبة الحبش الجعد

O hero who sought combat in his weakness,

Did not the calamity dealt by the curly-haired Abyssinians soothe your rancor?

اراك زمانا طالما حمت حولهم

ولم يك الا ان صرعت على الخد

I see that for so long you circled around them,

And it came to nothing but your being felled upon your cheek.

ألم تدع الأسرى هناك تسوقها

عصا الذل من ذاك النجاشي في الصفد

Did you not leave the captives there, driven

By that Negus's rod of humiliation, in fetters?

ألم تك ممن أدرك الناس أنه

أخف انهزاما من رباط الى السند

Were you not among those whom people knew to be

Swiftest in flight, from Rabat to Sindh?

ألم يكفك النصر المقهقر خسة

فلا حول ما هذا التملق كالقرد

Was your retreating victory not disgrace enough for you?

So, no power! What is this monkey-like fawning?

فدعك بنابلي لعل جبالها

تخر فتفنى أوتقيك من البرد

So stay in Naples; perhaps its mountains

Will collapse and you perish, or shelter you from the cold.

فان بها أفواه بيت تفتحت

لتمنح دفئاً عاري الجوف والجلد

For there the mouths of a house have opened

To grant warmth to one bare in belly and skin.

وأما سليمى لا سبيل لوصلها

ولو تجعل الجوزاء منطقة الغمد

And as for Sulayma, there is no way to union with her,

Even if you make al-Jawza the girdle of your scabbard.

باذن الذي بالامس عزز نصرنا

فكانت سراقوزا لنا موقع الجند

By leave of Him who yesterday strengthened our victory,

And so Syracuse became a station for our troops.

وكانت وكانت في قطانيا وقعة

فسادت بمسينا الرجال على المرد

And there was—and there was—a battle in Catania,

So at Messina the men prevailed over the beardless youths.

ألم تعلم ان المسلمين اذا سطوا

فواحدهم كالعشر في الجزر والمد

Do you not know that when Muslims attack,

Then one of them is like ten, in the ebb and flow?

قديما حديثاً لا افتراء وان تشأ

فسل من أثيني قريب من العهد

Of old and in recent times—no fabrication; and if you wish,

Then ask someone from Athens—it was not long ago.

فكف ودع هذا التظاهر وارتدع

فما لك أبطال تسرك أو تفدي

So desist, abandon this display, and restrain yourself;

For you have no heroes to gladden you or redeem you.

دع الطمع المذموم لا تغترر بما

تراه كأحلام على فرش المهد

Abandon blameworthy greed; do not be deceived by what

You see, like dreams upon the cradle's bedding.

محال محال ان تدنس روضة

عليها لواء حف بالنصر والحمد

Impossible, impossible that you should defile a garden

Above which is a banner surrounded by victory and praise.

خذ النصح أو فاحضر لكل مدرع له لبد

حوراء بارزة النهد

Heed the counsel, or bring each armored warrior with a mane

A dark-eyed maiden with prominent breasts,

محيرة رجراجة الكفل غضة

نحيلة خضر ذات خال على الخد

Bewildering, with a swaying rump, tender,

Slender and fresh, with a mole upon her cheek.

يزيح سنا الاسلام ظلمة شركها

فيصبح منها الفرع أسود كالند

The radiance of Islam dispels the darkness of her idolatry,

And so her hair becomes black as fragrant incense.

وحيا الاله الدين ما الترك زلزلت

حصونا وأهدت خيزرانية القد

And may God bless the faith as long as the Turks shake

Fortresses and offer a maiden bamboo-slender in figure;

وما دول الاسلام سادت ومهدت

من الدين ما يلفى ألذ من الشهد

And as long as the states of Islam prevail and establish

What in the faith is found sweeter than honey;

وما تونس أنت وهمت جزائر

وعضت بفاس أنملا ربت المجد

And as long as Tunisia groans and Algeria weeps,

And in Fez, fingers that nurtured glory are bitten;

وما زنجبار بالتأوه أعلنت

وما الهند أضحت تلطم الخد بالخد

And as long as Zanzibar gives voice to its groaning,

And as long as India has come to strike cheek against cheek;

وما مسقط بالعدل ما دامت فأصبحت

مظنة أطماع الممازح بالجد

And as long as Muscat has not endured in justice, and has become

A target for the ambitions of one who jests in earnest;

وما اضطرب القوقاز ما حن هرسك

وما اشتد غيظاً بوسني ولم يجد

And as long as the Caucasus trembles, as long as Herzegovina laments,

And as long as a Bosnian seethes with fury and finds nothing;

وما قبرص أبكت كريداً وما رثت

معاهد برنو مصرع الأمن والسعد

And as long as Cyprus makes Crete weep, and as long as

The abodes of Bornu mourn the downfall of security and good fortune;

وما ناح في السودان والصين نائح

على ملة أضحت ضحية ذي حقد

And as long as a mourner laments in Sudan and China

Over a faith that has become the victim of one full of hatred;

وما أملت مصر نجاة ولم تفز

بفاتح عقد الاحتلال الممدد

And as long as Egypt hopes for deliverance but has not gained

One who can untie the knot of prolonged occupation;

وما قال آه ثم آه توجعاً

حريص على أن يلمع البرق في الرعد

And as long as 'Ah,' then 'Ah,' is cried in anguish

By one eager for lightning to flash amid thunder;

فيا ليتها عبد الحميد يقولها

فنصبح والابطال تزأر كالأسد

Oh, if only Abd al-Hamid would say it!

Then we would greet the morning, with heroes roaring like lions,

ونمسي والنصر المبين يحفنا

فنجمع شملا شتته يد الوغد

And greet the evening with manifest victory surrounding us;

Then reunite a people scattered by the scoundrel's hand,

ونغدو والعرش الحميدي زاهر

نعزز دينا ذل في عصرنا النكد

And go forth with the Hamidian throne resplendent,

Strengthening a faith abased in our wretched age.