1. تَحَمِلِّكَ الإِغريقُ كُلَّ مَلامَةٍ

    أَأَترِيذُ إِمَّا اليَومَ خَابَت وُعُودُها

    The Greeks lay every blame upon you,

    O Atreides, if their promises fail today.

  2. لدَيكَ لَقَد آلوا قُبَيلَ ارتَِحَالِهِم

    لإِليُونَ لا يَثنُونَ عَزماً يُبِيدُها

    To you they swore, just before their departure

    for Ilium, never to forsake their resolve to destroy her.

  3. وهاهُم كوِلدٍ جُزَّعٍ وأَرامِلٍ

    تَنَاهى حَنِيناً للبِلادِ هُجُودُها

    Yet here they are, like fretful children and widows,

    their sleep ended by longing for their homeland.

  4. لِتَلكَ إِذاً بَلوَى تَفَاقَمَ ضُرُّها

    وما اليَأسُ إِلاَّ أُسُّها ومُعِيدُها

    That, then, is a trial whose harm has grown grievous,

    and despair is its foundation and its renewer.

  5. ولا شَكَّ يَغتَمُّونَ إِن يَمض شَهرُهُم

    بِفُلكِهِم والنَّوءُ ظَلَّ يُمِيدُها

    No doubt they grieve if they spend a month

    aboard their ships while the storm keeps rocking them.

  6. فَكيَفَ وقد بَاتت حُؤُولُ اغتِرَابِهِم

    سنينَ طِوَالا تَمَّ تِسعاً عَدِيدُها

    How much more, when the years of their exile have become

    long years, their number now a full nine,

  7. وأَزوَاجُهُم عَنهُم نَأَينَ فلا أَرى

    مَلاماً إِذا البَأساءُ شَطَّت حُدُودُها

    and their wives are far from them! I see no

    cause for blame when hardship exceeds all bounds.

  8. ولَكِنَّ كُلَّ العارِ في عَودَة السُّرى

    بِخَيبتِهِم مَهلاً فَسَوفَ نَعُودُها

    But utter shame lies in the travelers' returning

    in failure. Wait; we shall return to it,

  9. لِنَبلُوَ صَحبي صِدق كَلخَاسَ مُنبِئاً

    بِما قد عَلِمتُم آيةٌ وأُعِيدُها

    to test, my comrades, the truth of Calchas's prophecy

    of what you already know—a sign I shall recount.

  10. شِهِدتُم وما مُتُّم وفي الأَمسِ خِلتُ ذا

    قَدِيماً سَرَايانا استُنِمَّت جُنُودُها

    You witnessed it, you who still live; it seems but yesterday,

    though long ago, when our companies' troops were fully mustered

  11. وهَيَّأَتِ الأُسطُولَ في بحرِ أَفلِسٍ

    لاُمَّةِ قِريامٍ يُعَدُّ وَعِيدُها

    and prepared the fleet in the sea of Aulis,

    its threat being readied for Priam's people.

  12. إِلى ساجَةٍ عُظمَى لَديها تَفَجَّرَت

    مِنَ الماءِ عَينٌ فاضَ سَيلاً بَرُودُها

    Beside a mighty teak tree, near which there burst

    a spring of water, its cool waters flowing in a stream,

  13. رَفَعنا على طُهرِ المَذَابِحِ جُملَةً

    مِئَاتِ الضَّحايا واستَطارَ وَقُودُها

    we raised upon the pure altars, all together,

    hundreds of sacrificial victims, and their fire blazed aloft.

  14. إِذا أُفعُوَانٌ هائِلٌ قَد بَدا لَنا

    بِمُعجِزَةٍ من أَمر زَفسَ وُرُودُها

    Suddenly a terrifying serpent appeared to us,

    its coming a miracle by Zeus's command.

  15. مِنَ المَذبحِ الدَّامي استَطالَ مُخَضَّباً

    إلى السَّاجةِ الشَّماءِ وَثباً يُرِيدُها

    From the bloodied altar it stretched upward, stained with blood,

    making for the towering teak tree with a leap.

  16. وفي رَأسِها عُصفُورَةٌ وفِرَاخُها

    ثَمانِيةٌ ما كادَ يَنقُفُ عُودُها

    At its top were a sparrow and her chicks,

    eight, their bodies barely hatched from the shell.

  17. إِلَيها سَرِيعاً هَمَّ مُزذَرِداً على

    تَغَارِيدِها والأُمُّ شُقَّت كُبُودُها

    It swiftly made for them, gulping them down amid

    their chirping, while the mother's vitals were rent.

  18. تُرَدِّدُ أَنَّاتِ الأَسَى وتَرُفُّ في

    جَوَانِبِهِ حتَّى اشرَأَبَّ يَصيدُها

    She repeated moans of grief and fluttered

    about its sides, until it craned its neck to catch her.

  19. ولمَّا فَرَاها تِسعَةً صارَ صَخرةٌ

    بِحِكمَةِ مُبدِيها استَتَبَّ جُمُودُها

    When it had torn all nine apart, it became a rock,

    its hardness fixed by the wisdom of him who revealed it.

  20. فَزِدنا عُجاباً والتَّشاؤُمُ رابَنا

    ولِكن لكَلخاسٍ تَجَلَّت عُقُودُها

    Our wonder grew, and foreboding troubled us,

    but to Calchas its knotted meaning became clear.

  21. فقالَ تَوَلَّتكُم مِنَ الأَمرِ دَهشَةٌ

    وَلكِن خَفايا السِّرّ وَافَت وُفُودُها

    He said, “Astonishment at this event has seized you,

    but the hidden mystery's envoys have arrived.

  22. يُرينا بِهذَا زَفسُ مُعجِزَةً بها

    لَنا نُصرَةٌ في الغَيبِ خُطَّ خُلُودُها

    Through this Zeus shows us a miracle, in which

    lies victory for us, its eternity inscribed in the unseen.

  23. كَما أُفعُوَانُ الضَّيرِ أَمسَكَ تِسعةً

    منَ الطَّيرِ مُغتالاً وأَنتُم شُهُودُها

    Just as the deadly serpent seized nine

    birds and slew them, with you as witnesses,

  24. كَذَاكَ لَدَى إِليُونَ تِسعَةَ أَحؤُلٍ

    نَخيبُ فَيَأتي عاشرٌ ونَسُودُها

    so for nine years beside Ilium

    we shall fail; then a tenth will come, and we shall rule her.”

  25. وَقد كادَتِ الأَنباءُ تَكمُلُ فالبَثُوا

    يَسيراً وإِليُونٌ تُحَطُّ سُعُودُها

    The prophecies are nearly fulfilled, so remain

    a little longer, and Ilium's fortunes shall fall.

  26. فَهلهَلَتِ الإِغرِيقُ والفُلكُ رَدَّدَت

    هَلاهِلَ سُرٍّ للسَّماءِ صُعُودُها

    The Greeks cheered aloud, and the ships echoed

    cries of joy ascending to heaven.

  27. فَبَادَرَ نَسطُورُ الوَقُورُ مُخاطِباً

    هَذَرتُم كَوِلدٍ طَالَ جهلاً قُعُودُها

    Then venerable Nestor hastened to address them:

    “You babble like children who have long sat in ignorance,

  28. كأَنَّكُمُ لَم تَشهَدُوا قَطُّ مَصرَعاً

    وأَقسامُنا هَل تَضمَحِلُّ عُهُودُها

    as though you had never witnessed a death in battle!

    And our oaths—shall their covenants fade away?

  29. فأَينَ الضَّحايا والقَرَابينُ أُحرِقَت

    بأَيمَانِ صِدقٍ مُوثَقاتٌ بُنُودُها

    Where, then, are the sacrifices and the offerings burned

    with truthful oaths whose terms were firmly sealed?

  30. وأَينَ مُدَامٌ قد أَرَقنا وَأَيمُنٌ

    بها قَد توَاثَقنا أَبادَ وُجُودُها

    And where is the wine we poured, and the right hands

    by which we pledged ourselves—has their existence vanished?

  31. لقد طالَ مَنآنا وَكُلُّ قِتالِنا

    بِبُطلِ أَقاوِيلٍ بَعِيدٌ مُفِيدُها

    Our exile has been long, and all our fighting,

    through empty words, is far from bearing any fruit.

  32. تَقَلَّد أَيا أَترِيذُ بالحَزمِ مِثلَما

    عَهِدتُكض وَليَعلُ الحُرُوبَ وَصِيدُها

    Gird yourself, O Atreides, with resolve, as

    I have known you; master the wars and their proud chiefs.

  33. ودَع حانِقاً أو حانِقَينَ تَعَمَّدَا

    مُغَادَرَةَ الهَيجاءِ أَنتَ عَمِيدُها

    Leave aside one angry man or two, intent

    on quitting the battle, of which you are the leader.

  34. فَلَن يَرجِعا ما لم نَخِب أَو تُتَح لَنا

    مَوَاعِيدُ رَبِّ التُّرسِ صِدقاً يَشِيدُها

    They shall not return until we fail, or there are granted us

    the promises of the lord of the shield, which he upholds in truth.

  35. وِعندِي يَقينٌ أَنَّنا عِندما على

    سَفائِننا لِلفَتكِ جِئنا نَقُودُها

    I am certain that, when upon

    our ships we came, steering them to slaughter,

  36. لنا سَلَفاً بالرَّأسِ أَومَأَ مُعلِناً

    بَشَائِرَ نَصرٍ فاصِفاتٌ رُعُودُها

    he had already nodded his head to us, proclaiming

    tidings of victory, their thunders crashing.

  37. فلا تَفكِرُوا بالعَودِ ما لم تُقَوِّمُوا

    لِهيلانَةٍ ثَأراً لِبؤسٍ يَكِيدُها

    So do not think of returning until you have exacted

    vengeance for Helen, for the misery that afflicts her,

  38. فَيَظفِرَ كُلٌّ مِنكُمُ بِسَبِيَّةِ

    وتُدمَرَ إِليُونٌ وَتُحرَزَ غِيدُها

    so that each of you may win a captive woman,

    Ilium be destroyed, and her graceful women seized.

  39. ومَن تاقَ للأَوطانِ فَليَأتِ فُلكَهُ

    فَيَعلَمَ أَنَّ النَّفسَ حَانَ خُمُودُها

    Whoever longs for home, let him approach his ship

    and learn that the time has come for his soul to be quenched.

  40. فخُذ بِشِعارِ الحَزمِ أَترِيذُ مُثبِتاً

    نَصَائِحَ أَحكَامٍ لَدَيكَ أُجِيدُها

    Take resolve as your watchword, Atreides, affirming

    the counsels of sound judgment I set forth well before you:

  41. لِتَنتَظِمِ الأجنادُ بَينَ قَبائِلٍ

    يُوَلَّى عَلَيها بالمَعَامعِ صِيدُها

    let the troops be organized by tribes,

    with their proud chiefs appointed over them in battle.

  42. فَتَعلَمُ مَن مِنهُم أشَدُّ تَثَبُّتاً

    ومَن قَلَّ عَزماً إِذ يُدَنَّى بَعِيدُها

    Then you will know which of them stands most firmly,

    and who lacks resolve when distant battle is brought near;

  43. وتَعلَمُ ما إِليُونُ مَنَّعَ حُصنَها

    أَوَهنٌ بِجُندٍ أَم قَضاءٌ يَذُودُها

    and you will know what makes Ilium's fortress impregnable:

    is it weakness in the army, or fate's decree defending her?”