1 ▶︎
رَاعَتْ قُلُوبَ الْعِدَا أَنْبَاءُ بِعْثَتِهِ
كَنَبْأَةٍ أَجْفَلَتْ غُفْلاً مِنَ الْغَنَمِ
Rāʿat qulūbal ʿidā anbāʾu biʿthatihi
Kanabʾatin ajfalat ghuflan minal ghanami
The news of his being sent had cast fear into the hearts of foes
as heedless sheep are startled by sudden noise.
2 ▶︎
مَا زَالَ يَلْقَاهُمُ فِي كُلِّ مُعْتَرَكٍ
حَتىَّ حَكَوْا بِالْقَنَا لَحْمًا عَلَى وَضَمِ
Mā zāla yalqāhumu fī kulli muʿtarakin
Ḥattā ḥakaw bil qanā laḥman ʿalā waḍami
He continued to meet them on every battleground
Until spears cut them, like meat on a butcher’s block.
3 ▶︎
وَدُّوا الفِرَارَ فَكَادُوا يَغْبِطُونَ بِهِ
أَشْلاَءَ شَالَتْ مَعَ الْعِقْبَانِ وَالرَّخَمِ
Waddul firāra fakādū yaghbiṭūna bihi
Ashlāʾa shālat maʿal ʿiqbāni war rakhami
They longed to flee, almost jealous of
The dead flesh carried off by hawks and vultures.
4 ▶︎
تَمْضِي اللَّيَالِي وَلاَ يَدْرُونَ عِدَّتَهَا
مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ مِنْ لَيَالِي الأَشْهُرِ الْحُرُمِ
Tamḍil layālī wa lā yadrūna ʿiddatahā
Mā lam takun min layālil ash-huril ḥurumi
The nights passed with them unaware of their number,
Apart from the nights of the Sacred Months.
5 ▶︎
كَأَنَّمَا الدِّينُ ضَيْفٌ حَلَّ سَاحَتَهُمْ
بِكُلِّ قَرْمٍ إِلَى لَحْمِ العِدَا قَرِمِ
Ka annamad dīnu ḍayfun ḥalla sāḥatahum
Bi kulli qarmin ilā laḥmil ʿidā qarimi
As if the religion were a guest that had arrived at their courtyard,
With every honoured chieftain eager for the flesh of their foes.
6 ▶︎
يَجُرُّ بَحْرَ خَمِيسٍ فَوْقَ سَابِحَةٍ
يَرْمِى بِمَوْجٍ مِنَ الأَبْطَالِ مُلْتَطِمِ
Yajurru baḥra khamīsin fawqa sābiḥatin
Yarmī bi mawjin minal abṭāli multaṭimi
Bringing forth a sea of soldiers on swift steeds,
Tossing wave upon wave of onrushing heroes.
7 ▶︎
مِنْ كُلِّ مُنْتَدَبٍ للهِ مُحْتَسِبٍ
يَسْطُو بِمُسْتَأْصِلٍ لِلكُفْرِ مُصْطَلِمِ
Min kulli muntadibin liLlāhi muḥtasibin
Yasṭū bimustaʾṣilin lil kufri muṣṭalimi
All responding to Allah’s call and anticipating reward,
Boldly charging on, and uprooting disbelief.
8 ▶︎
حَتىَّ غَدَتْ مِلَّةُ الإِسْلاَمِ وَهْيَ بِهِمْ
مِنْ بَعْدِ غُرْبَتِهَا مَوْصُولَةَ الرَّحِمِ
Ḥatta ghadat millatul islāmi wahya bihim
Min baʿdi ghurbatihā mawṣūlatar rahimi
Until the religion of Islam was, through them,
Reunited in kinship after being in exile.
9 ▶︎
مَكْفُولَةً أَبَدًا مِنْهُمْ بِخَيْرِ أَبٍ
وَخَيْرِ بَعْلٍ فَلَمْ تَيْتَمْ وَلَمْ تَئِمِ
Makfūlatan abadan minhum bi khayri abin
Wa khayri baʿlin fa lam taytam wa lam taʾimi
Forever protected from [foes] by the best of fathers and husbands,
So that she was no longer an orphan or a widow.
10 ▶︎
هُمُ الجِبَالُ فَسَلْ عَنْهُمْ مُصَادِمَهُمْ
مَاذَا رَأَى مِنْهُمُ فِي كُلِّ مُصْطَدَمِ
Humul jibālu fasal ʿanhum muṣādimahum
Mādhā raʾā minhumu fī kulli muṣṭadami
They were mountains! Ask those who came to blows with them
What they saw from them on every field of battle.
11 ▶︎
وَسَلْ حُنَيْنًا وَسَلْ بَدْرًا وَسَلْ أُحُدًا
فُصُولَ حَتْفٍ لَهُمْ أَدْهَى مِنَ الوَخَمِ
Wa sal ḥunaynan wa sal badran wa sal uḥudan
Fuṣūla ḥatfin lahum adʾhā minal wakhami
Ask Ḥunayn, ask Badr, ask Uḥud—
Seasons of death, more disastrous for them than the plague!
12 ▶︎
المُصْدِرِي البِيضِ حُمْرًا بَعْدَ مَا وَرَدَتْ
مِنَ العِدَا كُلَّ مُسْوَدٍّ مِنَ اللِّمَمِ
Almuṣdiril bīḍi ḥumran baʿda mā waradat
Minal ʿidā kulla muswaddin minal limami
White swords returned, dripping red after taking drink
From beneath the black heads of all their enemies.
13 ▶︎
وَالكَاتِبِينَ بِسُمْرِ الخَطِّ مَا تَرَكَتْ
أَقْلاَمُهُمْ حَرْفَ جِسْمٍ غَيْرَ مُنَعَجِمِ
Wal kātibīna bi sumril khaṭṭi mā tarakat
Aqlāmuhum ḥarfa jismin ghayra munʿajimi
Like scribes with wielded spears for pens,
Leaving no letter of a body unmarked with dots.
14 ▶︎
شَاكِي السِّلاَحِ لَهُمْ سِيمَا تُمَيِّزُهُمْ
وَالوَرْدُ يَمْتَازُ بِالسِّيمَا عَنِ السَّلَمِ
Shākis silāḥi lahum sīmā tumayyizuhum
Wal wardu yamtāzu bis sīmā ʿanis salami
Well-armed, they were distinguished by a clear sign,
as a rose differs from an acacia tree in its features.
15 ▶︎
تُهْدِي إِلَيْكَ رِيَاحُ النَّصْرِ نَشْرَهُمُ
فَتَحْسَبُ الزَّهْرَ فِي الأَكْمَامِ كُلَّ كَمِي
Tuhdī ilayka riyāḥun naṣri nashrahumu
Fataḥsabuz zahra fīl akmāmi kulla kamī
The winds of victory bring you their scent as a gift;
You would think each armed hero a flower in bud!
16 ▶︎
كَأَنَّهُمْ فِي ظُهُورِ الخَيْلِ نَبْتُ رُبًا
مِنْ شِدَّةِ الحَزْمِ لاَ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الحُزُمِ
Ka annahum fī ẓuhūril khayli nabtu ruban
Min shiddatil ḥazmi lā min shiddatil ḥuzumi
As if, riding their steeds, they were flowers on a hill-top
Held firm not by strong stirrups, but by strength of resolve.
17 ▶︎
طَارَتْ قُلُوبُ العِدَا مِنْ بَأْسِهِمْ فَرَقًا
فَمَا تُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ البَهْمِ وَالبُهُمِ
Ṭārat qulūbul ʿidā min baʾsihim faraqan
Famā tufarriqu baynal bahmi wal buhami
Their forceful onslaught so put their foes’ hearts to flight
that you could not have told a herd from a warrior.
18 ▶︎
وَمَنْ تَكُنْ بِرَسُولِ اللهِ نَصْرَتُهُ
إِنْ تَلْقَهُ الأُسْدُ فِي آجَامِهَا تَجِمِ
Wa man takun birasūliLlāhi nuṣratuhu
In talqahul usdu fī ājāmihā tajimi
For the one whose help comes from the Emissary of Allah
Even lions finding him in their dens will be loth to face him.
19 ▶︎
وَلَنْ تَرَى مِنْ وَليٍّ غَيْرِ مُنْتَصِرٍ
بِهِ وَلاَ مِنْ عَدُوٍّ غَيْرِ مُنْقَصِمِ
Wa lan tarā min waliyyin ghayri muntaṣirin
Bihi wa lā min ʿaduwwin ghayri munqasimi
You will not see one saint who is not victorious through him;
Or a single foe of his who is not dealt mortal blows.
20 ▶︎
أَحَلَّ أُمَّتَهُ فِي حِرْزِ مِلَّتِهِ
كَاللَّيْثِ حَلَّ مَعَ الأَشْبَالِ فِي أَجَمِ
Aḥalla ummatahu fī ḥirzi millatihi
Kal laythi ḥalla maʿal ashbāli fī ajami
He gave his nation sanctuary in the stronghold of his faith,
As a lion settles in with its cubs in a thicket.
21 ▶︎
كَمْ جَدَّلَتْ كَلِمَاتُ اللهِ مِنْ جَدَلٍ
فِيهِ وَكَمْ خَصَمَ البُرْهَانُ مِنْ خَصِمِ
Kam jaddalat kalimātuLlāhi min jadilin
Fīhi wa kam khaṣamal burhānu min khaṣimi
How often have Allah’s words felled his opponents,
And how often the Qur’an has defeated its enemies!
22 ▶︎
كَفَاكَ بِالْعِلْمِ فِي الأُمِّيِّ مُعْجِزَةً
فِي الجَاهِلِيَّةِ وَالتَّأْدِيبِ فِي اليُتُمِ
Kafāka bil ʿilmi fīl ummiyyi muʿjizatan
Fīl jāhiliyyati wat taʾdībi fīl yutumi
The erudition of an unlettered one is miracle enough
in an Age of Ignorance, as is an orphan’s education.