قال ابن جزي وفي هذه القلعة يقول الخالدي شاعر سيف الدولة ¶وخرقاء قد قامت على من يرومها بمرقبها العالي وجانبها الصعبِ¶يجر عليها الجواجيب غمامة ويلبثها عقدًا بأنجمه الشهبِ¶إذا ما سرى برق بَدَتْ من خلاله كما لاحت العذراء من خلل السحبِ¶فكم من جنود قد أماتت بغصة وذي سطوات قد أبانت على عقبِ
Ibn Juzayy adds It is of this citadel that al-Khalidi, the poet of Saif al-Dawla, speaks in the following verses Lo! on her grim and massy rock That holds to scorn the foeman's shock With lofty tower and perilous steep, Majestic stands Aleppo's keep. The bosom of the windswept clouds Her topmost pinnacle enshrouds; The spangled stars of heaven rest, A glittering circlet, on her breast.¶When night is rent with levin spears Amid their fulgour she appears, As through the drifting cirrus sprays Resplendent Virgo sheds her rays.¶How many a troop 'gainst her arrayed Hath she with anguished death repaid!¶How many a conqueror flushed with fame Hurled back, crestfallen, whence he came