1. To those who were leaving us at dusk,
Peace, though peace be scarce,

2. It would not hurt them, when they decided to depart,
To abandon grief, had they here cured a sick one,

3. Had I bidden them farewell some day amongst them,
I would have repaid debts or relieved torment.

4. And when we halted by the abandoned camps,
We wept long for their dwellers,

5. And the tears of the mourners for them
Were valleys dried by torrents into streams.

6. My eyes could scarcely bear that after them
I should see four who had dwelt there, distraught.

7. Seek you not from me a proof of passion,
My wasted body bears it plain enough.

8. And lay not on me a burden from desire,
For desire itself weighs heavy on me.

9. I love her who was sparing of a glance,
Though the sprightly one made to depart.

10. The wicked thought I was her lover,
While my heart could never be smooth-tongued.

11. My friend, blame me not for loving with grief,
If none but you pleases me, O friend.

12. Say to me, while you live to speak,
Perhaps a miser may give lavishly.

13. O king of kings, take what you asked,
For to God the Generous you were supplicant.

14. Far be it from your dawn prayer
To meet at eve with disappointment.

15. None but God, none but He
Could return the impassioned who in you hoped.

16. When from you help relaxed that you had pledged
And they thought you slow in granting victory,

17. There was a group that God may curse,
And you were over it guardian and friend.

18. You mounted the victory that you had pledged
From God, submissive to men, gentle.

19. Scarcely an hour, then it shone forth
As hands there lifted the curtains.

20. So God's spear returned from you sharpened
And God's sword from you burnished.

21. The rebels knew you had raided them,
Dragging to them legion upon legion.

22. They heard only the neigh of chargers
And the rhythmic ring of iron.

23. Around you spies, down every ravine,
Driving boys and elders alike to death.

24. As if they were lions of valor in the scrub,
Growling, now battle grew fierce,

25. Scornful of doves who fancied themselves
Hawks swooping other than on doves.

26. And every fierce warrior like a serpent,
Who, fearing death, will not die easily.

27. Not until they saw the flank of the horsemen
Surging, armored men and mailed horses,

28. Did they think themselves safe from you, while ruin
Was fettering them with chains unbending.

29. You robbed the leaders of their souls
And every veiled woman of her husband.

30. So they lay only writhing in the dust
Or clasping hands that held a brace.

31. By God, the plain of Raqqa is vaster than Rada,
And drove the champions of war to champions.

32. We thought them—and lions are amid the cane—
That they clashed among it with tempered blades.

33. When they saw it the royal banner,
They fled like a flock of wild cows.

34. And they all cast away what was in their palms,
Paraphernalia of cuirasses and lances.

35. They hastened only to the humps of their camels
As swift as death made the hyenas ravenous.

36. By its life, it was a sedition that was not
For us a guardian against time a martyr.

37. It turned against those who kindled its fire
Disaster and, when it wandered, rapacious wolves.

38. It was lofty mountains—you leveled them,
Leaving them for us a plain.

39. So feed not after this the like of it,
For he who is honored unjustly will be abased.

40. After abundant favor upon you,
Will you drag behind you among the people, tails?

41. You were for the battlefields a frequenter
Of wide encampments and times of stumbling.

42. You stripped yourself of him, after belonging
To him, desiring none but him in exchange.

43. Had you conveyed what you sought,
There would have been no fair excuse from you.

44. How to attain what desire whispered to you
Deluded, while you were not upright?

45. When you clothed with his garment your trunk,
We saw in our hearts hope and purpose.

46. You fed the birds from it against his will,
Though it was food that choked and was painful.

47. If your right hand toys with us, then it
Plays with tempests that do not last.

48. The winds turn it, now
A south wind, now a northerly gust.

49. It left in it nothing our eyes had seen
Of treats for us, folded and stored.

50. Congratulations on this feast and the victory beyond,
On the festival in the morn and eve.

51. May this kingdom remain yours forever.
And home of settlement, ease and rest.

52. If branches of some people faded, no eye has seen
For your branch, in time, fading.

53. You remain over us commanding, controlling,
Mighty, strong among the people, potent.