1. Alas! Is there no return for what is past?
No escape for man from his appointed fate?

2. Can one opposed by destiny find refuge,
A means of fleeing, a place to migrate?

3. My excuse for the vicissitudes of Time
Is that they beguile and play tricks on me,

4. They prod my dignity and provoke my pride,
And rouse the sleeper of anxiety.

5. Sometimes they leave me be, at other times
They burden me with every kind of care,

6. And when misfortunes crowd around my drink
They mix my beverage with despair.

7. How often illness wears a false disguise,
How often flashing lightning blinds my sight,

8. How often are these cruel, evil days
More baneful than the healer's bitter night.

9. If I expressed wonder at some event
I'd wonder most at what is now most near:

10. The news reached me, at our abandoned camp,
Of horror pouring on me like a flood.

11. The protector of kings lies slain out there
By the claws of a voracious jackal beast;

12. And gallant Usama, with his braided locks,
Lies murdered through the cunning of the wolf.

13. You broke your word - who breaks faith will not prosper.
With what hand did you guide deceit's sure blow?

14. How did you conquer when the path between you
Was separated by the stars' wide span?

15. How did you, made so helpless by yourselves,
Suspend yourselves from change's fickle bow?

16. Where is your oath, while war's unbridled steeds
Plunged headlong, charging, trampling helter-skelter?

17. Now your dominion, after him, is left
Without a hand to wield it or elbow.

18. Never did I fear that ancient serpents
Would strike throughout the ages with their venom.

19. But after you had driven them, emboldened,
In enmity against the curser's ark,

20. And set them loose among your lair and dwellings
Where nothing can allure them or give joy,

21. And every strong and mighty warrior
Took up the task of their defence and guarding,

22. You have rewarded him the enemy's reward,
And made of him a sacrificial offering!

23. Had he but doubted you, as I did,
He ne'er had doubted, nor been made to suffer.

24. Seize it! Its first taste will delight you,
Though in the end it will not be so sweet.

25. Do not delay the vengeance owed him!
He is a man who would not bear delay.

26. I see it now, like the mountains of Hijaz,
Or hanging curtains of the darkest rain;

27. Upon them every brave young warrior,
When fearsome terrors rise, knows no surrender,

28. Their swords slash through the necks of the accursed,
Like rods of flaming fire ready to ignite.

29. As we passed by his abandoned campsite
Where the companion once lived, now deserted,

30. The place still rang with voices of guests and comrades
But only crows cawed in response nearby;

31. We wept for heedlessness in days gone by,
A life now vanished, once so fresh and verdant,

32. And said: Since tears flow easily from the eye,
Why should the heart not weep with equal ease?

33. O dwelling! How you wear your cloak of misery!
The water of vitality is not yet dry!

34. How could you forget that glorious time
Of generosity and welcoming hospitality?

35. How are you now emptied of inhabitants
While crows caw undisturbed in your empty space?

36. Where are the dens of that courageous lion
And the lion cub's playground full of frolic?

37. Where are the posts where his young servants stood?
The troops crowding on horseback down the roads?

38. The paths his racers sped like lightning bolts,
At dawn swooping down from their watchful crags?

39. Did his sword ever rest from slashing blows?
Was his blade ever sheathed from crimson blood?

40. Did frightened horses speed in panic, crazed,
To any refuge or place of dread?

41. Were not long lances in the violent fray
Splintered in the shock by the spearhead's thrusts?

42. If his sword had known your current state
It would have blamed its arm for lack of strength.

43. And for a useless wrist it would have substituted
An arm made resolute by amputation!

44. A people gave you the poison draught to drink -
They have no antidote to make you recover!

45. If you asked them for a cure, their presence
Would defer the answer to absent tongues.

46. You were so generous you ignored the envious,
And thus were trapped by those who beg and plot.

47. If you walk alone in this age, my friend,
Your generosity will never disappear;

48. And if they wall you in with jointed armor
Your valiant efforts will not be confined.

49. Peace upon you, though you are denied peace
By a time of misery and disappointment!

50. Alas for your days that have departed,
Leaving the rainclouds without further rain!

51. You rose only to set like the life
Of youth when it nears the verge of old age.

52. After you no more is sweetness in sweetness -
How can life after you be sweet?

53. Forbidden it is that I gain a brother -
No brotherhood can equal yours, alas!

54. You'll not see me take to intimate friendship
Or seek asylum in a stranger's shelter.

55. I wanted none but you, and when you went
I found my foot betrayed, though not by choice.

56. With the clashing of swords let me delight -
Nothing else will ever rouse my spirit!

57. Pour the wine of the slain in cups -
Whether I drink it or refuse, it's equal!

58. Do not hesitate to take his vengeance,
He is a man who would forbid hesitation!

59. I see it now, like the mountains of Hijaz,
Or rents torn open in the barrier's veil,

60. Upon them every brave young warrior,
When awesome terrors rise, knows no surrender,

61. Their swords slash through the necks of the despised,
Like rods of flaming fire ready to ignite!