1. Be calm, O son of Harb, you are not like this, energetic,
It is enough for you to retreat hotly or collapse feebly.

2. It is the burning raid, so if you wish then set forth,
And if you wish then stay and make yourself a cold bed.

3. The sword gleamed in Badr before your eyes as it never gleamed,
And victory, arrayed, showed you what it never showed.

4. I swore if you did not come to Tabuk as a raider,
You would shun perfume and fine silks evermore.

5. Would you raid the Messenger of God after his might
Repelled polytheism like a dam none has seen before?

6. Thus has God promised, and had you been a believer,
You would be certain God's promise is never breached.

7. Your birds flew ill-omened at Badr, and you will never see
Those you worship besides Him grant any bliss.

8. Fervent love from Muhammad has driven you mad
And you are not Abu Sufyan if you do not increase your fervor.

9. Restrain yourself, God has guided you! You will never see
Him panic in the fray if you stir him to a fray.

10. I see you fooled the people when you left angrily
Feigning to them a rendezvous you never truly meant.

11. You went leading the troops - what a leader you are!
And what kind of stalwarts were driven to Yathrib as troops!

12. You try for victory from Uhayha ibn Akhtab
Alas far-fetched! You have extended the distance farther.

13. You turned back from the door you came knocking upon,
Woe to you, an arrow unable to be returned!

14. And you gained no good when you came to Ibn Mushkam
While you were a man blind in passion, unable to see reason.

15. You sent men upon the palm trees and left
No honor for yourself you seek, and no glory.

16. With them you kindled a fire whose flames
Make the misguided weep and the vile laugh.

17. Horsemen set out stealthily with their swords
But found no swords, met no sheaths.

18. They assail them on all sides as though assailing
A hostile band blinded utterly.

19. They fled quickly after Mubbad's killing,
And his companion, the horses chasing them bareback.

20. Upon them the stalwarts, fierce as lions, youths
Rushing to meet death, seeking immortality.

21. The Chosen Prophet called them, as though he called
A violent gale counting might as naught.

22. He set out and they followed the horsemen, rushing
In alarm to their shaykh, fearing the lion.

23. When he saw the seriousness, he panicked, finding
No way on earth to plunge into its depths.

24. He cried out to the evil troops, "Cast down your supplies
And flee swiftly, let not your matter be outright!"

25. And they fled like shooting stars to as-Suwayq, behind them
A rubble of allies bringing their masters

26. Provisions against their will, though had they kept
Their oaths they would have been provisions for their swords.

27. To you, O son of Harb - war has an ember
Which, when stirred, given help, flares up evermore.

28. It is either victory or death befalling
Every bold assailant, no escape or letup.

29. You fled fearing loss in the fray of battle
At the hands of stalwarts who relish such loss.

30. Is it true that you will not worship God alone
And prostrate to the idols, being slave to them?

31. Two diverse paths - you must know,
If you grow wise, which of them is more rightly guided.

32. You returned enraged, obtained no perdition
Of your kin, and did not slake your rancor or vengeance.

33. Quraysh bar you because of your lies to them
And their disavowal of you - O how futile your anxiety!

34. Say: "There is no tranquility for the worlds
On earth unless they worship the One, the Unique."