1. I looked upon the wilderness with peace
And the month of fasting rose in Yemen

2. It descended upon the children of Islam as a
Noble guest, with care and respect

3. A feast with bounties and gifts
That return to them every year

4. Did He not reveal to them in you formerly
The words of Allah, blessed speech?

5. You breathed into the Muslims like rose petals
From the Qur'an, parting veils

6. You shook their hearts like shaking groves
And brought them guidance like clouds’ trails

7. So they fast - the old and the young - whenever
You decree through the eye’s sight

8. You carried for humanity, as it was drowning,
A branch of olives like the carrier pigeons’ flight

9. And facilitated accord for the lands
Why then did they persist in their fight?

10. You probed the sickness of their selves with healing
But alas, your treatment did not cure their plight

11. You opened for them the gate of God
But they barred it, persisting in their blight

12. So woe to you who call to good, but refuses
To answer your call other than the generous elite

13. They spent your day with investigation
Fasting, and your night upright in their devout rite

14. They fasted from doubt, not only their food
Or drink, as one may surmise

15. They refrained from transgression’s proximity
And desisted from committing vice

16. They intended their fast for God, so they prospered
And their seclusion was fragrant as incense light

17. They are the ones whose fast is rewarded
Lifted by the angels in rapt delight

18. They saw the favors that lead to calamity
So chose the favors that have lasting might

19. They fasted God’s month in piety to Him
So He rewarded them with the home of peace

20. He prepared for them therein abundant drink
To admit them without mankind’s blight

21. So say to my oblivious brother today: rejoice
For tomorrow you will praise the passing night

22. You will drink it scintillating and pure
A lasting pleasure without equal or peer

23. No sorrow will hurt its drinkers
Nor will disgrace cling to those who draw near

24. It will come to you time and again
With reverence and modesty, never fear

25. From each pitcher radiates its brilliance
From each cup wafts its fragrance far and near

26. Before you are the bounties of Paradise
Tents that are made for you in splendor and cheer

27. So say what you wish of goodness, comfort
And delight, give glad tidings and good cheer

28. Speak of the great reward that remains
For those of ambition, valor and persevering tear

29. The stations of men there are diverse
So choose nothing less than the highest sphere

30. If the ambitious dreamed the impossible
Nothing would be too hard for ambitious endear

31. So raise your gaze above, you’ll find a palace
Like a star sparkling in the clouds appearing near

32. It reigns over the fates, not the hills
It glows with light, not stones and veneer

33. So decide and yearn for it with passion
Hopefully to it you will draw and adhere

34. And anticipate the Night of Power - seize
Its opportunity that you hold so dear

35. For God has many gifts in it
Magnificent bounties and favors sincere

36. The voluntary deeds are selected
Sacred, blessed are their winds that blow and veer

37. Its one night is better than a thousand months
You are safe throughout until the break of dawn draws near

38. God aims for a source therein
Hopefully to it you will flow without fear

39. And say to the soul: shame on you, do not slacken
Say to the eye: shame on you, do not sleep nor tire

40. Farewell, for Ramadan calls
Above obligations, it rises most premiere

41. It says to the transgressor: desist
And to the righteous: come forth and persevere

42. So glad tidings to those who answer its call
For a downpour of mercy will flood without peer

43. But woe to those who bar it - an outcast fate
Awaits you, and shame and pain most severe

44. I see you followed misguidance in life
Terrible discord, evil and drear

45. How many secretly break their fast
Without faith, violated pledges they tear

46. They hide their faces in the home’s corner
Devouring food with gluttony most clear

47. Do they not know that Allah knows
The creeping of ants in darkness’ sphere?

48. He decreed as He willed regarding creation
No injustice occurred in judgment severe

49. He perfected everything made by Him
And proportioned all things - nothing left unclear

50. Man was not created complete
Only to be left aimless without rein or steer

51. So observe the fast of the generous - it accrues
A bountiful reward - unlike the fast of those who leer

52. When Ramadan comes they fall
Upon their desires, passion’s slaves most dear

53. Their fasting was cause for unity
But opposing it brought division and spear

54. One group fasted a day before another
They remained in conflict and hostility most drear

55. They saw the days of their fast as long
So they wasted them in play or sleep’s caressing snare

56. The substance of their fast was thirst and hunger
They have nothing else that makes their fast sincere

57. How many well-fed amongst them
Moan beside the starving whose form ghosts appear

58. Alas, the poor man's cries are lost to hunger
No protector amongst the throngs does he find near

59. He circles the garbage, hoping for
Bread crumbs or pieces of bone that he holds so dear

60. If not for hunger, he would not dig through trash
Nor yearn for what filth and refuse appear

61. He may roam the alleys begging
Deprived of scraps by the masters of such sphere

62. He may come to doors where they cower in fear
Like ostriches, from him the children steer

63. Given broth without bread
Or bread without broth - no mercy draws near

64. Afflictions like arrows were shot and silenced
Lands like targets for arrows that veered

65. And misery that leaves the guts
Shriveling in turmoil and fear

66. Come to charity, my people, come
Through charity, your highest goals draw near

67. Come aid the fallen and wounded
Perhaps his wounds will begin to heal and clear

68. Meet through charity one near dead
As if his place is the grave that appeared

69. Help the poor - a lion, not a lamb
Shield yourselves from all calamities severe

70. My brother in Islam, I make you my brother in faith
Your fast therein is a pillar and tier

71. Ramadan has come, the most venerated month
Stand in it firmly pulling the reins to steer

72. Vice spreads within it, so fasting's acceptance
Hopes fade except with utmost care and fear

73. When one of evil intends you evil
To ignite enmity and feud most drear

74. Do not oppress the poor with rebuke
Nor oppress the lowly with accusations severe

75. I’ve seen the pain of people's contempt
Worse upon them than death - the fate most blear

76. So be gentle to all people, kind
Meek - do not be harsh and austere

77. Meet every insult and slander
From tongues like unsheathed swords that shear

78. Grudges will be dispelled after a time
Hearts will yearn for accord and draw near

79. How can a gathering tending enmity
Inclined to malice, hope for love sincere?

80. Be patient a moment, endure a little
For all tribulations approach their end, 'tis clear

81. The world is but a cradle of trials
For our souls, a field for endeavor most dear

82. We believers are its archers
To noble goals, exalted tier

83. Our duty is seeking righteousness in it
Our aim is a good end - this vision we spear