1. I look upon glory, see how it crumbles,
And the pillars of kingship, see how they split.

2. And wonder at the shooting stars, how they have become
Assailed by meteors and shooting rocks.

3. I would have chosen to fade into the earth
And my remains covered by sand dunes.

4. But today I see none of our great men
A lion with wolves who have seized power.

5. They thought authority would last forever,
So they divided up the lands and shared them out.

6. And kindled with threats a fire of turmoil,
Though fires are fueled by words.

7. They knew not what embers they lit,
Or what events they set in motion.

8. But claimed they would deter us with fear—
God's hand was above what they claimed!

9. Glory is not known in our homes,
As the sharp swords disown us.

10. Unless we drag them out, rusted,
Melting from the fire of grinding blades.

11. With every group under a lion,
And every band with an idol above.

12. Of young men who cheapened their souls,
As though weary of life itself.

13. If they roar amid frenzy, you'd reckon them
Lions assailed by spears.

14. Valiant men whose arrows you’d think
Meteors driving rebels away.

15. Their young are not shamed by youth,
Nor are their elders disgraced by old age.

16. If called to judge, they judge fairly,
If summoned to court, they suffer injustice.

17. Silent, their silence is proper,
Or speaking, their words are wise.

18. Why excuse ourselves while swords are sharpened
And our affairs in Iraq well-ordered?

19. Around us tribes of our kin
Gather like thickening clouds.

20. With what eyes do we look upon people
While prey takes hold of our lions?

21. Either death and our memory good,
Or life and our lands forbidden.

22.
My fame has not spread with rhyming verse

23. Gleaming beautifully like a banner.
Nor has my mind alighted upon gems

24. Whose shining light illuminates speech.
But a hand of mine used to wielding

25. Swords and pens has been disabled.
Unless I dye my garments crimson,

26. Soaked from the torrents dripping from them.
And take vengeance upon you, even if

27. You take refuge in forts and hideouts,
In a battle where minds are plundered

28. And the souls of armed men harvested.
If my kin wage it with their hands one day,

29. Then I have hands and mouth behind them.
O you of high office now laid low,

30. While ambition falls short of its goal!
You were to me a staff on which I leaned

31. In the melee, unbending and unbroken.

32. I feared not time as long as you were the judge,
Knowing you would be fair.

33. But after you, time has taken vengeance,
Becoming my adversary.

34. The days have not clothed me in a garment
Of glory but that you adorned it.

35. Glory was too proud for you to perish
Or for your nature and virtues to change.

36. The meadows weep, and long have they laughed because of you,
Their sadness reaching the mountain-tops.

37. Today their swords have become unsheathed
And their swordsmanship recklessly wild.

38. The clouds remind me of your generosity
When the clouds' tears begin to fall.

39. For you were a constant downpour to me,
Never forgotten by my heart when the rain poured.

40. My tears flowed unceasingly,
And the fire of grief blazed in my heart’s depths.