1. Who are you, O you who weeps and laments bitterly
On that hilltop, shedding tears and crying out?

2. How much you call out to her, and if she were to listen
To one pleading to her, she would say:

3. Turn away from your ignorance, O you fool!
Be an armband, earring, or pearl necklace,

4. Or Zuhair, Iyas, Hilal,
Or Abul Al-Nashnas and the great gathering

5. Of the kings of poetry, masters of eloquence -
You are all doing the deeds of a boy!

6. You mourn the pastures or the abode of poetry,
Or some fantasy that visited briefly by night and departed,

7. Or a steed or camel that took fright -
You place the pearl around the neck of the camel

8. And worthless soil above gold!
For two thousand years, nay double that,

9. Your habit has been repeating this same tune.
That is the state - we deem it sufficient to describe it -

10. The state of people who walked in darkness
And wasted their time in play,

11. Or something close to what history has related of you
In the art of poetry -

12. You have run the full course in its domains
And you boast great renown in its composition

13. Of panegyric or lying praise,
And you turn away from inquiry

14. Except for some proverb or rhyme scheme.
Yet the magnificent universe, with all it contains

15. Of hidden wondrous affairs -
You had no cause for this.

16. So cease your foolishness and vainglory
And pretentious claims the wise reprove!

17. Allow this humble one to follow
The sons of the throne, the lords of knowledge,

18. And listen to what he said in Aleppo:
Harmony reigns between earth and sky

19. Because of differing views on placing the spring -
When his mother attempted it prematurely

20. Before maturity, there arose great clamor in the air -
The father claimed the mother was

21. Touched by frailty with the passage of years
And lacking patience and wisdom

22. She intentionally sought to miscarry the fetus,
So he immediately condemned the guilty party.

23. But the newborn declared: "This claim is false!
I shone upon the pregnant lady with ice and cold

24. To delay the birth, otherwise if she persisted,
She would have perished before the babe -

25. Who kills, kills against scripture."
The mother said: "How long will you fabricate,

26. O you unjust one, while the truth is evident!"
And she began to recount the factual account

27. In a tongue articulating clear speech
Expressing the origin of this calamity:

28. "I was, from time immemorial,
A young girl wandering around my mother

29. Whose inner self, with intense burning
Was an ember, frozen for thousands of years,

30. A sphere floating amidst the comets.
So that frigid air would overwhelm me

31. With the judgments of passion imposing upon me -
At times it was aloof and wandered from me,

32. At times it was infatuated and inclined toward me,
At times it was also intensely angry.

33. From it I have a husband of abundant wickedness,
Ill-natured and extremely arrogant,

34. And from me, of pleasant character,
He sires, every year, charming children

35. For a wet-nurse who never weaned her charges.
The boy remains my delightful companion

36. And my beauty grows greater, year after year,
And my chastity fits well with his love -

37. If he had truly upheld faithfulness
Or comprehended the teachings of manners.

38. My heart utters only lamentation
Whenever a flash of lightning glimmers from afar,

39. And my eyes shed scalding tears
While others flow like ice,

40. For causes of sorrow or joy.
And I bear patiently from him of such deeds,

41. The matter of noble souls,
And if he differs in this symptom

42. From what the holiest law of passion decreed,
Referring to the worthy as judge.

43. Never have I divulged, even one day, my disavowal of his love
No! And I have never doubted his affection except in him,

44. While he continues to pride himself on his disdain -
Deeming that my life is in his hands!

45. How ill he reckoned, by the Lord of might!
Then she cried out: let the torrent reach its full surge!

46. And she began to tremble from her own earthquake
And appeared to be scattering upon that hillside

47. Hurling flames from her mountains.
So she flowed like the torrent of clouds

48. At this, her peers rose up
And the darkness told of her mysteries -

49. Seven flocks had been sighted, her peers,
Along with their moons and planets,

50. And a group of the tailed ones.
They circled around the mother but with dismay

51. They said: O mother what is this affliction?
Our sister the earth, upon her the sky wages war -

52. So advise him and warn him of punishment,
And help her attain comfort.

53. She of beautiful radiance rose
Upon the throne of light in the House of Aries,

54. Then she traced with the brilliant ray
To her who had wearied of prolonged pregnancy:

55. "Lay down the babe before the appointed time."
And know that recoiling in anger

56. Is a tendency from which virtue shrinks.
It is, to all, a flaw and grave mistake -

57. There is no disgrace in obeying one's husband,
Rather it is an adornment of refined ladies.

58. Then she said: "O ignorant air!
You also go too far in estrangement -

59. The strong species is compliant, docile
To women, as they are weaker by nature -

60. That is aside from rights of lineage."
"Arise and embrace your grieving bride!

61. For long separation has destroyed her.
Make amends for her raging fever

62. From which she has tasted all kinds of afflictions."
And gladden her with relief from anxiety!

63. So he gifted her with the breezes of morn
And came to her regretful of what had passed

64. And humbly weeping, seeking her pardon and favor
With the outpouring of his tears.

65. At this, the newborn emerged
In garments embroidered with the finest silk,

66. Revealing a mystery none had witnessed -
Dyed as if in the radiance of the astounding sun.

67. And he began to smile with a light
Like a precious pearl set in gold.

68. Since seeing him, the living nightingale sang
Songs the singers never reached.

69. So the gloom receded, anxiety relieved,
And delight spread amongst all creatures.

70. The sun invoked enduring life
In eloquent words and varied praises

71. Beyond description except by the eminent
Composing poetry in the Arabic language.