1. I fight Mahdiyya, though it was sheer folly,
And the matter seemed to me increasingly obscure,

2. Until the partisans of God came to us alleging
Their zeal blazed against the oncomers.

3. So we milled a while confounded, and they milled,
And palms fell between us and skulls.

4. I purify the enclosure's walls, and I
At the enclosure's walls' gates am wise.