1. Yazid, what has possessed you?
Are you mad or what has stricken you?

2. A king allured you after me,
Or a friend has misled you,

3. Or was it an oversight from you,
Or a love that weakened you?

4. Or a time coincided with its
Circumstances, so that was why.

5. Nay, but your ordeal, indeed
God has destined it for you.

6. Turn to me and say to me
What have your eyes seen.

7. Are you so deaf to break
Off ties with all who were close to you?

8. Nay, I reckon it is nothing
Except a woman has deceived you.

9. And if God, Lord of all people, intends
That I never get to see you again,

10. And the patience of the Lord against estrangement
and harshness strengthens you.

11. If only my palms held the reins
with tenderness as your palms once held.

12. And my cheeks told tales
like your cheeks once did.

13. And my glances were merciful, reminded
by their mercy of your glances.

14. And if you were unparalleled in beauty,
I would not have endured your harshness.

15. Do not let Yazid slip
after what you have already seen.

16. I had warned my heart
in solitude, and it wept,

17. So I said: "Do not be fooled
by his tears, O heart!"

18. "Cut him off, and be
his adversary."

19. "And if you are inclined towards any
of his love, forbid it!"

20. For the whip whose handle
your right hand grasped,

21. By God, by God, my Lord,
I say seeking your protection,

22. I will handle you forcefully
with my grace, although you dislike it,

23. Until we have disciplined you
on all sides, and then come to you,

24. One seizing your shoes,
another your toothstick,

25. Another the reins, another
the whip, and another the poles,

26. Until we have peeled your skin
like peeling off soft bark,

27. And then people will come
who will cut through even thickets,

28. Until you say to remorse: "It
overwhelmed me, I know not by what."

29. "O most merciful of people to me!
If only it had never possessed me!"

30. And you have ordered from the jinni
Hawaqal and Dhinak

31. To line you up in four ranks
and to bless you,

32. Until when you cannot endure
the impact of the hissing uproar,

33. You will plead for forgiveness, but if
you return to it, they will crucify you.