1. Upon you is the hope, though hope is long
And in your hands is the realization of what is aspired

2. You are the last in claims and hopes
And you are the first when the resolutes are counted

3. What would a soul that takes no pleasure
Except in a happy populace hope for, and what would it aspire to

4. Upright souls of lofty principles, free
Despite what they face, do not waver

5. And tongues that defend the truth with candor
Like the best advocacy for the truth can express

6. And pens of writers they want to disparage
Among the mob of hired slanderers is their livelihood

7. Can one who complains of being disarmed while right
Be equal to one stripped of authority while helpless?

8. And brilliant minds to whom is resorted
When disaster looms or a problem becomes complicated

9. A reserve of a wronged people who protect it
Even lacking a fortress or stronghold for themselves

10. Millions have raged, clenching their fists
Out of futility from an ulcer eating away

11. They plead with you to avenge a nation
That was mortally wounded in its heart

12. With you is a commission you know
And in your hands is a recorded scripture

13. The Euphrates people pledged in it and shook
The hand of eminent Baghdad with a binding covenant

14. Though disasters befell us
Condolences are inadequate at such times, and excuses vain

15. The year has passed, and the second with tribulation, and perhaps
A third will come with ruin and death drawing near

16. We hope overcast skies will clear
And the shadow over Euphrates' land will disperse

17. Surely the night must vanish and the day
Will dawn, splendid and clear

18. If people ask about us, we are
In a miserable state that cannot be endured

19. A land that tyranny rules as law, and a nation
Wronged while its constitution is suspended

20. I implore you not to be distracted
By the base who curry favor or the heedless

21. Would anyone consent to anger a whole nation
And gloat over it except one misguided and misleading?

22. Wretches whose greed cast them into an abyss
Where all that shames the jealous and disgraces is gathered

23. A hand that stomped down on the people at every stage
While another stretches to grasp the forbidden

24. So do not rebuke them for their fabrications, for they
Are bankrupt of lies and fraud through which they prospered

25. They wanted to find fault with you, so refute them
And foil them, for they found no credible case against you

26. It is forbidden for them to speak truthfully
And shameful for them to speak and act

27. When an experienced literate of yours arises
The foolish of opinion rise to oppose him, unarmed

28. I swear, if they said take one thousand
In exchange for one of you, they would not agree

29. You did not draw first, so wrest judgment from them
For they are prey made lawful for you

30. They saw evil—if only they could bear it!
But none remains that they can even bear

31. Vile deeds—if only they could stomach them!
But none remains that they can even stomach

32. Thinking God and the people unaware
Never! Neither He nor they are unaware

33. He will know the worth of those he demeans
And taste the consequences of evil, he who persists

34. Tell them: doom! For escape is blocked
As they flee from it just as the entrance was blocked

35. The people's chests boil, seething with rage
Upon you as water boils in a pot

36. Show me something new—let poetry expose its affair
For the disgrace of the despots is a foregone conclusion

37. Intentions have been revealed that cannot be denied
With no veil but garbled, nonsensical prattle

38. Rubbish words propped up by crudeness
Revealing conceit and vulgarity

39. When sound speech touches them they clash
As a sickle passes through stalks of grain

40. Children's games in a play put on
By a different actor each day

41. If invective and insults are a must
Meet the standard of Al-Farazdaq, daring

42. Before you stands a poet you know
By his poems your foes impersonate

43. Allusions in speech rebel against any but you
And pour like a torrent upon you and flow smoothly

44. An emotion and poetry of steady current feel
It an honor to take refuge in your shade

45. With you they wander defiantly, while
Elegant rhymes—not disjointed rattling—shine

46. A sublime poetry that adorns the land and is celebrated
While all others are abandoned and let down

47. It is joined by picks of steaming hot coals
Led by a fiery one whose words match his deeds

48. You see them with heads high in an assembly
Where the eminent Al-Hashimi is revered

49. When he walks with the crown of clear triumph
Adorning his head like a glorious crown

50. The clubs ring with a saying he utters
As a pick strikes a house being demolished

51. Some repeat it to others as an impersonation
When one gathering disperses, another gathers

52. Opinions excel only because
They are directed by a wise, distinguished mind

53. Be the talk prejudicial, saying "Al-Yasin has advanced"
Or be it said "Jaḥfa has progressed"

54. He has an idea more devastating than the sword's blow
And a stratagem more fatal than death's stroke

55. A reserve of grit like steel, and above it
From care and deep thought a shaking

56. You are better to accept the people
And they to condemn you are lower

57. "Al-Yasin" has progressed—the situation is awkward
If you do not ease it, and the affliction is complicated

58. If you met what you were treated to
Of rule with the lenience you can bear

59. And the dear sacrifices you offered
That resulted in this appointed affliction

60. You would shed tears of blood for consequences like these
And the sickness would rouse your fervor