1. The fates forebode so much calamity,
And this day calls for vengeance.

2. Their ways to ease our misery are blocked,
So their events have saddened the young maidens.

3. How strange is destiny in its caprice,
Made sport of by the turner of the fates!

4. And we in death's arena have souls
That stand at the degree of irresistible decree

5. Each day some shock appalls us,
Leaving the eyes downcast in sorrow.

6. And death's a draught none shuns, so none
In drinking it finds cause for blame.

7. The ancients drank its flowing bowl,
And we'll drink of its brimming cups.

8. Their graves have filled the earth as though
They were camel litters laden with loads.

9. They cast down their staves in the abode of rest
After days short as the twinkling of an eye.

10. And as though they had reached their goal and stopped,
Reminiscing on the outcomes of their travels.

11. They did not vanish long ago, and yet we wonder -
Where is eternity? Here we are among their ruins!

12. The minds wandered after them as though we were
A people made drunk by cups of poisoned wine.

13. O you beguiled by wishes, though the fates
May have severed your lifeline!

14. And people race in their arena
While death is the end of that racetrack.

15. And life goes by like lifetimes, so what
Can save you from this fleeting fantasy?

16. While the gallant walks the earth in his cloak
He is made captive in the grip of tombs.

17. Had one escorted by death slipped past,
He'd have saved his darling from fate's torrent.

18. He sheltered his cubs in the lairs of the wasteland
And gave a fierce glance of a vicious lion.

19. And he protected the emir, Ja'far's son,
From the rush of every reckless deceiver.

20. He strode like the lions stride into fray
While the horses stumble into the terrible battlefield.

21. And he plunged into the thick of the spears with a troop
Whose mounts were Arabian thoroughbreds.

22. And he charged the battalions of soldiers with a regiment
Of intrepid warriors, at whom the hillsides roar.

23. The lovely damsels watching were like
Water poured on embers giving off smoke.

24. They were branches of the trailing train of a prestigious camel,
Whose edges were graced with fresh-blooming flora.

25. Highborn, powerful ladies of glorious stock
Who disclose nobility and generous birth.

26. The eyes of the noble ladies poured forth tears
As burning sorrows cleaved their hearts.

27. Patience, Commander of the Faithful! For you
Have given the visions of glory a place, a dignity.

28. This crescent - though you wished its growth -
Fate hurried off in secrecy.

29. If its lights have waned, beyond it still
Is a horizon adorned by you with moons.

30. The pillars were nearly toppled by his loss
Until you allowed them to be firm.

31. And whenever some accident befalls or bypasses you
Of what alerts the pride of the Almighty,

32. Recall your loss in Ahmad, your cousin,
And the cave at the mountainside, a sanctuary for your noble fathers.

33. They were circles of intimacy and pulpits
Where they gleamed with faces noble and free.

34. They were a people, when Quraysh mentioned their merit,
To whom the esteemed house bowed its curtains.

35. Through them the heaven was reached by reverence, and clothed itself
In glory, greeting honored Arabs and chivalry.

36. So surrender, O highest of all beholders, to the most high,
That necklaces of verse may be bestowed upon you.

37. For Time is a slave, commands obeyed,
The kingdom received, and your glory a citadel.