أَلا أَبلِغ مُعاوِيَةَ بِن حَربٍ

أَلا أَبلِغ مُعاوِيَةَ بِن حَربٍ

فَلا قَرَّت عيونُ الشامِتينا

فَلا قَرَّت عيونُ الشامِتينا

Hark—carry word to Muʿāwiya, son of Harb:

Listen: tell Muʿāwiya son of Ḥarb—

May the eyes of those who gloat never know delight.

so may the eyes of those who gloat never find delight!

قَتَلتُم خَيرَ مَن رَكِبَ المَطايا

قَتَلتُم خَيرَ مَن رَكِبَ المَطايا

وَخَيَّسَها وَمَن رَكِب السَفينا

وَخَيَّسَها وَمَن رَكِب السَفينا

You have slain the best of all who rode mounts,

You have killed the best of those who rode mounts

who tethered them, and all who sailed aboard ships;

and tamed them, and of those who sailed in ships,

وَمَن لَبِس النِّعالَ وَمَن حَذاها

وَمَن لَبِس النِّعالَ وَمَن حَذاها

وَمَن قَرأَ المَثانيَ والمئينا

وَمَن قَرأَ المَثانيَ والمئينا

the best of all who wore sandals and all who fashioned them,

and of those who wore sandals, and of those who fashioned them,

and all who recited the Oft-Repeated Surahs and the Hundreds.

and of those who recited the oft-repeated verses and the hundred-verse chapters.

إِذا اِستَقبَلتَ وَجهَ أَبي حُسَينٍ

إِذا اِستَقبَلتَ وَجهَ أَبي حُسَينٍ

رَأَيتَ البَدرَ راقَ الناظِرينا

رَأَيتَ البَدرَ راقَ الناظِرينا

Whenever you looked upon the face of Abū Ḥusayn,

When you look upon the face of Abū Ḥusayn,

you saw the full moon, delighting all who gazed.

you see the full moon, delighting those who behold it.

لَقَد عَلِمَت قُرَيشٌ حَيثُ كانَت

لَقَد عَلِمَت قُرَيشٌ حَيثُ كانَت

بِأَنَّكَ خَيرُهُم حَسَباً ودينا

بِأَنَّكَ خَيرُهُم حَسَباً ودينا

Quraysh has surely known, wherever it may be,

Quraysh surely knew, wherever it was,

that you are their finest in lineage and faith.

that you were their best in ancestral honor and faith.