ألا أيُّها المَهدِي هل أنتَ مُخبِري

ألا أيُّها المَهدِي هل أنتَ مُخبِري

وإن أنتَ لم تَفعَل فَهَل أنتَ سَائِلي

وإن أنتَ لم تَفعَل فَهَل أنتَ سَائِلي

Now, O al-Mahdi, will you tell me?

Hark, O al-Mahdi, will you tell me?

And if you will not do so, then will you ask me?

And if you do not, will you ask me?

ألَم تَرحَمِ اللِّحيَينِ مِن لِحيَتَيهِمَا

ألَم تَرحَمِ اللِّحيَينِ مِن لِحيَتَيهِمَا

وكِلتَاهُما في طُولِها غَيرُ طائِلِ

وكِلتَاهُما في طُولِها غَيرُ طائِلِ

Will you not spare those two jaws from their two beards,

Have you not pitied the two jaws on account of their two beards?

though both, for all their length, amount to nothing?

And both, for all their length, are of no use.

وإن أنتَ لم تَفعَل فَهَل أنتَ مُكرِمي

وإن أنتَ لم تَفعَل فَهَل أنتَ مُكرِمي

بِحَلقِهِمَا من مُحرِزٍ ومُقَاتِلِ

بِحَلقِهِمَا من مُحرِزٍ ومُقَاتِلِ

And if you will not do so, then will you honor me

And if you do not, will you honor me

by shaving the pair—Muhriz and Muqatil?

By shaving them off Muhriz and Muqatil?

فإن يأذَنِ المَهدِي لي فيهما أقُل

فإن يأذَنِ المَهدِي لي فيهما أقُل

مَقَالاً كَوَقعِ السَّيفِ بَينَ المَفَاصِلِ

مَقَالاً كَوَقعِ السَّيفِ بَينَ المَفَاصِلِ

If al-Mahdi permits me to speak of them, I shall utter

Then, if al-Mahdi lets me speak of them, I shall utter

words like the stroke of a sword between the joints.

Words like a sword's blow between the joints.

وإلَّا تَدَعنِي والهُمُومُ تَنُوبُنِي

وإلَّا تَدَعنِي والهُمُومُ تَنُوبُنِي

وقَلبي مِنَ العلجَينِ جَمُّ البَلابِلِ

وقَلبي مِنَ العلجَينِ جَمُّ البَلابِلِ

Otherwise, you leave me while cares keep assailing me,

And if not, you leave me while cares beset me,

and my heart, because of those two foreign brutes, teems with turmoil.

And my heart, because of the two boors, is full of turmoil.