1. A flash gleamed through the clouds,
Or did the veil lift from before me?

2. If it was lightning, it had a brilliance
Like the face of a leader lowering her veil.

3. If it was her face, she lent
Her glance for an instant the full moon's splendor.

4. May your lips' dewdrops ransom me after peace
From the drafts of wine that madden.

5. Umaama, had you known what passion grips me
Since we parted, pain of love,

6. You'd not have avoided me and turned
From me while my tears flow unchecked.

7. I love you, Umaama, but I
Have been consumed with love for another this past year.

8. Yearning for Aasiya has brought me sickness
And sorrow that worsens the sickness.

9. Thus my tears in concert with my love for her
And my heart afire with love for her.

10. And I was told she has a husband
Eloquent, beyond reproach in speech.

11. So I told them, "I leave her love to him,"
Fearing blame for what I was attempting.

12. But he told them, "He hung back from meeting me
And used to fear me before I reached manhood."

13. And he shot arrows at me
Without cause or greeting.

14. So I brought out the arrows, knowing full well
What he sought with those arrows.

15. But when I thought to shoot back at him
With the fire of poetry blazing hot,

16. I remembered we were kin, so I inclined
To avoid confrontation and exchange of arrows.

17. Then he assailed me with invective too
Seeking thereby to wake the sleeping.

18. "Awake from your slumber, answer my invective in verse
That forewarns in seasons of verse and gatherings.

19. It will spread in your haunts though it violate
Proprieties, on racing she-camels swift as arrows.

20. If you are fit for poetry, compose from it
Uniform pearls with well-ordered composition.

21. But if you pretend to it while unfit,
You'll be among the dead from the horsemen's arrows."

22. Answer me! I will make you drink your own invective,
And vitriol does not heal vitriol!"

23. Beware saying I am no match,
For I match any noble hero.

24. In my lineage, repute and soul
I have a station that falls short of no other station.

25. My bones are strong, I am peer
To my peers when boasting of bone.

26. If our talents are put to the test, there will appear
To our assembly the reality from the swords.

27. You seemed to me lacking in freedom
Because you neglected the traits of nobility.

28. You wearied yourself petitioning
Affairs that have nothing to do with you.

29. You try to be without being an elder,
As if waking while asleep.

30. An elder who knows no religious duty,
Who has not learned any station of the stations.

31. Nor attained a graceful body
To be counted among the tall and sturdy.

32. We thought your concern was for sublime things,
But you had no interest in sublime things.

33. Your halter has from of old
Taken control of you, so you follow the halter,

34. Leading you insistently to food, called
The free-rein scarfer at mealtimes.

35. You bite the bit when a meal appears,
So it's hard to hold you back with the bit.

36. It debased you in the company of chaste women
And taught you from every drinking trough.

37. It crippled you away from meadows of glory,
So you were filled by every lowly blot.

38. Do you have any mighty exploits to pick out?
For their places have become abodes of destruction.

39. Perhaps you tripped and my words have tended
To pull you to your purpose.

40. Muhammad al-Hasan summoned you at first,
But the beginning is not like the conclusion.

41. When you were tested and you were high,
Drinking from a diminished cup of wine,

42. Wrapped in the monk's gown
Adorned with unlawful embellishments,

43. They sized up your turban and found none they despised more,
After investigating the pedigrees.

44. Some said the epitome of every fault,
Others called you the bane of mankind.

45. You were infatuated with every deficient boy,
And deficiency may show in a boy.

46. So when you came of age with a debased echo,
Very spiteful, you counted among the vile,

47. You spent your life on trivial affairs
Without succeeding in lofty ones.

48. How many trusts did you betray
Till they called you to wrangling and strife!

49. How many cheeks did you kiss unlawfully
Trusting your flock to vanish!

50. How many things did you take by stealth
Till they were scattered between the safe and the unsafe!

51. After this do you covet glories?
You are no chivalrous protector of honor!

52. If you seek glories you'll not obtain them.
The likes of you is too unsteady for glories.

53. You scarcely have the strength to shoot at them, yet,
Shoot them however much, your shooting goes astray.

54. So take this pearl from a diver; it will substitute
For a lamp in the gloom of night,

55. And kindle in desolate places burning coals,
Girdled like bracelets of a dove.