وكلني بالهم والكآبة

طَعّانَةٌ لعانةٌ سَبَّابَهْ

He has consigned me to worry and gloom—

an inveterate slanderer, curser, and reviler

للسلفِ الصالح والصحابَهْ

أساءَ سمعاً فأساء جابه

of the righteous forebears and the Companions.

He listened badly, and so answered badly.

تأمَّلُوا يا كبراء الشيعة

لعشرةِ الإسلامِ والشريعه

Consider, O leaders of the Shi‘a,

for the sake of fellowship in Islam and the sacred Law:

أتستحلُّ هذه الوقيعة

في تبع الكفرِ وأهل البيعه

do you deem this slander lawful

against the followers of unbelief and the people of the church?

فكيفَ من صدقَ بالرسالهْ

وقام للدِّين بكُلِّ آلهْ

Then what of one who believed in the Message,

and upheld the faith with every means?

واحرز اللّه يد العقبى له

ذَلِكُمُ الصديقُ لا مَحَالَهْ

And God secured for him the favor of the hereafter.

That is al-Siddiq, without a doubt.

إمامً من أُجمع في السقيفه

قطعاً عليهِ أنهُ الخليفهْ

An imam upon whom consensus was reached in the Saqifah:

he was, without question, the caliph.

ناهيكَ من آثاره الشريفه

في رَدِّهِ كيد بني حنيفه

His noble deeds are enough for you,

in his thwarting of Banu Hanifa's scheme.

سَلِ الجبالَ الشُّمَّ والبحارا

وسائلِ المنبر وَالْمَنَارَا

Ask the lofty mountains and the seas,

and ask the pulpit and the minaret.

واستعلمِ الآفاقَ والأقطارا م

ن أظهر الدين بها شِعارا

And inquire of the horizons and the lands:

who made the faith manifest there as a banner?

ثم سَلِ الفرسَ وبيت النار

من الذي فَلَّ شبا الكفار

Then ask the Persians and the house of fire:

who blunted the unbelievers' sharp edges?

هل هذه البيضُ من الآثارِ

إلا لثاني المصطفى في الغارِ

Do these shining deeds belong

to anyone but the Chosen One's companion in the cave?

وسائِلِ الإسلام من قوَّاهُ

وقال إذْ لم تَقُلِ الأفواهُ

And ask Islam who strengthened it,

and spoke when mouths did not speak,

واستنجز الوعدَ فأوْمى اللّهُ

من قامَ لما قعدوا إلا هو

and sought fulfillment of the promise, whereupon God gave a sign.

Who stood when they sat, if not he?

ثاني النبي في سِني الولادهْ

ثانيهِ في القبر بلا وسادهْ

Second to the Prophet in age,

second beside him in the grave, without a pillow.

أتأمُلُ الجنة يا شتامهْ

ليست بمأواك ولا كرامَهْ

Do you hope for Paradise, O reviler?

It is not your abode, nor will you be honored.

إنَّ امرأً أثنى عليه المصطفى

ثُمَّت والاَه الوصيُّ المرتضى

Indeed, a man whom the Chosen One praised,

then whom the Legatee, al-Murtada, befriended,

واجتمعت على معاليه الوَرَى

واختارهُ خليفةً رَبُّ العُلاَ

whose lofty merits all humankind agreed upon,

and whom the Lord of the heights chose as caliph,

واتبعتهُ أُمَّةُ الأُمِّيِّ

وبايعتهُ راحةُ الوَصِيِّ

whom the Unlettered One's community followed,

and to whom the Legatee's palm pledged allegiance,

وباسمٍهٍ استسقى حَيَا الوسمي

ما ضرَّهُ هجو الخوارزميِّ

and in whose name the early rains were sought—

has suffered no harm from al-Khwarizmi's lampoon.

سبحان من لم يُلقمِ الصخرَ فمه

ولم يُعدهُ حجراً ما أَحْلَمَهْ

Glory to Him who did not stuff his mouth with rock,

nor turn him into stone—how forbearing He is!

يا نذل يا مأبُونُ أفطِرت فمه

لشد ما اشتاقت إليك الحطمه

O vile wretch, O passive sodomite, you have broken your fast—so desist!

How fiercely the Crushing Fire has yearned for you!

إن أميرَ المؤمنين المرتضى

وجعفر الصادِقَ أو مُوسَى الرِّضَى

Indeed, the Commander of the Faithful, al-Murtada,

and Ja‘far al-Sadiq, or Musa al-Rida,

لو سمعوك بالخنا مُعَرّضَا

ما ادَّخَروا عنك الحسامَ المنتضَى

had they heard you making insinuations in foul speech,

would not have spared you the unsheathed sword.

ويلك لم تنج يا كلب القمر

ما لك يا مأبونُ تغتاب عُمَرْ

Woe to you! You did not escape, O moon-baying dog!

What ails you, you passive sodomite, that you backbite Umar,

سيد من صامَ وحج واعتمر

صَرِّحْ بإلحادِكِ لا تمشي الخمرْ

chief of those who fasted, made Hajj, and performed umrah?

Declare your heresy openly; do not walk under cover of thickets.

يا مَنْ هجا الصِّدِّيق والفاروقَا

كيما يقيمَ عند قومٍ سُوقا

O you who lampooned al-Siddiq and al-Faruq,

so as to set up a market among a certain people,

نفخت يا طبلُ عليْنا بوقا

فما لك اليومَ كذا موهوقاً

you blew a trumpet at us, O drum!

Why, then, are you so caught in a noose today?

إنك في الطعنِ على الشيخين

والقدح في السَّيِّد ذي النورين

Indeed, in your assaults on the two elders

and your disparagement of the master of the two lights,

لواهِنُ الظهر سخين العين

معترضٌ للحين بعد الحين

you are weak-backed, your eyes burning with grief,

courting doom after doom.

هلا شغلت باستك المغلومه

وهامةٍ تحمِلُهَا ميشومه

Why not busy yourself with your lust-ridden arse,

and the ill-omened head you carry?

هلا نهتك الوجنة الموشومه

عن مشتري الخلد ببئر رومه

Why did your tattooed cheek not restrain you

from him who bought eternal life with the well of Rumah?

كفى من الغيبة أدنى شمه

من استجاز القدح في الأئمّهْ

The slightest whiff of backbiting is enough.

Whoever deemed it lawful to disparage the imams,

ولم يعظم أمناءَ الأُمَّهْ

فلا تلوموه ولومُوا أمَّهْ

and did not revere the community's trustees—

do not blame him; blame his mother.

ما لكَ يا نذل وللزكيَّهْ

عائشة الراضية المرضيهْ

What have you, you vile wretch, to do with the pure woman—

Aisha, well-pleased and well-pleasing?

يا ساقِطَ الغيرة والحمية

ألم تكن للمصطفى حظيَّهْ

O you bereft of jealousy and protective zeal,

was she not favored by the Chosen One?

من مبلغٌ عنِّي الخوارزميَّا

يخبره أنَّ ابنهُ عَليَّا

Who will inform al-Khwarizmi on my behalf,

telling him that, as for his son Ali,

قد اشترينا مِنهُ لحمانيَّا

بشرطِ أَنْ يفهمنا المعنيَّا

we have bought raw meat from him,

on condition that he explain the intended meaning to us?

يا أَسَدَ الخلوة خنزير الملا

مَا لَكَ في الجري تقود الجملا

O lion in private, pig in public,

why do you lead a camel in the race?

يا ذَا الذي يثلبني إذا خلا

وفي الْخلا أطعِمُهُ ما في الخلا

O you who malign me when alone,

and in private I feed him what the privy holds.

وقُلتُ لَمَّا احتفل المِضمارُ

واحتفتْ الأسماعُ والأبصَارُ

And I said, when the racecourse filled

and ears and eyes crowded round:

سوفَ ترى إذَا انْجَلى الغبارُ

أفرسٌ تحتي أم حِمَارٌ

you will see, when the dust clears,

whether beneath me is a horse or a donkey.