1. جعلت الغواني من بالكاً

    ولم ينهك الشيب عن ذلكا

    You have made the fair women your concern,

    And gray hair has not deterred you from that,

  2. على حين كان الصبا شانئا

    وأقصر باطل أخدانكا

    At a time when youthful passion was hateful,

    And your companions' frivolity had ceased.

  3. بكيت العشيرة إِذ فارقوك

    لأَنَّك فيها وأوطانكا

    You wept for the clan when they parted from you,

    For you and your homelands are among them.

  4. أقول لعثمان لا تلحني

    أفق عُثمَ عن بعض تعذالكا

    I say to Uthman, "Do not reproach me;

    Come to your senses, Uthman; hold back some of your reproaches."

  5. غريبٌ تذكَّر إِخوانه

    فهاجوا له سقماً ناهكا

    A stranger remembered his brothers,

    So they stirred in him a wasting sickness.

  6. وكرَّهني أرضكم أنني

    رأيت بها مالكاً فاتكا

    And what made me hate your land was that I

    Saw Malik there, a ruthless killer.

  7. فلما خشيت أظافيره

    نجوت وأرهنهم مالكا

    So when I feared his claws,

    I escaped, leaving Malik as a hostage with them—

  8. عريفاً مقيماً بدار الهوانِ

    فأَهون عليَّ به هالكا

    A headman dwelling in the abode of humiliation.

    So how little his death matters to me!

  9. ويمَّمت أبيض ذا سورة

    علا ذروة المجد والحاركا

    And I made for a fair man possessed of might,

    Who scaled glory's summit and withers.

  10. أجوب إِليه أديم النهارِ

    وأدّرع الأسود الحالكا

    I cross the skin of day toward him,

    And armor myself in the pitch-black night,

  11. بأدماء قد ضمَّ منها السّفا

    ر وأفنى سناماً لها تامكا

    On a pale she-camel that travel has drawn lean

    And whose towering hump it has worn away.

  12. فلمّا أنحت إلى بابه

    رأيت خليفتنا ذاكا

    And when she made for his door,

    I saw that caliph of ours.

  13. فقلت أجرني أبا خالدٍ

    وإِلا فهبني امرأً هالكا

    So I said, "Grant me protection, Abu Khalid;

    And if not, count me a doomed man."

  14. فجال بنا ثم قلت اعطفي

    به يا صفيَّ ويا عاتكا

    So he turned us about; then I said, "Incline

    Him toward us, O Safiyya and O Atika."

  15. فأطَّت لنا رحمٌ برَّة

    ولم يخفر النسب الشابكا

    So a kindly bond of kinship groaned for us,

    And he did not betray the intertwining ties of kinship.

  16. فكم فرَّجت بك من كربةٍ

    ومن خلفةٍ عند أبوابكا

    How many a distress I have eased through you,

    And many a coming and going at your doors.

  17. وكان وراءك ضرغاماةٌ

    توائل منه بحو بائكا

    And behind you stood a lion,

    From whom you sought refuge for your life.

  18. فيا بن زيادٍ وكنت امرأً

    كما زعموا عابداً ناسكا

    So, son of Ziyad, you were a man,

    As they claimed, devout and ascetic.

  19. فإنَّ معي ذمَّةً من يزيد

    وإِنِّي أعوذ بإِسلامكا

    For I hold a pledge of protection from Yazid,

    And I seek refuge in your Islam,

  20. من أن أظلم اليوم أو أن تطيع

    بي الآثم الفاتكا

    From being wronged today, or your heeding

    The sinful killer where I am concerned.

  21. فلولا الثقال شفاعاتهم

    وعقد الخليفة لم آتكا

    But for their weighty intercessions

    And the caliph's pledge, I would not have come to you.

  22. فقد خُطَّ لي الرق فيه الأمان

    إليك مخافة أبنائكا

    For a parchment was written for me, bearing safe-conduct

    To you, for fear of your sons.

  23. فلا تحقرنه فقد خُطّ لي

    رقىً من مخافة حيَّاتكا

    So do not scorn it; for there were written for me

    Charms against the fear of your snakes.

  24. أحبَّ رضاكن وإن لم تُثبني

    به وتثبت سلطانكا

    I cherish your approval, even if you do not reward me

    For it, and you strengthen your authority.

  25. وأحضرت عذري عليه الشهود

    إِن عاذراً وإن تاركا

    And I presented my defense, with witnesses to it,

    Whether you excuse me or leave me aside.

  26. وقد شهد الناس عند الإمام

    أني عدوٌّ لاعدائكا

    And the people have testified before the imam

    That I am an enemy of your enemies.

  27. فقلت أجرني أبا خالدٍ

    وإلا فهبني امراً هالكا

    So I said, "Grant me protection, Abu Khalid;

    And if not, count me a doomed man."