1. Who would be generous with tears for me
And a heart in confusion

2. O my friend, reproach me not
And have mercy on me for my misfortune

3. And whenever you mention the invitation
Of courtesans and adulterous prostitutes

4. Pluck out my beard and loosen my locks
And with the shoes of abasement receive me

5. What led me to this state
And what deceived me and what ruined me

6. Of my excuse from an invitation that weakened my dignity
And shook my pillars with its horror

7. I was enjoying life
Distracted from it, but who is unfooled by youth

8. My belly called me, and misfortune befell my soul
A trial I had not expected

9. My life was pure, but the sons of Abi Sufyan troubled it
They pitied me not for my misery and long unemployment

10. The bugle sounded in Damascus, and they called
For my misery in all the towns

11. To arms, to arms with horses and men
For the poverty of this young man from Wāsiṭ

12. They gathered armies of the people of Jīlān
And Farghānah to Daylamān

13. And of the Romans, Saqālibah, Turks
And the people of Bulghār and Alan

14. And of India, the Berbers, and Barbara
And the Khilj and the Bilyaqān

15. None remained of those I enumerated
From the horizons, neither Muslim nor Christian

16. And the nomads from Ḥijāz to Najd
Fill its plains, along with the Qaḥṭānī

17. Every kind came, some tall, some short
The lame, the blind, and the disabled

18. And old men like chicks
In the land of Ruhāb and Maṣrān

19. For thirty days they readied
Sharp weapons and fierce souls

20. From Marand, and Tikīn, and Ṭarḫān
And Kisrá, and Khard, and Ṭuʿān

21. And Khimār, and Zīrak, and ʿAjīb
And Badīʿ, and Fāris, and Jawān

22. And Jarīḥ, and Nār Qusṭā, and Yūnān
And Barḥafthiyā, and Yuḥannān

23. And Ṭarād, and Jahīl, and Ziyād
And Shahāb, and ʿĀmir, and Sinān

24. They gathered without any sense
That would deter them from me or religions

25. Have you heard, O people who gathered horses
And marched on foot and on horse

26. They traveled from their homes on Thursday night
On a Thursday filled with fear and panic

27. Looking miserable like a flood whose two banks cannot contain its overflow
They stared at me with burning eyes, malicious to an enemy, adulterous

28. They looked down on my crops and siege engines
And a house filled with goodness

29. Fresh cheese of Qāris and plenty of bread
And cooking pots on the stoves

30. And grilled meat, and stuffed chickens
And excellent camel meat

31. And a drink more delicious than the prohibited
After difficulties and estrangement

32. It would shame roses in fragrance and taste
And resemble the anemones of Nuʿmān

33. Their armies reminded me of when they came to me
The enemy armies in Raghba

34. With a twisted mouth and wide lips
And a palm that circles like a sword

35. And his brother al-Faḍl, who the world knew
For his abundant eating that diminished me

36. And al-Shumūlī, his figure like a camel’s
Wide-shouldered, stupid, and impudent

37. He swallows delicacies without chewing
And drinks wine like a snake

38. I will not be content until I see him diminished
Two handspans from his excessive height

39. And bring me a lute, make it moan
Imitating the braying of slaves and peasants

40. And a singer whose singing releases the gut
And induces vomit and nausea

41. I meant these groups in scarlet
For my humiliation, abasement, and trial

42. I said, what is your business? They said, help us
We have not tasted food for eight days

43. And they descended upon me, sullen of face
A poisonous, vicious, tyrannical day

44. They entered my room and I released the chickens
Among the dates and cabbage

45. It was barely a square hour before
I saw the crops like trenches

46. They impoverished me and left me
Without a house, estate, or orchard

47. They confused me and made me dizzy
Until I became senseless like a drunk

48. I hear sounds like echoes in my deafness
Though they are words without meaning

49. They left me, O people, poorer than a rat
And barer of back than snakes

50. They ate two thousand of my chickens
Whose absence brings yearning to the eyelids

51. They ate double that unlawfully
Inclining to the wheat dough

52. They ate thirty fried chickens for me
With vinegar and saffron

53. They ate double that grilled and double stewed
Of every kind of color

54. They ate for me a spiced chicken that muddled my mind
With the heads of chickens and hyssop

55. They ate a platter for me that doubled my woe
With the broth of chickens and basil

56. They ate a casserole that pained my heart
And stirred its sorrows over losing it

57. They ate seventy whales from the river
Fresh, of the largest whales

58. They ate for me the equivalent of salted fish
Soaked in vinegar and tamarind

59. A thousand portions of Qurayshā’, barnī
Maʿqalī, and ṣarfān

60. Of cucumbers and melons - it would exhaust villages of Ḥawrān to gather it
They chose for me of sifrijal, and tiffāḥ

61. And rāziqī, and pomegranate
And fruits, pawning my coat with Aḥmad al-Fawwāḥānī

62. They thrashed for me bunches of bignonias and narcissus
The likes of which are not found in gardens

63. They slaughtered for me, despite me, O people
Eighty sheep of Maʿīn and Ḍān

64. They were not satisfied with the village sheep
Until they betrayed the bulls

65. They slaughtered them while tears streamed down my cheek
Flowing like the streams of Jumān

66. They ate all that my right hand possessed
And my left, and my neighbors’

67. Then they said, bring us something! So I called my servant, arise! Alas! Hide my horse!
Your bellies left nothing for the guest, O sons of abjection, besides these mats from Yemen

68. So they heaped insults and curses on me
And made my honor permissible to every tongue

69. Whoever was eloquent reviled me
And whoever was silent rebuked me

70. As if I were the one who corrupted virtue
And altered the form of beasts

71. Then the supporters came from the chieftains
And al-Shākirī and al-ʿAbdān

72. And I saw lashing and slapping and shoving
And smashed noses and ears

73. They were excessive in beating and the dust rose
From the plebs, with clubs and staffs

74. Then when they had their fill of cruelty
They collapsed unconscious on the chins

75. They napped an hour like the terrified nap
Of the fearful in a land not their own

76. Then they rose at night when the stars inclined
And the Pleiades and Orion set

77. Shouting, daybreak, O lord of the house!
They made me weep and frightened my soul

78. They dragged me from the depths of my house
As if summoned to the Sultan

79. With hearts hotter than embers
And harsher than polished stone

80. I said, pity that boy Maymūn
Do not make him an orphan, O brothers

81. One meal is not worth killing a stranger
With a family, far from homelands

82. Have mercy on me, O people, for my misery
And long trial and test

83. You will regret, by God, if you kill me
For the sake of a meal, and be sorry

84. What have you left me in my weakness
That yesterday was enough for me

85. Swear to me that I have no drink
And no morsel in my cupboard

86. So they became enraged at me, and al-Faḍl said
Tell me, with what eyes do you see me?

87. We are the most ignorant of the wilderness
If we take oaths from you

88. They cut the rope, so I fell on my face and back
And two ribs cracked for me

89. Then when despair took hold
They left me lying on the camel blankets

90. And my employee, forced to carry the blankets
In humiliation, nakedness, and disgrace

91. And he cries, so I said: Woe to you!
What will you do with enlisted men after the death of soldiers?

92. They stole the saddle, lanterns, oil
Our cups, and all our items

93. And the wine, they took it at the end of the night
Like the drawing of breath

94. They loaded their packs and waterskins
Together with jars and leather bags

95. If you saw al-Faḍl carrying in the pack
A patchwork shirt of silk

96. He stuffed it with meat, fowl, and lions
Two of the largest loaves of bread

97. They stole our provisions in the alley
And left with food on trays

98. They drove away their horses with every fragment
And morsel, fleeing like lepers

99. Leaving it to graze on what remained of my crops
Unafraid, unhesitating grazing

100. None eulogized me but al-Mubārak for my woe
And that short, thin one

101. They comforted me and lightened the burden
So they are safe from my blame

102. And al-Sarī, who truly roamed, also pardoned me
His belly being kinder than saddlebags

103. Have you heard, of what you have heard, of a human
Stripped at an invitation as he stripped me?

104. Gladden me, O brothers and friends
With tears flowing from the eyelids

105. My brothers whose cheeks weep
Gloomy, confused

106. My thoughts roaming, my night sleepless
My eyes weeping, my love feeble, my mind weak

107. This misfortune would not have befallen me
Woe is me from the misfortune of that time

108. No human has heard, of what they have heard
Of one stripped at an invitation as it stripped me

109. My brothers, do not forget what I endured
And the evil of my fate and test

110. The beating fell, O friend, on a body
Wounded by whips and staffs

111. I said to al-Faḍl and al-Sarī: Help me
My death has come, so save me

112. And remember my companionship, love, and intimacy
And pity me, and spare me

113. If you kill me - and it is God's right -
Over a meal, you will regret it

114. What weakness have you left me
That yesterday was enough for me

115. Swear to me that I have no drink
And no two morsels in my cupboard

116. So they became enraged at me, and al-Faḍl said
Tell me with what eye you see me?

117. We are the most ignorant of the wilderness
If we take oaths from you

118. They cut the rope, so I fell on my face
And my back, and two ribs cracked for me

119. Then when despair took hold, they left me
And inclined, crammed on the camel blankets

120. While my employee, forced to carry blankets
In humiliation, naked, disgraced

121. And he cries, so I said: Woe upon you!
What will you do with recruits after the soldiers have died?

122. They stole the saddlebags, lanterns, oil
Our cups, and all our pots

123. And the wine - they took it, and seized it
At the end of the night like breath being drawn

124. They loaded their packs and waterskins
Together with jars and leather bags

125. If you saw al-Faḍl carrying in his pack
A broadcloth gown of silk

126. He stuffed it with meat, fowl, and lions
Two of the largest loaves of bread

127. They stole our provisions in the alley
And left with the food on trays

128. They drove off their horses with every fragment
And morsel, fleeing like mangy camels

129. Leaving it grazing on what remained of my crops
Grazing without fear or hesitation

130. None eulogized me but al-Mubārak for my woe
And that short, thin one

131. They comforted me and lightened the burden
So they are safe from my blame

132. And al-Sarī, who truly roamed, also pardoned me
His belly being kinder than saddlebags

133. Have you heard, of what you have heard, of a human
Stripped at an invitation as he stripped me?

134. Gladden me, O brothers and friends
With tears flowing from the eyelids

135. My brothers whose cheeks weep
Gloomy, confused

136. My thoughts roaming, my night sleepless
My eyes weeping, my love feeble, my mind weak

137. It was not my destiny, O friend
Woe is me from the misfortune of that era