1. You reproached Abu Sufyan when he turned
Away from you, proud of his gift,

2. Which did not avail him, though you took him to account,
Nor Mu'awiyah in Syria who exacts it.

3. You bound a noble, youthful company whose departure
Was in honor which no honor can equal.

4. They had already in the Days of Ignorance gained renown by their name,
And the Lord of created beings had added commendation.

5. At the Conquest of Mecca, their dwelling was inviolable,
After the House of God, enveloping them.

6. Yet all that did not intercede before `Umar
For an error Abu Sufyan committed.

7. By God, if the Successor had done his deed,
He would neither have made free with it nor punished it.

8. Neither calculation where a right is violated
Nor kinship where a hero is disgraced.

9. Such was the strength of a soul which, had he wished,
Could have shifted mountains from their bases!