1. My night grew long as worries besieged me,
And I was aggrieved by every star,

2. Staying up late, sleepless, until
Dawn's first glow appeared under the gloom.

3. The millstones of night and day still turn;
One wakes us, the other makes us sleep.

4. One above, one below, grinding each
Man's portion of grain, chaff and debris.

5. Joy and sorrow, want and glittering show,
Wealth ephemeral as a mirage.

6. Health and affliction, life and death,
Some housed beneath earth in their home.

7. Rebel and pious, the good distinct
From the blameworthy, clear to all.

8. Without the miser's stinginess, none
Could ever call another generous.

9. We observe a creation that tells
Us its Maker is gentle and wise.

10. How can I sleep when I've come to stay
In Baghdad, no transient visitor?

11. A land where mosquitoes form garlands
On the shrines - revolving, hovering swarms.

12. Near the caliphal palace, musk-scented,
Blown gently by the breeze.

13. Spring blossoms there, woven pearls
Or gems. Now it lies desolate, while

14. Owls lament its ruins, once glorious,
Crumbling, whispering their sad dirge.

15. To the north, land; south, sea. Fruit picked
There - peaches, pears. We lived in it, now gone,

16. All passes. What thing endures?
From a fearsome place I came out alive;

17. Violence left me; now I can rest.
God made things smooth, relieved my pain -

18. My Lord is gentle, merciful.
You know me, awake in devotion when

19. The worthless sleep wrapped in their beds.
Quietly wise if rage rises swiftly

20. Like the whirling dust-laden wind.
O cousins! How long? What you seek

21. Cannot continue. If kings feed you,
You remain unweaned like babies gorged

22. On milk, never satisfied.
Is Abu Talib like the Excellent Guide?

23. Don't you know better than this?
Ask Malik and Rida where each resides!

24. How far apart their stations!
And Ali - like his pure sons, no doubt,

25. We owe him much, this claim is just.
Leave kingship to us, we have the right,

26. As arbiters have affirmed.
Beware the valley's deadly watering hole,

27. Where long crouched a crafty roaring beast,
A lion, tearing apart any herd

28. That comes, sparing none.
I would grieve to see the earth stained

29. With your blood - you are dear to me.
But as you know, your claim over us

30. Cannot prevail or be justified.
If only you would desist! Else the stars

31. Themselves will tumble down from the sky!