1. You yearned to walk proudly and shed tears,
And you feared to weep and suffer.

2. These tears would be your excuse, if crying
Were anything but humiliation—so refuse to be abased in hopes of mercy.

3. Guard the crown from the disgrace of tears, for I
Saw that a soul's dignity honors the crown.

4. And scorn the grief of a throne you've abandoned,
Though you weep and complain against your will.

5. The downpour of tears and blood struck it before you.
Its towers streamed with tears and blood.

6. You left one side crying your tears
While the other wept your victims' blood, whenever—

7. ‘Abd al-Hamid wept from humiliation, and he dreaded
The specter of ruin in his abdication embodied.

8. The fear of lethal fate shook him, a killer's
Dread, when he saw the ghost of his victim approach.

9. So he closed his eyes, fearing to see,
And feigned indifference to his heart's caprice.

10. I marvel that his heart knows fear,
O his heart, it is neither flesh nor blood!

11. A teardrop flowed in his eyelid—nothing more
Than a melting stream from a fiery core,

12. Blocked from the iron dissolving in his breast,
And pouring like tears to his eyes, repressed.

13. They said, “‘Abd al-Hamid wept, he wept!”
But no tear ever flowed so base and pained.

14. Oh, what glory lies in the king's tears shed
And fame in a crown branded by disgrace!

15. I looked on him enthroned in the caliphate
And cast down my eyes, silently aggrieved.

16. I honored him too much to let fancy touch him,
So the glory of kingship dispelled the fancy.

17. They say, “God's shadow on earth”—and even if
They wanted to say more, that would suffice.

18. O shadow that always hid from sight,
Though charted by the stars' predictiveness,

19. Veil yourself as you wish, draw near and judge; fear no
Ordeal, but enjoy a blissful life.

20. For it is only an occasion, then gone,
A worldly joy, then bitter aloes.

21. When mighty pride defiantly hides
From people, it does not hide from heaven's wrath.

22. Fate took its course, so neither height
Nor its lofty throne or troops kept it safe.

23. It fell, blood-spattered with tears, from its summit,
Like a wounded eagle plummeting, its wings clipped.

24. No throne fell so low as it fell humbled,
No rebel's pride was harder or darker.

25. The noble youth, its son, wept for it—
Oh what misery for a son to grieve it!

26. An angel-like boy who never knew sorrow
And was used to nothing but bliss.

27. He was pampered until no breeze touched his brow
Or sun smiled at him, however it beamed.

28. When wafts of flowers delighted his heart
With their fragrance, the flowers were blamed as criminal.

29. He loved his father, and that boy had never known
A kinder heart or more tender core.

30. Gently, ‘Abd al-Rahim! Don't despair,
And beware of melting into tears.

31. Your father did wrong, and the people punished
His crimes. Let him face justice and pay for them.

32. Your father disgraced the crown—read his life's history:
Nothing but woe, injustice, profligacy.

33. Your father debased the throne—look at his throne:
However fate willed, it was toppled and ruined.

34. Yes, that was your father, those were his sins,
So wipe away the tears that burn for him.

35. Say: O father, the kingdom belongs to God alone
And this throne to the people. Abdicate, compelled.

36. Return Uthman's crown to Muhammad's head;
His faded glory will shine brighter than gems.

37. Give back to him the sword of caliphate, for I
Saw your noble brother more steadfast and bold.

38. If you don't preserve your throne's glory yourself,
Think little of a throne that shatters and falls.

39. Do you think rebel tears come cheap? Will suppressed
Tears never defy tyrants? Will they go unshed?

40. For the throne, blood spilled was cheaper than tears.
So don't innovate a new cursed norm.

41. Don't fill your eyes with tears—I'm anxious tears
Won't flood the vision when you look at me.

42. Imagine gazing on the ruins of kingdoms
Laid waste, hellish traces of injustice on them.

43. Don't forget the epoch of thirty pilgrimages
Whose history eternity will preserve, branded.

44. You pleased neither the Prophet Muhammad
Nor kept the glory of Uthman honoured.

45. You tore religions and a nation's glory apart,
So Turkey was punished—and Muslims with it.

46. Look on Granada's history and you'll find
A king who, for his reign, was toppled and destroyed.

47. O you tyrant, who refuses to learn from anguish,
Take care to grieve and regret what you did!