1. أَلَم تَرَ أَنَّ الشَّيءَ لِلشَّيءِ عِلَّةٌ

    يَكونُ لَها كَالنَّارِ تُقدَحُ بِالزَّنْدِ

    Have you not seen that one thing is the cause of another,

    which arises from it, like fire kindled with a fire-stick?

  2. كَذلِكَ جَرَّبنا الأُمورَ وَإِنَّما

    يدلكَ ما قَد كانَ قَبلُ عَلى البعْدِ

    Thus have we tested affairs; it is only

    what happened before that shows you what lies far ahead.

  3. وَظَنِّي بِإبْراهيمَ أَنَّ مَكانَهُ

    سَيَبعَثُ يَوماً مِثلَ أَيَّامه النُّكْدِ

    My belief about Ibrahim is that his position

    will one day revive the like of his ill-starred days.

  4. رَأَيتُ حسيناً حِينَ صارَ مُحَمَّدٌ

    بِغَيرِ أَمان في يَدَيهِ وَلا عَقْدِ

    I saw Husayn when Muhammad came

    into his hands without safe-conduct or covenant.

  5. فَلَو كانَ أَمضى السَّيفَ فيهِ بِضَربَةٍ

    تُصَيِّرُهُ بِالقاعِ مُنعَفِرَ الخَدِّ

    Had he driven the sword into him with a blow

    that left him on the flat ground, his cheek dust-smeared,

  6. إِذا لَم تَكُنْ لِلجُندِ فيهِ بَقِيَّةٌ

    فَقَد كانَ ما بُلِّغت مِن خَبر الجُنْدِ

    then the troops would have had nothing left of him;

    for what you were told of the troops did indeed happen.

  7. هُم قَتَلوهُ بَعدَ أَن قَتَلوا لَهُ

    ثَلاثينَ أَلفاً مِن كهولٍ وَمِن مُرْدِ

    They killed him after having killed on his behalf

    thirty thousand mature men and beardless youths.

  8. وَما نَصَروهُ عَن يَدٍ سَلَفَتْ لَهُ

    وَلا قَتَلوهُ يَومَ ذلِكَ عَن حِقْدِ

    They did not support him for a favor he had done before,

    nor did they kill him that day out of rancor.

  9. وَلكِنَّهُ الغَدْرُ الصراحِ وَخفّة الْ

    حلومِ وَبُعدُ الرَّأيِ عَن سُنَنِ القَصْدِ

    Rather, it was blatant treachery, and fickleness of

    judgment, and thought far from the paths of moderation.

  10. فَذلِكَ يَومٌ كانَ لِلنَّاسِ عِبرَةً

    سَيَبقى بَقاءَ الوَحْيِ في الحَجَر الصَّلْدِ

    That was a day that served the people as a warning,

    one that will endure like an inscription in solid stone.

  11. وَما يَوم إِبراهيمَ إِن طالَ عُمرهُ

    بِأَبعَدَ في المَكروهِ مِن يَومِهِ عِنْدي

    And Ibrahim's day, if his life is long,

    is, to my mind, no farther off in calamity than his day.

  12. تَذَكَّرَ أَميرَ المُؤمِنينَ قِيامَه

    وَإيمانَهُ في الهَزل مِنهُ وَفي الجدِّ

    Remember, Commander of the Faithful, his uprising

    and his faith, both in his jesting and in earnest.

  13. أَما وَالَّذي أَصبَحتُ عَبْدَ خَليفَةٍ

    لَهُ خَيرُ إيمانِ الخَليفَةِ وَالعَبْدِ

    Now, by Him whose caliph I have come to serve as a slave,

    to whom belongs the best faith of caliph and slave—

  14. إِذا هَزَّ أَعوادَ المَنابِر باستِهِ

    تَغَنّى بِلَيلى أَو بِمَيَّة أَو هِنْدِ

    when he shook the pulpits' timbers with his buttocks,

    he sang of Layla, or Mayya, or Hind.

  15. وَوَاللَّهِ ما مِن تَوْبَةٍ نَزَعَتْ بِهِ

    إِلَيكَ وَلا مَيلٍ إِلَيكَ وَلا وُدِّ

    And by God, no repentance drew him

    toward you, nor inclination toward you, nor affection.

  16. وَلكِنَّ إِخلاصَ الضَّميرِ مُقَرَّب

    إِلى اللَّهِ زُلفى لا تخيبُ وَلا تكْدي

    Rather, sincerity of inward intent is a means of drawing near

    to God—a nearness that neither disappoints nor fails.

  17. أَتاكَ بِهِ طَوْعاً إِلَيكَ بِأَنفِهِ

    عَلى رُغْمِهِ وَاِستَأثَرَ اللَّهُ بِالحَمْدِ

    He brought him to you submissive, led toward you by his nose,

    against his will; and God alone claimed the praise.

  18. فَلا تَترُكَنْ لِلنَّاسِ مَوضِعَ شُبهَةٍ

    فَإِنَّكَ مجزيٌّ بِحَسْبِ الَّذي تُسْدي

    Leave the people no grounds for doubt,

    for you are repaid according to what you bestow.

  19. فَقَد غَلَطوا لِلنَّاسِ في نَصْبٍ مِثله

    وَمن لَيسَ لِلمَنصورِ بِابن وَلا المَهْدي

    They have erred in setting up for the people someone like him,

    and someone who is no son of al-Mansur or al-Mahdi.

  20. فَكَيفَ بِمَن قَد بايَعَ النَّاسُ وَالتَقَتْ

    بِبَيعَتِهِ رُكْبانُ غَوْرٍ إِلى نَجْدِ

    What, then, of one to whom the people pledged allegiance, and for whom

    riders from Ghawr to Najd met in allegiance?

  21. وَمَن صَكَّ تَسليمُ الخِلافَةِ سَمعَهُ

    يُنادى بِها بَينَ السماطين مِن بُعْدِ

    And one whose hearing was struck by the caliphal salutation,

    hailed with it between the two ranks from afar?

  22. وَأَيُّ اِمرئٍ سامى بِها قَطُّ نَفْسَهُ

    فَفارَقَها حَتّى تَغَيَّبَ في اللَّحْدِ

    What man has ever raised himself so high through it,

    then parted from it before vanishing into the grave?

  23. وَترجمُ هذي النَّابتيَّةَ أَنَّهُ

    إِمامٌ لَها فيما تُجِنُّ وَما تُبْدي

    And this Nabitiyya group claims that he

    is its imam, in what it conceals and what it reveals.

  24. يَقولونَ سُنِيٌّ وَأَيَّةُ سُنَّةٍ

    تَقومُ بِجَونِ اللَّونِ صَعلُ القَفا جَيْدِ

    They say, “A Sunni!” But what tradition

    can be upheld by a dark-skinned man, thin of nape and neck?

  25. وَقَد جَعَلوا رُخْصَ الطَّعامِ بِعَهدِهِ

    زَعيماً لَهُم بِاليُمنِ وَالكَوكَبِ السَّعْدِ

    They have made the cheapness of food in his time

    their guarantee of good fortune and an auspicious star.

  26. إِذا ما رَأَوا يَوماً غَلاء رَأيَتهم

    يَحِنُّونَ تَحناناً إِلى ذلِكَ العَهْدِ

    When one day they see high prices, you see them

    yearning deeply for that time.

  27. وَأَقبَلَ يَومَ العيدِ يوجِفُ حَوْلَهُ

    وَجيف الجِيادِ وَاِصطِكاك القَنا الجُرْدِ

    He came forth on the feast day, around him surging

    the pounding of steeds and the clash of smooth lances.

  28. وَرجّالَةٌ يَمشونَ في البيضِ دونَهُ

    وَقَد تَبعوهُ بِالقَضيبِ وَبِالبُرْدِ

    And foot soldiers walked in helmets before him,

    and they followed him with the staff and the mantle.

  29. فَإِنْ قُلتَ قَد رامَ الخِلافَةَ غَيرُهُ

    فَلَم يُؤتَ فيما كانَ حاولَ مِن جَدِّ

    If you say, “Another sought the caliphate,

    but was granted no good fortune in what he attempted;

  30. فَلَم أجزِهِ إِذ خَيَّبَ اللَّهُ سَعيَهُ

    عَلى خَطَأٍ إِذ كانَ مِنهُ عَلَى عَمْدِ

    so I did not punish him, when God thwarted his endeavor,

    for a wrong that he had committed deliberately;

  31. وَلَم أَرضَ بَعدَ العَفوِ حَتّى رَفَدتُهُ

    وَلَلعَمُّ أَولى بِالتَّغَمُّدِ وَالرِّفْدِ

    nor was I content after pardoning him until I had aided him—

    and surely the uncle deserves more forbearance and aid”:

  32. فَلَيسَ سَواءً خارِجِيٌّ رَمى بِهِ

    إِلَيكَ سَفاهُ الرَّأيِ وَالرَّأيُ قَد يُردي

    not equal are a rebel, hurled

    against you by foolish judgment—and judgment can destroy—

  33. تَعاوَت لَهُ مِن كُلِّ أَوبِ عصابَةٌ

    مَتى يورِدوا لا يُصدِروهُ عَنِ الورْدِ

    for whom a band howled from every quarter,

    who, when they lead him to water, do not bring him back,

  34. وَآخَر في بَيتِ الخَليفَةِ يَلتَقي

    بِهِ وَبِكَ الآباءُ في ذُروَةِ المَجْدِ

    and another in the caliph's house, joined

    to you through forefathers at the summit of glory.

  35. فَمَولاكَ مَولاهُ وَجُندُكَ جُندهُ

    وَهَل يَجمَعُ القَينُ الحُسامَينِ في غَمْدِ

    Your retainer is his retainer, and your troops are his troops;

    does the smith put two swords in one scabbard?

  36. وَقَد رابَني مِن أَهلِ بَيتِكَ أَنَّني

    رَأَيتُ لَهُم وَجْداً بِهِ أَيَّما وَجْدِ

    It has troubled me, concerning your household, that I

    have seen their affection for him—such affection!

  37. يَقولونَ لا تَبْعُدْ مِن اِبنِ مُلِمَّةٍ

    صَبورٍ عَلَيها النَّفس ذي مَرَّةً جَلْدِ

    They say: May you not perish, son of calamity,

    steadfast in soul before it, strong and enduring!

  38. فَدانا فَهانَت نَفسُهُ دونَ مُلكِنا

    عَلَيهِ عَلى الحِينِ الَّذي قَلَّ مَنْ يُفْدي

    He ransomed us, and his life became cheap in defense of our rule

    to him, at a time when few would offer ransom.

  39. عَلى حين أَعطى النَّاسُ صَفوَ أَكُفِّهِم

    عَلِيُّ بنِ موسى بِالوِلايَةِ لِلعَهْدِ

    At a time when the people offered their palms in sincere allegiance

    to Ali ibn Musa as heir apparent,

  40. فَما كانَ مِنَّا مَن أَبى الضَّيْمَ غَيرهُ

    وَلكِن كَفانا في القَبولِ وَفي الرَدِّ

    none of us refused humiliation except him,

    but he sufficed for us in acceptance and refusal.

  41. وَجَرَّدَ إِبراهيمُ لِلمَوتِ نَفسَهُ

    وَأَبدى سِلاحاً فَوقَ ذي مَيْعَةٍ نَهْدِ

    Ibrahim laid himself bare to death,

    and displayed his weapons on a spirited, sturdy steed.

  42. فَأَبلى وَمَن يَبلُغْ مِنَ الأَمرِ جَهدَهُ

    فَلَيسَ بِمَذمومٍ وَإِن كانَ لَم يُجْدِ

    He proved his mettle; whoever gives a matter his utmost

    is not to be blamed, even if he brought no benefit.

  43. فَهذي أُمورٌ قَد يَخافُ ذَوو النُّهى

    مَغَبَّتَها وَاللَّهُ يَهديكَ لِلرُّشْدِ

    These are matters; men of understanding may fear

    their consequences. May God guide you to sound judgment.