يَزيدُ ماذا دَهاكا

جُنِنتَ أَم ما اِعتَراكا

Yazid, what has possessed you?

Yazid, what has befallen you?

Are you mad or what has stricken you?

Have you gone mad, or what has possessed you?

مُلكٌ زَها بِكَ بَعدي

أَم صاحِبٌ أَغواكا

A king allured you after me,

Has some dominion made you haughty since I left,

Or a friend has misled you,

Or has a companion led you astray?

أَم غَفلَةٌ حَدَثَت في

كَ أَم هَوىً أَضناكا

Or was it an oversight from you,

Has a sudden heedlessness occurred within you,

Or a love that weakened you?

Or has passion worn you down?

أَم مِرَّةٌ وافَقَت وَق

تَها فَهَذا لِذاكا

Or a time coincided with its

Or did a surge of bile coincide with its season,

Circumstances, so that was why.

And so this is the result of that?

إِمّا بَلاكَ لَقَد أَج

هَدَ الإِلَهُ بَلاكا

Nay, but your ordeal, indeed

If He has tested you, then truly,

God has destined it for you.

God has made your trial severe.

أَقبِل عَلَيَّ فَقُل لي

لا أَبصَرَت عَيناكا

Turn to me and say to me

Turn your face to me and tell me,

What have your eyes seen.

May your eyes lose their sight—

أَآذِنٌ أَنتَ في قَط

عِ كُلِّ مَن صافاكا

Are you so deaf to break

Do you give permission for the cutting off

Off ties with all who were close to you?

Of everyone who offered you pure friendship?

بَل ما أَظُنُّ المُعَنّى

إِلّا اِمرَأً آخاكا

Nay, I reckon it is nothing

Nay, I do not deem the tormented one to be

Except a woman has deceived you.

Anyone other than the man who befriended you.

وَإِن يَقَدِّر إِلَهُ ال

عِبادِ أَن لا أَراكا

And if God, Lord of all people, intends

And if the God of all servants

That I never get to see you again,

Decrees that I shall see you no more,

وَطَولِ رَبٍّ عَلى الهَج

رِ وَالجَفا قَوّاكا

And the patience of the Lord against estrangement

And if the Lord's might empowers you

and harshness strengthens you.

To endure abandonment and cruelty—

لَو أَنَّ كَفَّي عِنانٍ

رُطوبَةً كَفّاكا

If only my palms held the reins

Even if your palms were as soft

with tenderness as your palms once held.

As the supple leather of reins,

وَوَجنَتَي تَمتامٍ

تَحكيهُما وَجنَتاكا

And my cheeks told tales

And if your cheeks mimicked the cheeks

like your cheeks once did.

Of a bashful stammerer,

وَمُقلَتَي رَحمَةٍ في

زِناهُما مُقلَتاكا

And my glances were merciful, reminded

And if your eyes, in their beauty,

by their mercy of your glances.

Were the very eyes of mercy,

وَكُنتَ في الحُسنِ فَرداً

لَما اِحتَمَلتُ جَفاكا

And if you were unparalleled in beauty,

And even if you were unique in beauty,

I would not have endured your harshness.

I would not have tolerated your harshness.

لا تَهوَيَنَّ يَزيداً

بَعدَ الَّذي قَد أَراكا

Do not let Yazid slip

Do not love Yazid, O my heart,

after what you have already seen.

After all that he has shown you.

وَقَد نَهَيتُ فُؤادي

في خَلوَةٍ فَتَباكى

I had warned my heart

I forbade my heart,

in solitude, and it wept,

In solitude, and it began to weep.

فَقُلتُ لا غَرَّني مِن

كَ يا فُؤادي بُكاكا

So I said: "Do not be fooled

So I said: Let me not be deceived

by his tears, O heart!"

By your weeping, O my heart!

فَكُن لَهُ قَطّاعاً

وَكُن لَهُ تَرّاكا

"Cut him off, and be

Be one who cuts ties with him,

his adversary."

And be one who abandons him utterly.

وَإِن هَمَمتَ بِشَيءٍ

مِن وُدِّهِ فَنَهاكا

"And if you are inclined towards any

And if you purpose any act

of his love, forbid it!"

Of affection for him, then desist!

فَالسَوطُ ما اِستَمسَكَتهُ

يَمينَكَ اِستِمساكا

For the whip whose handle

For the whip is ready, as long as

your right hand grasped,

My right hand grips it firmly.

وَاللَهِ وَاللَهِ رَبّي

أَقولُهُنَّ دِراكا

By God, by God, my Lord,

By God, by God, my Lord—

I say seeking your protection,

I say these oaths in rapid succession—

لَأَقمِطَنَّكَ في عَص

بَةٍ بِفَضلِ رِداكا

I will handle you forcefully

I will surely bind you tightly

with my grace, although you dislike it,

With the excess fabric of your own robe.

حَتّى إِذا ما جَدَلنا

كَ جانِباً جِئناكا

Until we have disciplined you

Until, when we have wrestled you

on all sides, and then come to you,

To the ground, we shall descend upon you.

مِن آخِذٍ لَكَ نَعلاً

وَآخِذٍ مِسواكا

One seizing your shoes,

One grabbing a sandal to strike you,

another your toothstick,

Another wielding a stick.

وَذا عِناناً وَهَذا

سَوطاً وَذاكَ مَداكا

Another the reins, another

One holds a rein, another

the whip, and another the poles,

A whip—and that shall be your undoing.

حَتّى إِذا ما سَلَخنا

سَلخَ النَشوطِ قَفاكا

Until we have peeled your skin

Until, when we have flayed

like peeling off soft bark,

The skin of your nape like a pulled rope,

وَقَد أَتى بَعدُ قَومٌ

يُقَطِّعونَ الشِباكا

And then people will come

And a group of people come later

who will cut through even thickets,

To cut apart the snares,

حَتّى تَقولُ لِإِنكا

رِ ما بِهِ أَغشاكا

Until you say to remorse: "It

Until you cry out, denying

overwhelmed me, I know not by what."

The punishment I have overwhelmed you with:

يا أَرحَمَ الناسِ لي كا

نَ مَرَّةً ما دَهاكا

"O most merciful of people to me!

"O you who were once the most merciful

If only it had never possessed me!"

Of men to me—what has befallen you?"

وَقَد أَمَرتَ مِنَ الجِن

نِ حَوقَلاً وَضِناكا

And you have ordered from the jinni

And I have commanded the Jinn,

Hawaqal and Dhinak

Hauqal and Dhinak,

أَن يَصفِناكَ عَلى أَر

بَعٍ وَأَن يُبرِكاكا

To line you up in four ranks

To shackle you on all fours,

and to bless you,

And force you to your knees.

حَتّى إِذا لَم تُطِق مِن

وَقعِ الصَفيرِ حَراكا

Until when you cannot endure

Until, unable to make a move

the impact of the hissing uproar,

From the stinging crack of the lash,

اِستَعتَباكَ فَإِن عُد

تَ بَعدَها صَلَباكا

You will plead for forgiveness, but if

They demand your repentance; but if you return,

you return to it, they will crucify you.

They shall crucify you thereafter.