أَجِيبي أُمَّ كُلثومٍ أَجِيبي

تَرَامَتْ دعوةُ الدَّاعِي المُهيبِ

Answer me, O mother of Kulthum, answer me

The call of the imploring supplicant has spread

لمَكَّةُ إذ يُضامُ الدِّينُ فيها

أحقٌّ بكلِّ أفَّاكٍ مُريبِ

Mecca, where religion is being oppressed in it

Is more deserving of every unruly deceiver

خُذِي قَصْدَ السَّبيلِ إلى ديارٍ

مُحَبَّبَةِ المسالِكِ والدُّروبِ

Take the path straight to the abodes

With the beloved paths and roads

حِمَى الإسلامِ يَمنعُ كلَّ عادٍ

وغِيلُ الحقِّ يَدفعُ كلَّ ذِيبِ

The protection of Islam prevents every transgressor

And the boiling of truth repels every slanderer

رَعاكِ اللَّهُ فَانْطَلِقِي وسِيري

ولا تَهِنِي على طُولِ الدُّؤوبِ

May God protect you, so set forth and walk

And do not despair from the prolonged afflictions

أردتِ الدِّينَ مَعمورَ النَّواحِي

فَخُوضِي البِيدَ مُقْفِرَةً وَجُوبي

If you wanted inhabited religion in all regions

Then dive into the open desert and traverse it

تُطِيلينَ التَّلَفُّتَ من حذارٍ

وَقَلبُكِ لا يَقَرُّ من الوَجِيبِ

You have prolonged hesitation out of caution

While your heart does not settle from anguish

رُويدكِ إنّ عين اللَّهِ تَرْعَى

خُطاكِ فلن يَسَوءكِ أن تَؤُوبي

Be steadfast, indeed the eye of God watches over

Your steps so no harm will befall if you repent

أرى أَخَوَيْكِ في أمرٍ مَريجٍ

وَهَمٍّ من مُصابِهِمَا مُذِيبِ

I see your two brothers in an alarming state

And a care that melts them from their affliction

يَلُفُّ حَشَاهُما حُزنٌ عَجيبٌ

لِرَوْعَةِ ذلكَ الحَدَثِ العَجيبِ

Their grief wraps them in strange sorrow

For the awfulness of that strange event

لِكُلٍّ مِنهما في الحيِّ عَيْنٌ

تَدورُ كأنّها عَينُ الحريبِ

Each of them has an eye that in life

Spins as if it were the eye of a lost one

وَقَلبٌ دائِمُ الخَفَقَانِ هَافٍ

طَويلُ الوَجدِ مُتَّصِلُ اللّهيبِ

And a heart constantly fluttering and burning

Prolonged fervor continuously blazing

هُنا كانتْ فأينَ مَضَتْ وأنَّى

تُعاوِدُ خِدْرَها بعدَ المغيبِ

She was here, so where did she go and where

Will she return after disappearing?

أَما عِندَ ابْنِ عَفَّانٍ شِفَاءٌ

فَيكشِفُ كُرْبَةَ العانِي الكَئِيبِ

But with Ibn 'Affan there is a cure

That will relieve the worries of the despairing sorrowful one

أَتذهبُ أُختُنا لا نحنُ نَدرِي

ولا هُوَ عِندَهُ عِلمُ اللّبيبِ

Will our sister leave without us knowing

While he, there with him, has no knowledge of reason?

كَفَى يا بِنتَ عُقْبَةَ ما لَقِينا

مِنَ الأحداثِ بَعدَكِ والخطوبِ

Enough O daughter of 'Uqbah, we have not faced

After you, such events and afflictions

قِفِي يا أمَّ كُلثومٍ فهذا

مَحَطُّ الرَّحْلِ للنَّائِي الغريبِ

Stop, O mother of Kulthum, for this

Is the place of rest for the far traveler

حَلَلْتِ بفضْلِ ربِّكِ خيرَ دارٍ

بِطيبةَ فانعِمي نَفْساً وطِيبي

You have arrived, by your Lord's grace, at the best abode

In holy Medina, so delight yourself and purify

تلقَّاكِ النبيُّ فأيَّ بشرٍ

رَعَتْ عيناكِ في الكَرَمِ الخَصِيبِ

The Prophet will receive you, what good tidings

Have delighted your eyes with bountiful grace

يُرَحِّبُ ما يرحِّبُ ثمّ يُضفي

عليكِ حَنانَ ذِي النَّسَبِ القريبِ

He welcomes with his welcome then confers

Upon you the affection of close kinship

وما نَسَبٌ بأقربَ من سبيلٍ

يُؤلِّفُ بين أشتاتِ القُلوبِ

No lineage is closer than a way

That brings together the separated hearts

سَبيلُ اللَّهِ ليس له إذا ما

بلوتِ السُّبْلَ أجمعَ من ضريبِ

The way of God, if you endure the paths

Has no levy, when tested fully

هُدَى السَّارِي يُسَدِّدُهُ فيمضي

بِمُخْتَرَقِ السَّباسِبِ والسُّهوبِ

The guidance of the Guide makes him steadfast, so he goes

Penetrating the mountains and deserts

يَمُرُّ بآخِرينَ لهم عُواءٌ

يُشيَّعُ بالتوجُّعِ والنَّحيبِ

He passes others who have malice

Circulating misery and lament

يَرى سُبُلَ النَّجاةِ وكيف ضَلُّوا

فَيعجَبُ للمَصارِعِ والجنُوبِ

He sees the ways to salvation and how they were lost

So he wonders at the death sites and trenches

ويَحمدُ فالِقَ الإصباحِ حَمْداً

يَهُزُّ جَوَانِحَ الوادي الطَّرُوبِ

And he praises, at the breaking of dawn, in praise

That shakes the sides of the gentle valley

تَعَالَى اللَّهُ يُنْزِلُ كلَّ بَرٍّ

بِعالٍ مِن منازِلِهِ رحيبِ

God, High is He, sends down every righteousness

From a lofty place of His vast abodes

عُمَارَةُ والوليدُ ولا خَفَاءٌ

على فَرْطِ التجهُّمِ والشُّحوبِ

'Umar and Al-Walid, no secret

From the intensity of their gloom and melancholy

هُما عَرَفا السَّبيلَ فلا مُقامٌ

وكيفَ مُقَامُ مُخْتَبَلٍ سَلِيبِ

They both recognized the path so there is no stay

And how can one stay who is shaken and feeble?

أهابا بالرَّسولِ أعِدْ إلينا

وَدِيعَتَنَا فما بِكَ مِن نُكوبِ

They implored the Messenger, return her to us

Our trust, you have no failing in that

هُوَ العهدُ الذي أخذَتْ قُرَيْشٌ

ومَالَكَ غَيْرُ نفسِكَ من حسيبِ

It is the covenant Quraysh took

And none but yourself are her guardian

سَجِيَّتُكَ الوفاءُ وما عَلِمْنا

عليكَ الدَّهْرَ من خُلُقٍ مَعِيبِ

Your way is faithfulness, we have not known

Any shameful traits from you through time

برأيِكَ فَاقْضِ وَارْدُدْها علينا

فإنّك أنتَ ذُو الرأيِ المُصِيبِ

Judge with your opinion and return her to us

You are the one with the right judgement

عَنَاها أَنْ تُرَدَّ ولا ظَهِيرٌ

يَقِيهَا ما تخافُ مِنَ الكُروبِ

She feared to be returned and no protector

Could protect her from what she fears of sorrows

فَصَاحتْ إنّني امرأةٌ وما لي

عَلَى المكروهِ من عَزمٍ صليبِ

She cried, I am but a woman, I have not

The resolve for adversity that is strong

بِرَبِّكَ يا مُحَمَّدُ لا تَدَعْنِي

فَرِيْسَةَ كُلِّ جَبَّارٍ رَهيبِ

I implore you, O Muhammad, do not leave me

Prey for every dreadful tyrant

يُعَذِّبُنِي لأتركَ دِينَ رَبِّي

إلى دينِ المآثِمِ والذُّنوبِ

Who will torture me to abandon the faith of my Lord

To the faith of sins and immoralities

أأرجعُ يا حِمَى الضُّعفاءِ وَلْهَى

وما لي في ظِلالِكَ مِن نَصيبِ

Shall I return, O sanctuary of the weak, distracted

When I have no share in your shade?

أتى التنزيلُ يَصدعُ كلَّ شَكٍّ

ويجلو ما اسْتَكَنَّ من الغُيوبِ

The revelation came, splitting every doubt

And clarifying what was obscured of the unknown

وَيَحْكُمُ حُكْمَهُ عَدْلاً وَبِرّاً

فَيُلقِي بالدّواءِ إلى الطبيبِ

And decreeing its judgement with justice and righteousness

Casting the cure to the skilled physician

إذا جاءَ النساءُ مُهَاجِراتٍ

يُرِدْنَ اللَّهَ دَيَّانَ الشُّعوبِ

When the women came as emigrants

Seeking God, Judge of the peoples

بَقِينَ مع النَّبيِّ وإن تَمَادَتْ

لَجَاجَةُ كلِّ عِرِّيضٍ شَغُوبِ

They remained with the Prophet though the stubbornness persisted

Of every unyielding tyrant

لِيَهْنِكِ أُمَّ كُلثومٍ مُقامٌ

كريمٌ عِندَ مَرْجُوٍّ مُثيبِ

So mother of Kulthum may stay

A noble stay with a rewarding Bestower

وزوجٌ ذو مُحافَظةٍ نَجِيبٌ

يَفِيءُ إلى ذُرَى النَّسَبِ النَّجِيبِ

And a husband of virtuous faith who returns

To the lineage of noble ancestry

يَفيءُ إلى ذُرَى الإسلامِ منه

فتىً للسّلمِ يُرجَى والحُروبِ

He returns to the lineage of Islam in him

A young man hoped for in times of war and peace

وما زيدُ بنُ حارثةٍ بِنِكْسٍ

إذا التَقَتِ الكُماةُ ولا هَيُوبِ

Zayd son of Harithah is no disgrace

When the brave meet with no fear or confusion

أخو المختارِ من عُليا قريشٍ

ومَولاهُ الحبيبُ أبو الحبيبِ

Brother of Al-Mukhtar from the highest of Quraysh

And his master is the Beloved of the Beloved