أَميرَ المُؤمِنينَ أَما غِياثٌ
نُؤَمِّلُهُ فَقَد طالَ القُنوطُ
Commander of the Faithful, is there no relief
O Prince of the Faithful, you are our only hope
for us to hope for? For despair has lasted long.
We put our hopes in you, for despair has gone on too long
أَبى عُمّالُنا إِلّا فُسوقاً
لِكُلٍّ مِن أَحِبَّتِهِم شُروطُ
Our officials will have nothing but debauchery;
Our rulers want only corruption
each of their lovers has conditions.
With privileges for each of their cronies
فَمِن والٍ يُلاطُ بِهِ فَتَخزى
رَعِيَّتُهُ وَمِن والٍ يَلوطُ
So one governor is sodomized, disgracing
Some governors disgrace their people by immoral acts
his subjects, while another governor sodomizes.
While others practice sodomy
وَجَدنا نَهشَلاً عَرَبِيَّ دَهرٍ
تَعَرَّبُ في عَواقِبِهِ النَبيطُ
We found Nahshal an Arab of an age
We found an Arab of ancient times
in whose latter days the Nabataeans become Arabs.
Who in the end was overtaken by fate
أَخو دُبُرٍ يَموتُ الأَيرُ فيهِ
فَلا كَفَنٌ يُعَدُّ وَلا حَنوطُ
A man with an anus in which the cock dies,
A brother of Dubar who dies in it
with no shroud prepared, nor any burial perfume.
With no shroud prepared nor perfumes
وَزِنديقٌ يَكادُ الجِذعُ يَمشي
إِلَيهِ وَيَستَخِفُّ لَهُ الشَريطُ
And a heretic—the tree trunk almost walks
And a heretic who can barely walk
toward him, and the cord bestirs itself for him.
Yet the officers fawn over him
تَضيقُ يَداهُ بِالمَعروفِ قَبضاً
وَناحِيَةُ اِستِهِ البَحرُ المُحيطُ
His hands clench tight when it comes to generosity,
His hands are tight-fisted with good deeds
but the region of his arse is the encircling ocean.
Yet his domains span the wide oceans
يُجَزِّرُ لِحيَةً حَمُقَت وَشيبَت
بِشَيبَتِها الدَناءَةُ وَالسُقوطُ
He hacks at a beard grown foolish, and mingled
His beard has grayed from stupidity and old age
with its grayness are baseness and degradation.
Marked by disgrace and downfall
وَمِن أَشعارِهِ وَاللَهُ يُخزي
رُعونَتُهُ أَلا بانَ الخَليطُ
And among his poems—may God disgrace
By God, his poetry exposes
his folly—is: ‘Lo, the companions have departed!’
The vileness of his governance for all to see
غَدَت إِمراتُهُ وَلَها عَلَينا
وِلايَةُ جائِرٍ فيها قُسوطُ
His wife now wields over us
His emirates rule over us
a tyrant's authority, full of injustice.
With the unjust authority of an oppressor
تَحيضُ عَلى البِغالِ فَكُلُّ يَومٍ
عَلى جَنَباتِ لَبَّتِها عَبيطُ
She menstruates on mules, and every day
In heat, lusting after studs
fresh blood lies along the sides of their upper chests.
Mounted daily by the grooms
يَقومُ لَها السِماطُ وَقَد أَضاءَت
عَلى لَبّاتِها أَبَداً سُموطُ
The ranks rise for her, while there gleam
The breeders excite them
forever on the mules' chests strings of jewels.
As the burning brands light up their desire
تَوَلَّت أَمرَنا قَولاً وَفِعلاً
تَقولُ وَيَسكُتُ العَيرُ الضَروطُ
She has taken charge of our affairs in word and deed;
They have taken over our affairs, words and deeds
she speaks, and the farting ass falls silent.
Saying and doing as they please while the oppressed are mute
فَيا ذُلَّ البَريدِ وَمُبرِديهِ
إِذا فَضَّت خَرائِطُهُ الخَروطُ
So, what humiliation for the courier and his senders,
So woe to the parched wilderness and its makers
when the wanton woman unseals his letter-pouches!
When their ruinous schemes are laid bare
Sol 6.1