يا عارضا بات مثل العرق بارقه — Alluah

O rain cloud, whose lightning was all night like a vein,

And whose flicker was at times like the beating of the heart.

Whenever lightning's mouth parted in a smile,

The cloud wept with it, its thunderbolts crashing down.

Whenever the south wind contended there with the east wind,

Its rain poured from the clouds upon the fragrant herbs.

Whenever lightning faded, the east wind rekindled it, and then

Its lightning streaks began falling like scattered embers.

And if thunder flagged, the south wind urged it on, and never

Did its she-camels cease their rumbling cries.

Then heavy rain poured down where drizzle went before it,

And rain overflowed, its torrent sweeping round the hillocks.

From the mountain-pegs' summits it brought down their white-footed ibex,

Until its male ostriches raced beside it in al-Dahna.

Then it covered the earth completely, leaving no sandy mound

Without turning it into a hollow and submerging it.

As though the horizon were a sea that kept on surging,

Where the north wind beat against it with both her palms.

As though the sky adorned the earth with pearls,

And the meadow with brocade whose patches were fresh and bright.

As though the meadow, since its stars appeared,

Were the sky's shimmer when its eastern lights spread.

The fragrance of lavender and arar flowers wafted through it,

Its night-wandering breeze betrayed it, and its anemones burst open.

Powdered musk falls short of it; it is carried abroad

By the east wind, until its fragrance fills the earth.

O Abu al-Ma'ali, has reconciliation no appointed term

Leading to your favor? Perhaps I might outrun it.

My patience is exhausted, and my consolation has ceased;

For Marwan has no acts of repentance that please him.

If I have become Marwan in your eyes, then sever

His ties at their root, for your anger has lasted so long.

Or if your decree was anger and is then superseded

By another decree—I cannot bear the decree of anger—

Then confirm for us your second decree, that we may follow it;

For you send it down among us and set it in order.

For God has given you purified virtues,

They grew pure, and He enjoined on you something never to forsake:

To pardon and be pleased, and to restrain this anger,

Is worthier and more fitting, now that its true nature is clear.

What excuse have you for this, when, in this matter,

You accept the sinner upon repentance?

Your anger has split my ribs and shaken me;

And because of it, my head has grayed along its partings.

And you are like the night: even if I went far away, you would overtake me.

And you fasten my rein with kindness.

Be like the Prophet toward Ka'b, when he accepted his excuse,

On the morning Ka'b came to him, though he had reviled him.

The Prophet said: "His protection with me is the same as yours;

Do not kill him, for now I set him free."

Follow his practice, since you are his heir,

A successor—and, by my life, you follow in his steps.

What earth could bear me if you were not pleased,

And what sky's layers have led me astray?