أَهاشمُ تَيمٌ جلَّ منكِ ارتكابُها

حرامٌ بغير المُرهفاتِ عتابُها

The transgressions of the Banu Umayyah, O Hashim,

Are forbidden except for those who reproach them.

هي القُرحةُ الأُولى التي مضَّ داؤها

بأحشاكِ حتَّى ليس يبرى انشعابُها

It was the first wound whose disease spread

Through the intestines until its lesions could not be healed.

لقد أوجعتْ منكِ القلوبَ بلسعِها

عقاربُ ضِغن أعقبَتها دبابها

It pained the hearts with its sting,

The sting of lethal scorpions followed by their crawling.

إلى الآن يَبرى سمُّها منكِ مهجةً

بإبرتِها قد شُقَّ عنها حِجابها

To this day its poison spews out from you a burning blaze,

Its needle pierced through its veil.

كأن لم يكن ضدًّا سواه مقاوِماً

حياتَكِ مقصوراً عليها ذِهابُها

It was as if none had withstood it except in opposition,

Its life limited to its destruction.

لها الغدرُ لم تسلَم لباري نفوسِها

فتُلوى لمن وُلي عليها رِقابها

Treachery belonged to it, it did not save the souls of its people

So their necks were twisted to whoever governed over them.

ولا صدَّقت يوماً بما في كتابِه

فتخشى الذي يَحصي عليها كتابُها

It never believed in the Book for a day,

So it feared the One who enumerates its records against it.

ولا آمنتْ باللهِ لم يغدُ في الورى

بإِمرةِ مولى المُؤمنين خِطابها

It did not believe in God, and so there did not remain in existence,

With the authority of the Leader of the Faithful, its discourse.

علتْ فوق أعوادِ الرسول لبيعةٍ

بها مِن ثقيل الوزر طال احتقابها

It climbed over the pillars of the Messenger for an oath of allegiance

Through which sins heavily burdened it.

تُقلِّب بين المسلمين أناملاً

تُريكَ عن الإِسلام كيف انقلابُها

It turns its fingers between the Muslims,

Showing you how it turned away from Islam.

أعدْ نظراً نحو الخلافة أيّما

أحقُّ بأن تضفو عليه ثيابها

Reconsider the caliphate—who is more deserving

That it adorns him with its clothes?

أَمن هو نفسٌ للنبي أم التي

له كان داءاً سِلمُها واقترابها

Is it he who was as the Prophet's own soul, or she

For whom he was an illness which her approaching only worsened?

ومن دحرجَ الأعداءَ عنه أم التي

له دُحرجت تحتَ الظلامِ دُبابُها

And who repelled the enemies from him, or she whom

The enemies repelled into the darkness of her crawling?

يقولون بالإِجماع وُلِّي أمرها

ضئيلُ بني تيم ليُنفى ارتيابها

They claim by consensus that its affair was undertaken—

The insignificant Banu Umayyah, to dispel doubts about it!

وهل مَدخلاً للرُشد أبقى وفيه مِن

مدينةِ عِلم الله قد سُدَّ بابها

And is there any path to proper guidance that remains

When the gate to the City of God's Knowledge is blocked against it?

بَلى عدِلتْ عن عَيبةِ العِلم واقتدت

بمن مُلئت من كل عيبٍ عيابها

Rather, it turned away from the cloak of knowledge and followed

One filled with every disgrace and fault.

ولو لم يكن عَبدٌ مِن الله لم تَنَلْ

ولا لعقةً ممَّا تحلَّت كلابها

Had he not been a servant of God, it would not have attained

Even a sip of what its dogs have worn.

فللهِ ما جرَّت سقيفةُ غيِّها

على مرشديها يومَ جَلَّ مُصابها

So by God, how its misguided assembly on the day of its affliction

Dragged its guides when its calamity befell!

بها ضَربتْ غَصباً على مُلكِ أحمدٍ

بكفِّ عَديٍّ واستمرَّ اغتِصابُها

Through it, they forcibly usurped Ahmad's kingdom

With the palms of enemies, and its usurpation endured.

إلى حيث بالأَمرِ استبدَّت أُميَّةٌ

فأَسفرَ عن وجهِ الضَّلالِ نقابها

To the point that the Umayyads took control of the matter,

And the veil of misguidance was stripped from its face.

وأبدت حقودَ الجاهلية بعد ما

لخوفٍ من الإِسلام طال احتجابها

It manifested the resentments of Ignorance after

Fear of Islam had prolonged its isolation.

وسلَّت سيوفاً أَظمأَ الله حدَّها

فأَضحى إلى دمُ الهادين وهو شَرابها

It unsheathed swords that God has forever blunted their sharpness,

Until the blood of the guided became its drink.

فقل لِنزارٍ سوِّمي الخيل إنَّها

تحنُّ إلى كرِّ الطِراد عِرابُها

Say to Nuzr—ready the horses, for

They yearn for the strike of lances.

لها إن وهبتِ الأرض يوماً أَرَتكِها

قد انحطَّ خلفَ الخافِقينِ ترابها

For them, if the land grants you its plains one day,

Its dust will settle behind the galloping horses.

حرامٌ على عينيكِ مضمضةُ الكَرى

فإنَّ لَيالي الهمِّ طال حسابها

Tasting the bitterness of estrangement is forbidden to your eyes,

For the nights of anxiety have prolonged their count.

فلا نومَ حتَّى توقَد الحرب منكُم

بملمومةٍ شهباء يُذكي شهابها

Thus no sleep until war ignites from you

With a blaze whose flames it kindles.

تَساقى بأفواهِ الضُبا مِن أُميَّةٍ

مُدام نجيعٍ والرُؤس حُبابها

It takes turns drinking with the mouths of wolves from the Umayyads

A draft of morning dew—and their heads are stones.

كأنَّ بأيديها الضُبا وبنودُها

إلى مهج الأبطالِ تَهوي حِرابها

In their hands, the wolves and their cubs

Swoop down upon the chests of heroes.

فِراخُ المنايا في الوكور لرِقِّها

قد التقَطت حبَّ القلوبِ عقابُها

The young of death in the meadows, in their softness

Have picked off the love of hearts—its eagles.

عَجبتُ لكم أن لا تجيش نفوسكم

وأَن لا يقيئَ المرهفاتِ قِرابها

I wonder at you—why do your souls not rage

And why do the heartache-stricken not retch?

وهذي بنو عَصَّارة الخمرِ أصبحت

على مِنبر الهادي يَطنُّ ذُبابها

Buzzing flies over the guided leader’s pulpit.

You have slumbered while it seeks vengeance

رَقدتِ وهبَّت منكِ تطلبُ وِترها

إلى أن شَفى الحِقد القديم طِلابُها

Until the ancient hatred is appeased through its seekers.

They have shed from themselves the black mourning garb they once wore

نَضت مِن سواد الثُّكل ما قد كسوتها

وأصبحنَ حُمراً من دِماكِ ثيابها

And dawned red from your blood their clothes.

Is it that every day the breast of Ibn Ghaba

أَفي كلِّ يومٍ منكِ صدرُ ابن غابةٍ

تَبيت عليهِ رابضاتٍ ذيابها

Has clawing beasts settled on it?

His conquests tear apart the viscera of the Imamate,

يُمزِّق أَحشاءَ الإِمامةِ ظِفرها

عِناداً ويُدمى من دم الوحي نابُها

Stubbornly, and his fangs bloodily bite it.

By God, how impotent are its enfeebled ones,

لكِ الله من موتورةٍ هانَ غَلبُها

وعهدي بها صَعب المرام غلابها

And my oath—their matter is most distressing!

It is as if your swords were not of solid rock

كأَن من بني صَخرٍ سيوفك لم تكن

مَقامَ جفونِ العين قام ذبابها

That they stand before the eyelids, though flies alight.

Even as if no rods of poison had been scattered in their chests

وحَتَّى كأن لم تنتثر في صدورِها

أنابيب سمرٍ لم تَخنك حِرابُها

Which your swords failed to breach.

Is it true that the sheaths contain your inheritance

أَفي الحقِّ أن تحوي صفايا تراثكم

أَكفٌّ عن الإِسلامِ طال انجذابها

While hands refrain from Islam—prolonged is their pulling away?

And that your blood spills in the living wastefully

وتَذهب في الأحياءِ هدراً دماؤكم

ويبطل حتَّى عند حَربِ طِلابها

While seeking it in war is fruitless?

Rise up with fury against the filth of snakes

هَبوا ما على رُقشِ الأفاعي غَضاضةً

إذا سلَّ منها ذات يوم إهابها

If their robes are lowered from them one day.

Does the snake forgive when it meets

فَهل تصفح الأَفعى إذا ما تلاقيا

على تِرةٍ كفُّ السليمِ وَنابها

The palm of the unmarred hand and its fang?

Does it bring it out from its burrow

أيخرجها من مستكنِّ وِجارها

ويَصفو له بالرغم منها لَصابها

And clear its path despite it, unharmed its wrist?

Does it soften it until it bloodies its proboscis

ويَطرِقها حتَّى يدمِّي صماخَها

بكفٍّ له أَثَّرنَ قدماً نيابها

With a palm calloused by the bites of its teeth?

And it flows down from it, not winding around its fingers,

وتنساب عَنه لَم تساوِر بَنانَه

بِنهشٍ ولم يَعطب حشاه لعابها

Nor wounding its forearm with a bite?

Then why have the Umayyads become like the vipers

فما تلكَ مِن شأنِ الأفاعي فلِم غَدتْ

بها مُضر الحمراء ترضى غضابها

While Mudar is pleased with its wrath?

Have patience—the ways of early Muslims were not

أَصبراً وأَعرافُ السوابق لم يَكن

من الدّم في ليلِ الكفاحِ اختضابُها

To dye the night of struggle with blood.

Have patience—no error was raised from the blot

أَصبراً ولم تُرفع من النقع ضلّةٌ

يُحيل بياضَ المشرقين ضُبابها

That would transform the radiance of the two horizons into mist.

Have patience—the line of poetry does not seek

أَصبراً وسمرُ الخَطِّ لا متقصِّدٌ

قَناها ولم تندقّ طعناً حِرابها

To compose it, nor swords to stab it.

Have patience—the Indian blade does not blunt its edge

أَصبراً وبيضُ الهندِ لم يُثن حدّها

ضِرابٌ يَردّ الشوس تُدمى رقابها

From a blow that reddens necks when it severs them.

Those women of yours wail at the watering places,

وتِلكَ بأَجراعِ الطفوفِ نِساؤكم

عَليها الفلا اسودَّت وضاقت رحابها

Over them the open air has darkened and its expanse narrowed.

Those women of yours wail at the watering places,

وتِلكَ بأَجراعِ الطفوفِ نِساؤكم

يَهدُّ الجبالَ الراسيات انتحابُها

Whose passionate laments topple mountains.

They are captive ladies whom no eyebrow had forbidden,

حَواسرَ بين القوم لم تلقَ حاجباً

لها اللهُ حَسرى أين منها حِجابها

By God, what loss—where are their veils?

Their livers blaze from thirst

كجمرِ الغَضا أكبادُهنَّ من الظما

بِقفرٍ لُعاب الشمسِ فيه شرابُها

In a wasteland whose saliva is the sun’s drink.

They heave scorching, panting breaths

تُردِّدُ أنفاساً حِراراً وتَنثني

لها عبراتٍ ليسَ ينثني انصبابها

With sobbing unlike any outpouring.

Some thus set the valleys aflame while others

فَهاتيكَ يُحرقن الغوادي وهذِه

يَنوب منابَ الغاديات انسكابها

Take the place of departed weepers, their flowing.

Voices from the heights of glorious Quraysh, a tribe

هواتفُ من عَليا قريشٍ بعصبةٍ

قَضوا كسيوفِ الهند فُلَّ ذُبابها

That spent their Indian swords and emptied their sheaths.

They marched where feet do not wander astray

مَضوا حيثُ لا الأقدامُ طائشة الخطا

ولا رُجّح الأحلام خَفَّت هضابُها

And hopes do not sway—their plateaus crumbled.

It assails them with a rebuke, though it is

تُطارِحهم بالعَتبِ شجواً وإنَّما

دَماً فجّر الصخر الأصمّ عتابها

Blood a deaf rock made gush—its reprimand.

It calls in a voice that shakes the earth,

تنادي بصوت زلزل الأرض في الورى

شجى ضعفه حتَّى لَخيف انقلابها

A lamentation so weak the land nearly overturned.

Young lions! Where are you from your does

أفتيان فِهرٍ أين عن فتياتِكم

حميَّتكم والأُسد لم يُحم غابها

When your zeal did not protect their jungle?

Young lions! Where are you from your does

أفتيان فِهرٍ أين عن فتياتِكم

حفيظتكم في الحرب أن صرَّ نابها

When war came calling and its fang bared?

Do you cower in fear though your armor remains white

أتصفرُّ من رعبٍ ولم تنض بيضكم

فيحمرَّ من سُود المنايا إهابُها

And the russet hides of death have not donned it?

Does war defeat them, seizing their coats,

وتقهرها حربٌ على سلب بُردِها

وأرجُلها بغياً يُباح انتهابها

While their feet in force may be ransacked?

Does it leave them no choice in a barren wasteland of searing heat,

وتتركها قسراً ببيداءَ من لظى

هواجرها كادت تذوب هضابها

Nearly melting its plateau refugees?

At a time when no numbness from fracture

على حين لا خدرٌ تقيلُ بِكسره

عن الشمس حيث الأرض يغلي ترابها

Protects from the sun where the land boils its soil.

So the crying women of the horizons of earth and sky

فوادحُ أجرى مقلة الأرض والسَّما

دماً صَبغت وجه الصعيدِ مصابُها

Bled and dyed the face of the plain—their wounds.

O you who are the guided and the elite

فيا من هُم الهادون والصفوةُ التي

عن اللهِ قُرباً قاب قوسين قابها

Near to God, a bowshot away or nearer.

Upon you is God's peace, lasting for life

عليكم سلامُ اللهِ ما ديمُ الحيا

مَرتها صَبا ريح فدرَّ سحابها

Whose spring the passing winds scattered its clouds.