أرى سلمى تصد وما صددنا

وغيرَ صُدودها كنّا أردنا

I see Salma turn away though we sought her not,

And we wished for naught but her embrace.

لقد بَخَلت بنائِلِها علينا

ولو جادت بنائِلها حَمِدنا

She was miserly with her glances towards us,

Had she been generous we would have praised her.

وقد ضنّت بما وعدت وأمست

تَغَيّرَ عهدُها عما عهدنا

She was sparing of her promises, and changed

From the troth we knew, to what we knew not.

ولو علمت بما لاقيتُ سلمى

فتُخبرني وتعلم ما وجدنا

If Salma but knew what I have endured,

She would inform me, and learn what we found.

تُلِمّ على تنائي الدارِ منّا

فيُسهِرُنا الخيالُ إذا رقدنا

The distances of the abode torment me,

When we sleep, yearning keeps us awake.

ألم تر أننا لما ولِينا

أموراً خُرّقت فَوَهت سَدَدنا

Have you not seen, when we turned away,

Matters crumbling, our resolve broken?

رأينا الفتق حين وهى عليهم

وكم مثله من صدعٍ رَفأنا

We saw the cleft when it gaped over them,

And many a breach like it we have patched.

إذا هاب الكريهة من يليها

وأعظمها الهيوبُ لها عمدنا

When fear departs those who harbor it,

And we build the greatest ramparts for them.

وجَبّارٍ تركناه كليلاً

وقائدَ فتنةٍ باغٍ أزلنا

We left the tyrant frail, the rebel violent,

The maker of strife and corruption we removed.

فلا تَنسوا مَواطننا فإنّا

إذا ما عاد أهل الجُرم عُدنا

So forget not our abodes, for when

The sinful return, we shall come back.

وما هِيضَت مَكاسرُ من جَبَرنا

ولا جُبِرَت مُصيبةُ مَن هَدَدنا

Nor will the fortunes of those we forced, wane,

Nor will the misfortune of those we threatened, be mended.

ألا من مُبلغٌ عَنّي هِشاماً

فما منا البلاءُ وما بَعُدنا

Oh you who will meet Hisham, say to him:

We did not seek calamity, nor did we flee from it.

وما كنا إلى الخلفاء نُفضي

ولا كنا نُؤخَّرُ إن شَهِدنا

We did not divulge our secrets to the Caliphs,

Nor did we delay if we were present and called.

ألم يكُ بالبلاءِ لنا جزاءٌ

فنُجزى بالمحاسنِ أم حُسِدنا

Was not calamity our recompense,

So we are rewarded with favors or envied?

وقد كان الملوك يَرون حقاً

لوافِدِنا فنُكرمُ إن وَفَدنا

Kings saw rights upon our arriving envoys,

We were honored if we came, we hosted if they came.

وَلينا الناس أزماناً طِوالاً

وسُسْناهم ودُسناهم وقُدنا

We led the people for ages long,

We protected them, guided them, and lit their paths.

وكان أبوك قد أسدى إلينا

جَسيمةَ أمرهِ وبه سَعدنا

Your father did right by us,

His great affair brought us fortune.

كذلك أول الخلفاء كانوا

بنا جدّوا كما بهُم جدَدنا

So too the first Caliphs,

Were earnest with us, as we were earnest with them.

همُ آباؤنا وهُم بَنونا

لنا جُبلوا كما لهم جُبلنا

They are our fathers, and their sons are ours,

Molded for us, as we were molded for them.

ونَكوي بالعداوة مَن بغانا

ونُسعِدُ بالمودّة مَن وَدِدنا

We shun with enmity those who wronged us,

And befriend with affection those who befriended us.

نرى حقاً لسائلِنِا علينا

فنَحبوه ونُجزلُ إن وعَدنا

We see rights upon us for our petitioners,

So we love them and give abundantly if we promise.

ونَضمَنُ جارنا ونراه منّا

فنَرفُدُه ونجزِلُ إن رَفَدنا

We guarantee our neighbor, seeing him as ours,

So we give generously if he gives generously.

وما نَعتدّ دون المجد مالاً

إذا يُغلى بمكرُمة أفدنا

We covet no wealth beyond glory,

If we are munificent we gain more to give.

وأتلدُ مجدِنا أنّا كرامٌ

بِحدّ المشرفيّةِ عنه ذُدنا

Our glory is engendered, for we are generous,

We were shielded from baseness by noble lineage.