1. يزدادَ هجراً كلَّ ما كَلما

    فيمن بسيفِ الهجر قد كَلما

    He grows more distant whenever he is addressed,

    from those he has wounded with estrangement's sword.

  2. كلمهُ في جفنهِ مغمداً

    لو سلَّ ما في الجفنِ ما سَلَما

    It wounded him while sheathed in his eyelid;

    had he drawn what lay in that sheath, he would not have escaped unharmed.

  3. ظبي من الإِنس تعلقته

    ومرّ ما يلوى على من رما

    A gazelle among humankind, whom I loved,

    passed on, not turning toward the one he had struck.

  4. أو همه الواشي بما يفتري

    مختلفاً فأوه ما أوهما

    The slanderer misled him with what he fabricates,

    in varying forms—ah, how deceptive he was!

  5. ما ند من نطقي لفظ به

    أقول مني ندماً ندما

    No word slips from my speech for which

    I say regretfully, 'Something slipped from me.'

  6. حرم وصلي قابلاً كيده

    فاشتد عندي حرماً حرما

    He forbade union with me, accepting his plot;

    the sanctuary he forbade grew more inaccessible to me.

  7. يا مرسلاً في الغيد ألحاظه

    إِن الدما يعتدنَ سفك الدما

    O you who send your glances among graceful beauties,

    those doll-like beauties are accustomed to shedding blood.

  8. أضرم في قلبي بهجرانه

    نيرانه فضرما ضرّما

    Through his abandonment, he kindled in my heart

    his fires, setting a blaze fiercely aflame.

  9. قالوا اله عنه قَلت حبي له

    ان اله ما اسرع ما الهما

    They said, 'Forget him.' I said, 'My love for him—

    if I turn away, how swiftly it inspires me!'

  10. وفاتر الألحاظِ منه دمو

    عي عن دماً تسكب أو عندَ ما

    And that languid-eyed one—from him my tears

    pour out as blood, or as crimson dye.

  11. قالوا فتور اللحظ قد كله

    قلت لهم لو كل ما كلما

    They said, 'The languor of his glance has blunted it.'

    I told them, 'Were it blunt, it would not wound.'

  12. علامَ لاموا الصبَّ في حبهِ

    لاموه ما هو فيهم موهما

    Why did they blame the lovesick man for loving him?

    They blamed him, though he misled none of them.

  13. مهلاً فيحى اليوم قد هدما

    بنى من الجور وقد هدما

    Gently! For Yahya today has demolished

    the structures of injustice; indeed, he has demolished them.

  14. الطاهر الملك الذي قط ما

    كبحرهِ بحرُ ندى قد طما

    The pure king—never

    has a sea of bounty surged like his sea.

  15. مظفرُ الجيش فما حطه

    للحرب إلاّ حط ما حطّما

    Victorious is his army: never has he deployed it

    for war without bringing down what it shattered.

  16. وظلتِ الأرض تنادي به

    يا جيش يحيى أدما الدما

    And the earth kept calling out to him:

    'O army of Yahya, keep the blood flowing!'

  17. قد رويت غيثاً وما سيلا

    وتبغي منه ما يصيبها منهما

    She has drunk her fill of rain and floodwater,

    and seeks from him what reaches her from both.

  18. فاشددْ على الأعداء والمس لما

    يأتي رضى ربك والمسلما

    Press hard against the enemies, and reach for what

    brings your Lord's approval and the Muslim's.

  19. وقل لأعدا الله بعد فما

    أكذب من ينطق منكم فما

    And then tell God's enemies, 'How

    lying is the mouth of whoever among you speaks!'

  20. من قدم الخير لنا منكم

    فشره قد قدّ ما قدما

    Whoever among you has offered us good,

    his evil has cut to pieces whatever he offered.

  21. ومن يتب منكم إلى ربه

    وربما يغفر له الربُّ ما

    And whoever among you repents to his Lord—

    perhaps the Lord will forgive him what he has done.

  22. ما أقرب الرحمة من مجرم

    بالتوبِ أعطى أجر ما أجرما

    How near mercy is to an offender

    who, through repentance, is granted reward for what he committed!

  23. قل لذوي الكفرِ أسلموا واحذروا

    فليس يحيى مسلماً مسلما

    Tell the unbelievers, 'Embrace Islam, and beware:

    Yahya will not surrender a Muslim.'

  24. فخصمه المغرور كاللاحس

    الموس ما يحيى به موسما

    His deluded opponent is like someone licking

    a razor: he will not survive it for a season.

  25. ويا ذوي الإِفساد توبوا فما

    أفلح بان رض ما رضما

    And you who spread corruption, repent, for no

    builder prospers who crushes what he piled up.

  26. لا بدّ للطاعات أن تبتمَ

    ولن ما تختصكم بالنما

    Acts of obedience are indispensable if you have repented [wording uncertain];

    and will not [unclear wording] favor you with increase.

  27. واخشوا سطا يحي فصمصامه

    مجرب ما قل ما قل ما

    Fear Yahya's onslaught, for his keen sword

    is tried and tested; what it has cut down is no little thing.

  28. ما منه منجا اينَما كنتم

    الطير ما يستبعد الطير ما

    There is no escape from him, wherever you are.

    The birds—he does not deem the birds beyond reach [ending unclear].

  29. وجار يحيى اليوم في منعةٍ

    قداس ما يسكنُه في السما

    And Yahya's neighbor today enjoys protection;

    he has raised him high, lodging him in the heavens,

  30. في نعمةٍ واسعة في المبا

    ني الفيح مازال بها في حما

    amid abundant blessings, in the

    spacious buildings, always sheltered there.