1. فَما وَجدُ مَغلوبٍ بِصَنعاءَ موثَقٍ

    لِساقَيهِ مِن ثِقلِ الحَديدِ كُهولُ

    And not even the anguish of a vanquished man, bound in Sana'a,

    his legs grown feeble beneath the weight of iron,

  2. قَليلُ المَوالي مُستَهامٌ مُرَوَّعٌ

    لَهُ بَعدَ نَوماتِ العِشاءِ عَويلُ

    with few protectors, distraught and terrified,

    who wails after spells of evening sleep,

  3. يَقولُ لَهُ الحَدّادُ أَنتَ مُعَذَبٌ

    غَداةَ غَدٍ أَو مُسلِمٌ فَقَتيلُ

    whose jailer tells him, 'You will be tortured

    tomorrow morning, or surrender and then be slain,'

  4. بِأَعظَمَ مِنّي رَوعَةً يَومَ راعَني

    فِراقُ حَبيبٍ ما إِلَيهِ سَبيلُ

    is greater than my terror on the day I was stricken

    by parting from a beloved whom there is no way to reach.