أُقَاتِلُ مَهديُّا وَتِلكَ سَفَاهَةٌ

أُقَاتِلُ مَهديُّا وَتِلكَ سَفَاهَةٌ

وَأَمرٌ بَدَا لِى غَيُّهُ مُتَفَاقِمُ

وَأَمرٌ بَدَا لِى غَيُّهُ مُتَفَاقِمُ

I fight a Mahdi—and that is folly,

I fight Mahdiyya, though it was sheer folly,

And a venture whose mounting error has become clear to me.

And the matter seemed to me increasingly obscure,

فَلَمَّا أَتَتَنَا شِيعَةُ اللهِ تَدّعِى

فَلَمَّا أَتَتَنَا شِيعَةُ اللهِ تَدّعِى

لَهَا لَهَبٌ تَبيَضُّ مِنهُ المَقَادِمُ

لَهَا لَهَبٌ تَبيَضُّ مِنهُ المَقَادِمُ

So when God's followers came to us, claiming

Until the partisans of God came to us alleging

That theirs was a blaze that turns forelocks white,

Their zeal blazed against the oncomers.

فَدَارَت رَحَانَا سَاعَةً وَرَحاهُمُ

فَدَارَت رَحَانَا سَاعَةً وَرَحاهُمُ

وَطَاحَت أَكُفٌّ بَينَنَا وَجَماجِمُ

وَطَاحَت أَكُفٌّ بَينَنَا وَجَماجِمُ

Our millstone turned for a while, and theirs,

So we milled a while confounded, and they milled,

And hands and skulls fell between us.

And palms fell between us and skulls.

أُطَفِّرُ حِيطَانَ السَّبِيعِ وإِنَّنِى

أُطَفِّرُ حِيطَانَ السَّبِيعِ وإِنَّنِى

بِأَبوَابِ حِيطَانِ السَّبِيعِ لَعَالِم

بِأَبوَابِ حِيطَانِ السَّبِيعِ لَعَالِم

I vault the walls of al-Sabīʿ, and indeed I

I purify the enclosure's walls, and I

Know full well the gates of al-Sabīʿ's walls.

At the enclosure's walls' gates am wise.