Al Faswlu r-Raabiu · الْفَصْلُ الرّابِعُ

أَبَانَ مَوْلِدُهُ عَنْ طِيبِ عُنْصُرِهِ
يَا طِيبَ مُبْتَدَإٍ مِنْهُ وَمُخْتَتَمِ

Abāna mawliduhu ʿan ṭībi ʿunṣurihi
Yā ṭība mubtadaʾin minhu wa mukhtatami

His birth made the purity of his pedigree evident; O how pure were his beginning and his end!

يَوْمٌ تَفَرَّسَ فِيهِ الفُرْسُ أَنَّهُمُ
قَدْ أُنْذِرُوا بِحُلُولِ البُؤْسِ وَالنِّقَمِ

Yawmun tafarrasa fīhil fursu annahumu
Qad undhirū biḥulūlil buʾsi wan niqami

On that day the Persians intuited that they Had been warned of looming misery and retribution.

وَبَاتَ إِيوَانُ كِسْرَى وَهُوَ مُنْصَدِعٌ
كَشَمْلِ أَصْحَابِ كِسْرَى غَيْرَ مُلْتَئِمِ

Wa bāta īwānu kisrā wa huwa munṣadiʿun
Ka shamli aṣ-ḥābi kisrā ghayra multaʾimi

That night the throne room of Khusraw became cracked, Khusraw’s people, too, crumbled, never to be restored.

وَالنَّارُ خَامِدَةُ الأَنْفَاسِ مِنْ أَسَفٍ
عَلَيْهِ وَالنَّهْرُ سَاهِي العَيْنِ مِنْ سَدَمِ

Wan nāru khāmidatul anfāsi min asafin
ʿAlayhi wan nahru sāhil ʿayni min sadami

The sacred fire, grief-stricken, breathed its last, And the river [Euphrates] dried up out of worry.

وَسَاءَ سَاوَةَ أَنْ غَاضَتْ بُحَيْرَتُهَا
وَرُدَّ وَارِدُهَا بِالغَيْظِ حِينَ ظَمِي

Wa sāʾa sāwata an ghāḍat buḥayratuhā
Wa rudda wāriduhā bil ghayẓi ḥīna ẓamī

Sāʾa was saddened by its lake drying up; the thirsty who went to drink there came back in a rage!

كَأَنَّ بِالنَّارِ مَا بِالمَاءِ مِنْ بَلَلٍ
حُزْنًا وَبِالمَاءِ مَا بِالنَّارِ مِنْ ضَرَمِ

Ka anna bin nāri mā bil māʾi min balalin
Ḥuznan wa bil māʾi mā bin nāri min ḍarami

As if the fire, from sorrow, took on the water’s wetness And water assumed the fire’s quality of blazing.

وَالجِنُّ تَهْتِفُ وَالأَنْوَارُ سَاطِعَةٌ
وَالحَّقُ يَظْهَرُ مِنْ مَعْنىً وَمِنْ كَلِمِ

Wal jinnu tahtifu wal anwāru sāṭiʿatun
Wal ḥaqqu yaẓ-haru min maʿnan wa min kalimi

There were jinn calling out, and dazzling lights As truth was manifested in both word and reality.

عَمُوا وَصَمُّوا فَإِعْلاَنُ البَشَائِرِ لَمْ
يُسْمَعْ وَبَارِقَةُ الإِنْذَارِ لَمْ تُشَمِ

ʿAmmū wa ṣammū fa iʿlānul bashāʾiri lam
Yusmaʿ wa bāriqatul indhāri lam tushami

They were blind and deaf, so the glad tidings proclaimed Went unheard, and the warning lightning-flash was not seen.

مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا أَخْبَرَ الأَقْوَامَ كَاهِنُهُمْ
بِأَنَّ دِينَهُمُ المُعْوَجَّ لَمْ يَقُمِ

Min baʿdi mā akhbaral aqwāma kāhinuhum
Bi anna dīnahumul muʿwajja lam yaqumi

Even after the soothsayers had informed their peoples That their crooked religion would not endure,

وَبَعْدَمَا عَايَنُوا فِي الأُفْقِ مِنْ شُهُبٍ
مُنْقَضَّةٍ وَفْقَ مَا فِي الأَرْضَ مِنْ صَنَمِ

Wa baʿda mā ʿāyanū fīl ufqi min shuhubin
Munqaḍḍatin wifqa mā fīl arḍi min ṣanami

And even after their eyes saw meteors on the horizon Plunging downwards, as idols were toppled on earth;

حَتَّى غَدَا عَنْ طَرِيقِ الْوَحْيِ مُنْهَزِمٌ
مِنَ الشَّيَاطِينِ يَقْفُوا إِثْرَ مُنْهَزِمِ

Ḥattā ghadā ʿan ṭarīqil waḥyī munhazimun
Minash shayāṭīni yaqfū ithra munhazimi

Until devils, routed, from the path of revelation, Fled in the wake of those who had been overpowered.

كَأَنَّهُمْ هَرَبًا أَبْطَالُ أَبْرَهَةٍ
أَوْ عَسْكَرٍ بِالحَصَى مِنْ رَاحَتَيْهِ رُمِي

Ka annahum haraban abṭālu abrahatin
Aw ʿaskarin bil ḥaṣā min rāḥatayhi rumī

Fleeing like the brave warriors of Abraha Or the army pelted by pebbles thrown by his hand,

نَبْذًا بِهِ بَعْدَ تَسْبِيحٍ بِبَطْنِهِمَا
نَبْذَ المُسَبِّحِ مِنْ أَحْشَاءِ مُلْتَقِمِ

Nabdhan bihi baʿda tasbīḥin bi baṭnihimā
Nabdhal musabbiḥi min aḥshāʾi multaqimi

Cast by him after glorifying Allah in the palm of his hand, As he who glorified his Lord was cast from the whale.