How many a corpse did we leave sprawled upon the ground, blood still pouring between jaw and collar-bone. (1)
How many a clash in the Mountain Pass wiped out your champions; we drove them away by force as cattle are driven.
We wheeled upon your fortress of Artah, whose women lay dazed beneath the whirling dust raised by keen blades.
Its lofty towers collapsed, its very outline was transformed—from a haven of soft-skinned beauties to a savage waste.
If an owl hoots there, the echo answers it, and the mourning of doves follows throughout the deserted quarter.
Nor is Antioch beyond my reach; one day I shall take it, profaning all that is held inviolable.
Damascus—the dwelling place of my forefathers—I shall restore our sovereignty there and seal it beneath my signet ring.
Egypt, too, I shall seize outright with my sword (2), and from it gather wealth to feed my herds.
I shall reward Kāfūr as he deserves: with a comb, a pair of shears, and the trimming of cupping-horns.
Gird yourselves, O people of Harran, gird yourselves! The armies of Rome have come upon you like gathering clouds.
If you flee you will escape with honor and be spared the king who thirsts for the blood of the peaceable.
Beyond you lie Nisibis and Mosul—on to al-Jazīra, land of my fathers and realm of the ancients.
I shall conquer Sāmarrā, Kūthā, ʿUkbarā, Tikrīt as well, together with Mardin, those fortified capitals (3);
their men I will slay to the last, and their wealth I will seize for my battalions (4).
Bestir yourselves, O people of Baghdad—woe to you! Every one of you is weak and unresisting.
You were content with a Daylamī for your caliph and have become slaves to Daylamī slaves.
And you who dwell in the sandy wastes—woe to you!—return to the land of Ṣanʿāʾ and the plains of Tihāma;
go back in humiliation to the Ḥijāz and leave the lands of Rome to their noble people.
I shall send my armies toward Baghdad, advancing to Bāb Ṭāq where stands the Dār al-Qumāqim.
I shall burn its upper quarters, tear down its walls, and carry off its offspring, despite whoever objects.
Its riches and furnishings I will seize, and all who remain I will put to the sword of vengeance.
Then I shall hasten with my army toward Ahwāz to take its silks and rich brocades;
I shall set it ablaze for plunder, lay its palaces in ruin (5), and carry off its offspring, just as the ancients once did.