He ushered in justice and beneficence (1),
restraining the folk of oppression and tyranny.

Patterning himself on the Sunnah of the Messenger
and on the rightly guided men of sound reason,

Islam drank the bitter cup of losing him,
for never again did they behold his like.

Then Yazid (2) succeeded him, and after Yazid came Hisham (3);
then al-Walid (4), beneath whose blows heads were shattered.

Next appeared Yazid (5), called “the Diminisher”;
his appointed end overtook him unawares (6).

Nor (7) was the tenure of Ibrahim (8) extended for long;
every affair of his proved infirm and ailing.

The throne was thereafter entrusted to Marwan (9),
and what befell him is a matter well known.

With him the kingdom came to its extinction,
for Time itself assailed him with its stroke.

He met his death in Upper Egypt, and the multitude of his troops (10)
proved of no benefit to him whatsoever.

In his downfall lay the doom of the house of al-Hakam (11);
from them were stripped (12) every manner (13) of blessing.

Then came the sovereignty of the sons of al-ʿAbbas,
whose foundation among us remains firm to this day.

The pledge of allegiance reached them from the land of the Persians,
and every nation placed its covenant in their hands.

Whoever from among the peoples opposed them
fell prostrate, struck down by their hands and tongues.