2-Baghdad During the Mongol Campaigns: Saadi Shirazi as a Witness

English Translation

Part Two

Where now are the Sons of Abbas, the pride of all mankind, endowed with approved virtues and radiant, noble brows?

Their story has become mere night-tales among men—tales that pierce and bleed the ears like thrusting spears!

In the narrated tradition, the faith of Muhammad returns as a stranger, just as in the beginning of affairs.

Is anything stranger than returning as it began, while captives from the abode of peace are dragged to the lands of disbelief?

May the Tigris never flow down after the Caliphs, and may its banks never sprout green, leafy foliage!

It is as though the blood of the two brothers blossomed at the altar of the slain, staining its banks crimson.

The acacia trees of the desert, the wormwood, and the Ghada shrubs wept, so intensely did the desert crows wail.

Is a sermon recited from the heights of the minbars, while Al-Musta’sim Billah is erased from the mention?

Frogs leap and play joyfully around the water—can Jonah endure this while trapped in the deep abyss?

Crows crowded around the ruins, forcing the noble Phoenix to retreat and cling to its nest.

O Ahmad, the protected one! You are not a loser; your soul is in Paradise, where hardship turns into ease.

The Gardens of Eden are surrounded by tribulations; surely there must be thorns upon the branch of fresh dates!

Rejoice in the sweetness of life in the seat of divine favor, and leave the carrion of this world to the flock of vultures!

There is no difference between one slain and one who died naturally, if I stand living after your grave and decaying bones.

The greeting of a yearning heart and a thousand mercies upon the martyrs purified of all sin!

Congratulations to them for drinking the cup of death overflowing, and for the vast reward awaiting them with Allah!

Think not that Allah will fail in His promise to grant them the Abode of Honor and glad tidings.

Upon them be the peace of Allah every night in the slaughterhouse of Al-Zawra (Baghdad) until the break of dawn!

Is there any rank higher than the office of the Caliphate? Come and behold what the final outcome was!

Oh, how I wish my eardrums had gone deaf before hearing of the torn veils of noble women held in captivity!

Explaining:

Al-Ghurar al-Zuhur (Radiant Foreheads/Nobles): A plural of ghurra; it refers to luminous faces and noble, illustrious lineages of impeccable reputation.

Samar (Nighttime discourse) that wounds the ears like Sumur (brown spears): An exquisite poetic paronomasia (pun) between samar (evening conversation among companions) and sumur (formidable brown spears); implying that the news of Baghdad’s fall became a narrative that pierced the ears of Muslims like penetrating spearheads.

The Slaughter at Al-Zawra’: Al-Zawra’ is one of Baghdad’s most famous ancient names (so named due to a bend in the Tigris or a deviation in its original walls); Maqtala signifies a site of epic carnage and mass slaughter.

Musta‘sim bi-Allah: The last Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, Al-Musta‘sim bi-Allah, who was killed by Hulagu and whose name was subsequently erased from sermons, depriving him of the prayers for the Caliph traditionally recited from the pulpits.

Frogs around the water… while the Anqa (Phoenix) remains in its nest: A passage of high symbolism and rhetoric; the frogs and crows represent the rabble of invaders and the ignoble who violated the land, while the Anqa—symbolizing knights, the generous, and scholars—was forced into hiding and seclusion within its nest.

The world’s carrion belongs to the vulture clan: A simile likening the fleeting fortunes of this world to the carcasses and carrion over which vultures and birds of prey fight, contrasting this with the martyrs who attained the “Seat of Truth” in the presence of an All-Powerful King.

The violation of sacred sanctities: The most heart-wrenching line of the elegy. He alludes to the violation of the sanctity and veils of noble, chaste women, and their subsequent captivity.

“May my ear-canal go deaf”: The poet wishes he had been struck with total deafness before hearing the news that the women of the household had been taken captive.

In this passage, Saadi Shirazi depicts the cataclysmic collapse of the Caliphate’s throne and the seats of glory in “Al-Zawra” (Baghdad); he asks bitterly about the Abbasids, whose fate has become a tale that wounds the ears of those who hear it.

The poet links this horrific downfall to the fulfillment of the prophecy regarding the faith returning as a “stranger,” noting how Baghdad’s mosques and pulpits fell silent regarding the Caliph, while invaders—likened to frogs and crows—took over the land.

Yet, the poet elevates his tone to offer solace to the nation regarding the martyrs of the Al-Zawra tragedy and Caliph Al-Musta’sim. He affirms that dying for one’s principles is a passage to the “Abode of Divine Pleasure” and to Paradise—a realm reached through enduring hardships—leaving the carrion of this fleeting world to the scavenging vultures.

The tragedy reaches its peak in the final verse, where he declares that the most heart-wrenching agony is hearing of the violation and captivity of chaste women, wishing for total deafness before his ears could ever witness such anguish.

Arabic Text

فأينَ بنو العباس مُفتَخَر الورى
ذوو الخلقِ المرضيّ والغُرَرِ الزهرِ

غدا سمَراً بينَ الأنامِ حديثُهُم
وذا سمرٌ يُدمى المسامِعَ كالسمرِ

وفي الخبرِ المرويِّ دينُ محمّدٍ
يعودُ غريباً مثلَ مبتَدإِ الأمرِ

أأغرَبَ من هذا يعودُ كما بدا
وسبيُ ديار السلمِ في بلَدِ الكُفرِ

فلا انحَدَرَت بعد الخلائفِ دجلَةٌ
وحافاتُها لا أغشَبَت ورقَ الخُضرِ

كَأنَّ دمَ الأخوَينِ أصبحَ نابِتاً
بمَذبحِ قتلى في جوانبِه الحمرِ

بكَت سمراتُ البيدِ والشيحُ والغضا
لكَثرَةِ ما ناحت أغارِبَة القفرِ

أيُذكَرُ في أعلى المنابرِ خطبَةٌ
ومستَعصِمٌ باللَه لم يك في الذكر

ضفادِعُ حول الماءِ تلعَبُ فرحَةً
أصبَرٌ على هذا ويونُسُ في القعرِ

تزاحَمَت الغربانُ حول رسومِها
فأصبحَت العنقاءُ لازمةَ الوكرِ

أيا أحمدُ المعصومُ لستَ بخاسِرٍ
وروحُك والفردَوس عسرٌ معَ اليُسر

وجنّاتُ عدنٍ خُفِّفَت بمكارِهٍ
فلابُدَّ من شوكٍ على فنَنِ البُسر

تهنأ بطيبِ العيشِ في مقعدِ الرضا
ودَع جيَفِ الدنيا لطائِفَةٍ النسر

ولا فرق ما بين القتيل ومَيِّتٍ
إذا قمتُ حياً بعد رَمسك والنخرِ

تحيّةُ مشتاقٍ والفُ ترَحُّمٍ
على الشهداءِ الطاهرين من الوزرِ

هنيئاً لهم كأسُ المنيّةِ مترَعاً
وما فيه عند اللَه من عظم الأجر

فلا تحسَبَنَّ اللَه مخلِفَ وعدِهِ
بأنّ لهُم دار الكرامةِ والبشرِ

علَيهم سلامُ اللَهِ في كلِّ ليلَةٍ
بمَقتَلَةِ الزورا إلى مطلَعِ الفجرِ

أأبلغُ من أمرِ الخلافةِ رتبَة
هلُمَّ انظروا ما كان عاقِبَةَ الأمر

فلَيتَ صماخي صَمَّ قبل استماعهِ
بهتك أساتير المحارمِ في الأسر