English
The Story of Hajjaj ibn Yusuf
They tell of a certain good man
who refused to pay homage to Hajjaj ibn Yusuf.
Hajjaj shot a sharp look at his chief officer:
'Throw down the mat and spill his blood.'
When the tyrant has no argument left,
he twists his face into rage and picks a fight.
The man of God laughed and then wept,
and the hard hearted, dark minded ruler was amazed.
Seeing him laugh and then cry,
Hajjaj asked, 'What is this laughing and weeping about?'
He said, 'I weep at my fate,
for I have four helpless little children.'
'And I laugh at the pure God's grace,
that I go to my grave wronged, not as the wrongdoer.'
The ruler's son said, 'O renowned king,
hold back your hand from this man of God.'
'People rely on him and turn to him;
it is not wise to kill a whole crowd's hope at once.'
'Practice greatness, forgiveness, and generosity;
think of his small children.'
But I heard he would not listen and shed his blood.
Who can escape the sentence of the Judge above?
That night the ruler slept lost in that thought;
in a dream he saw the man, questioned him, and said:
'For only a moment I inflicted my punishment on you,
yet your torment will stay with me until the Day of Judgment.'
The wronged one does not sleep; fear his sighs,
fear the smoke that rises from his heart at dawn.
Are you not afraid that some night an innocent soul
will send up a cry of 'O Lord' from a burning heart?
Did not Satan do evil and never see any good?
No good ever comes from a rotten seed.