TASIN OF MOHAMMED
The Spirit of Abu Jahl Laments in the Sanctuary of the Kaaba

My breast is riven and anguished by this Mohammed;
his breath has put out the burning lamp of the Kaaba.
He has sung of the destruction of Caesar and Chosroes,
he has stolen away from us our young men. 910
He is a wizard, and wizardry is in his speech:
these two words ‘One God’ are very unbelief.
So he has rolled up the carpet of our fathers’ faith
and has done with our Lord Gods what he has done.
The blow of his fist has scattered Lat and Manat: 915
take vengeance upon him, you created beings!
He bound his heart to the invisible, broke with the visible,
his incantation shattered the living, present image.
It is wrong to attach the eye to the invisible;
that which comes not into sight-wherever is it? 920
It is blindness to make prostration to the invisible;
the new religion is blindness, and blindness is remoteness.
To bend double before an undimensioned God
such prayers bring no joy to the worshipper.
His creed cuts through the rulership and lineage 925
of Koraish, denies the supremacy of the Arabs;
in his eyes lofty and lowly are the same thing
he has sat down at the same table with his slave.
He has not recognized the worth of the noble Arabs
but associated with uncouth Abyssinians; 930
redskins have been confounded with blackskins,
the honour of tribe and family has been destroyed.
This equality and fraternity are foreign things—
I know very well that Salman is a Mazdakite;
The son of Abdullah has been duped by him 935
and he has brought disaster upon the Arab people.
Hashim’s progeny have become estranged one from another,
a couple of prayers have utterly blinded them.
What is alien stock, compared with the Adnani,
what betokens Sahbani speech to the barbarian? 940
The eyes of the elect of the Arabs have been darkened;
will you not rise up, Zuhair, from the dust of the tomb?
You who are for us a guide through this desert,
shatter the spell of the chant of Gabriel!
Tell again, you Black Stone, now tell again, 945
tell again what we have suffered through Mohammed!
Hubal, thou who acceptest the excuses of thy servants,
seize back thy temple from the irreligious ones;
expose their flock unto the ravening wolves,
make their dates bitter upon the palm-tree! 950
Let loose a burning wind on the air of the desert
as if they were stumps of fallen-down palm-trees
O Manat, O Lat, go not forth from this abode,
or if you leave this abode, go not from our hearts!
You who have forever a lodging in our eyes, 955
tarry a little, if you intend to depart from me.