Mu‘tamid was the king of Seville and an Arabic poet. He was defeated and imprisoned by a ruler of Spain. Mu‘tamid’s poems have been translated into English and published in the ‘Wisdom of the East’ series. In my breast, a wail of grief, without any spark or flash; alone survives, passionless, ineffectual.

A free man is in prison today, without a spear or a sword; regret overwhelms me and also my strategy.

My heart is drawn by instinct to chains. Perhaps my sword was of the same steel.

Once I had a two-edged sword – it turned into the chains that shackle me now. How whimsical and indifferent is the Author of fates.