1. Today the stars smile, and literature rejoices,
And its refined elegance praises its course.

2. Today my fate relents, rights past wrongs,
And remedies all my grievances - how responsive!

3. Today fortune's face brightens, prospects expand,
Gloom dispels, and hardship ends.

4. Today hopes approach, smiling,
Adorned by the dimple and gap-tooth.

5. How many rumbling roars this day unleashes,
As I brace myself against its terrors!

6. Now specters loom before me, now vanish,
Scattering their lights around me, wailing.

7. When their menace grew, I said: “Is this real,
Or just your playfulness?”

8. Enough! Abu Ja'far - whatever scurries over
The earth's surface, or stumbles, or leaps -

9. Enough! The Imam of Guidance whose authority,
No sapling, no feather of an arrow shot in play.

10. Enough! The victorious Imam of Guidance - terror itself
Was filled, and every nook and cranny overflowed.

11. The Prophet's equal - when aggrieved he is consoled -
Alike in nature and character, God's gateway and cause.

12. The revered whom no eye has seen the like of,
Nor any Arab or foreigner witnessed such awe.

13. Regard all people's virtues - the lowest of his
Put theirs to shame, so they veil themselves.

14. How many vicious fires scorching the earth,
Their flames reaching the stars, blaze up!

15. With a glance from him they returned, humbled,
To ice - though that was the least of his wonders.

16. How many a brother, stripped of wealth wrongfully
By rulers' injustice and false decrees!

17. He restored his wealth, unasked, as decades passed,
Pardoning freely.

18. How many a terrifying wasteland, the traveler's heart
Fluttering like a battle flag!

19. He made safe, so women walk it
Freely as cats, at ease.

20. How many gained riches though deemed condemned
To misery, no mother or father!

21. How many burdensome sins, though chained,
The least would savage a stony heart.

22. This is nobility, generosity, open-handedness, virtue -
The perfect man. This is excellence and pedigree.

23. How many a tribe, after dying out, he revived;
All they had were their tombs and ruins.

24. Had Omar the Distinguisher seen his ways,
He would have said: “This is the pillar of Islam, the pole!”

25. And girded his loins, hastening to serve him -
No doubt or suspicion in what I have said.

26. Through him, chivalry was perfected and exalted,
As his forefathers were ennobled.

27. None we see is the equal of Ali - none but him -
Likeness to likeness, similarities embraced.

28. What supporter of God, victor for God,
Whose pleasure and anger are for God!

29. The earth was still because of him, from end to end,
Almost toppling from losing the righteous leader.

30. Islam's sanctum flourished through him;
Water and plants call the worshipper.

31. The earth shook with steady rain - no leaks
To drain it, neither crevice nor cleft.

32. The Abode of Peace shone joyfully because of him,
Its venerable elders wishing for youth.

33. Its banks and bridge displayed marvels,
Its markets and open spaces failed to contain.

34. To villages were opened the gates of generosity -
His palms, not palms of china or cypress.

35. A thousand thousand - doubled over - he gave yearly,
Ever diminishing as he lavished.

36. The same - multiplied over and over - he gave,
Saying the utmost his hands could gift.

37. He hoarded nothing but what his forefathers stored:
Souls, possessions all sacrificed.

38. The exalted refuse but the harvest of praise that they stored,
Nothing but their souls that they cherished.

39. Nothing but the neighing of the valiant steed they acquired,
Nothing but the star outshining stars they sought.

40. Nothing but the banners on the day of battle they unfurled,
Nothing but the arena of war where they battled.

41. A people who are supreme from start to finish;
All else, compared to their heights, are tails.

42. The stars shine at night when they grow angry,
The earth shakes beneath when they mount.

43. In their merit the Quran spoke praise for them
And past revelations recounted their feats.

44. Their father is the Bountiful Servant of God - the best father!
Their grandfather is the Master of Banu Hashim - if lineages are traced.

45. Without you - O Abbasids - the staff of the caliphate
Would not have cracked irreparably.

46. You were cast out from it, while no fear made you waver,
O outcasts, nor did dread make you shake.

47. Until their water ran out and their bucket cracked,
The knot of the covenant coming undone.

48. Your inheritance returned from the grasp of its usurper
To you, while the litigious vanished from you.

49. O best of those the hands of hope clung to!
Alike to you are generosity and meanness.

50. Longing drew me to you, from Bahrain,
Pulling at me until the knots gave way.

51. The camel left the lush meadows
Almost felled by the grasses behind.

52. Grace me with a robe from you - enemies will envy
My attachment to you, both far and near!

53. Make me among your young courtiers, raise my station;
Hope makes my belief that wishes come true.

54. You are the Imam I always hoped for,
The era I always awaited expectantly.

55. How much did I roam astray, among desolation,
Where the very stars complain of weariness!

56. And a seething mirage where death appears mounted -
How amazing that one crossing survives!

57. How many times did I meet men threatening my blood,
Forcing them to drink bitterness like medicine!

58. How often I told my soul, as anxiety clutched it,
And tears flowed like blood from the eyes:

59. "Take comfort! The Commander of the Faithful's days
Are a refuge saving us from what is feared."

60. So God bless the days of his rule!
Largesse flows from every full-throated caller.

61. Its days are the delight of time, for they are
The crown and diadem worn by festive occasions.

62. I cannot see an Imam but him, ever -
For us there is no profit in any Imam but him.

63. May he live in whose days the Master witnessed -
His glory and elevation acknowledged by non-Arab and Arab.

64. The sea of generosity, pride of the faith that prided
The world - its banner exalted, its title acclaimed.

65. No lover has ever lamented love's torment,
No prisoner rattled his shackles, no enamored swooned,

66. As I have! I said to my soul, as desolation engulfed it,
My eyes spilling tears like blood:

67. "Take comfort! The Commander of the Faithful's rule
Is our sure shelter from harm and error."

68. So God bless his days of rule!
Open-handedness flows from every generous lad.