1. The soul refuses humiliation and subjugation
It sees death from enduring injustice as easier

2. And chooses glorious immortality from renown
Over a despised life of disgrace and denial

3. Al-Husayn walked with the gait of a lion in his prime
The wolves challenged him in the wilderness, so he roared

4. He was not like one who gives up the reins trying
When the fetters bite to become free

5. But proud souls saw humiliation, so they recoiled
From staining themselves, refusing to be sullied

6. He ascended to the height of a star, refusing
To descend to the lowly desires of the inferior

7. The white flowers swore to pierce him
The straight and slender branches to break

8. Death challenged the Hashimites, baring its fangs
At a clan avoiding a Hashimite refuge

9. The most blossomed of Medina's valleys was obscured
Shining upon the grieving infant, so it brightened

10. The light of "the House" bid farewell at the saddlebags
And the dew in it dried up and became barren

11. A misfortune circled the peninsula
Inspiring fear and foreboding

12. And passed through the Valley of Towns, a harbinger
Of ill omens, soon soaked with rain

13. Each soul asked itself about its confusion
Was it in wakefulness? Or was it in a dream?

14. They did not recover until the son of Hashim rode
From the Hajj, the day of Hajj, hastening the journey

15. The clans of Arabia refused anything but clamor
By which Islam recoiled backward to the wilderness

16. And the day of Ashura inverted the history of a nation
That had walked tall and proud

17. It was not easy after that to take a covenant
From an Arab by force if he betrayed

18. The Banu Umayya's grudges against the son of Amina
Still turned the heart until it hardened

19. Until Ahmad uprooted their spearhead
Luxuriant branches and abundant foliage

20. Jealousy blinded eyes until they could not
Exert themselves to see or discern

21. But I only increased in shock and bewilderment
When thinking about his murder

22. There was no conspiracy among the people like their books
Pouring down on him when the flood descended

23. Revealing hands stretched out for a pledge
And hearts nearly pouring out

24. And abandoning him ripped to shreds
Unless a fifth of water issued forth

25. Yazid assumed the position of ruler, so
The one most entitled to rule was enveloped in embers

26. The Banu Hashim, the Prophet’s clan, among whom
This religion grew, planted and fruited

27. No era of Muhammad's message had lasted long
With authority's sapling remaining green

28. Among them was Husayn, the people's beloved, the prey
That got away when the hunter walked and became dusty

29. The Zubayrids were annoyed to see the young man
With little protection among them appointed as leader

30. In every house was an assembly and gathering
To deliberate affairs important for the people

31. Spies spread in every direction
Fearing what might be confided and revealed

32. They were stealthy towards the treasury, inciting it
As it was most able to be stern and vigilant

33. Mu'awiyah realized the consequence
The outcomes of matters became clear to his eyes

34. He was more aware of his son and his adversaries
And more aware that the prey was altogether in the net

35. Yazid was engrossed with wine and its pressed grapes
Seeing command knotted in entanglements

36. It was incumbent upon him to resolve firmly
The strong pillars, exerting himself tirelessly

37. He joined the momentous effort, and it was not
Too difficult for what he wanted to accomplish

38. But it was something with no compensation
If he undertook it and then reneged

39. He turned it every way, so he was pleased
To see it easier than he expected

40. Two religious factions, weak and resentful
With money soothing what hatred inflamed

41. Between them was a group that was their very death
Though the fewest and paltriest

42. He did not die until he clarified wisdom for his son
In a letter containing mature, reasoned thoughts

43. Informing him that he had followed his efforts
To the weak points of the defiant ones, so he incapacitated them

44. That Husayn was a stumbling block in his path
So if he could not avoid him, he would stumble

45. He advised evil regarding Ibn Maysun, warning him
And good regarding Husayn, so he excused him

46. If the son of Maysun wanted guidance
But an agitator allured him to revolt

47. So ‘Ubaydullah exploited his weakness
And companionship until he could manipulate him

48. He was raised in the manner of the oppressed
Hoping the days would give him wine and leisure

49. And that he might envision his ape advancing
Coming upon the horsemen ahead or lagging behind

50. And the poetry of al-Akhtal allured him
If he could, he would convert to Christianity

51. Between sadness, good news, and his face
One evening, the messenger brought him tidings and delighted him

52. He unwillingly donned the garb of succession
Not removing it afterwards for wine's apron

53. It pained him to portray himself
Unlike what he was accustomed to be portrayed

54. And to be tested with authority, commanding and forbidding unwillingly
And to combine two opposites: intoxication and the pulpit

55. If a cup was passed to relieve his gloom
The cupbearer would reproach him while he rose early

56. And a singing girl sang to him from Akhtal's poetry
Improvising with such eloquence it dazzled

57. For in one session of merrymaking
All affairs of the Muslims were sold and purchased

58. Lewdness from him in the wine assembly circulated
Poetry neither Judgment Day nor the resurrection exempted

59.
It was easy for him to recite it

60. And easy for him to blaspheme
Yet despite his lapses

61. The news of Husayn's death affected him
He was like one who cuts off a balance

62. With another, and when he regained reason, he regretted
I reckon that if not for the great distance

63. Diminishing the tribulation Husayn underwent
He would have been like one who cuts off a balance

64. With another, and when he regained reason, he regretted
And I reckon that if not for the great distance

65. Obscuring what Husayn faced and transpired
And if not for the ruses presented among associates

66. Who traded the religion in Karbala, it was delayed
The day of Ashura would have shaken from its place

67. And its date in history altered and evolved
I say to people who exaggerated his tragedy

68. Distorting it until altered
Leave history’s awesomeness to take its place

69. Do not strain its signs to transform them
And allow the tongue of time to speak, for it is