1. سرَيْنا لنمحو الإِثم أو نغنم الأَجرا

    لزورة من تمحو زيارته الوِزْرا

    We journeyed by night to erase sin or gain reward,

    To visit him whose visitation wipes away sin's burden.

  2. وسارت وقد أرخى علينا الدُّجى سترا

    بنا من بنات الماء للكوفة الغرَّا

    And she sailed, with darkness having drawn a veil over us,

    One of the water's daughters, bearing us toward radiant Kufa.

  3. سبوحٌ سرت ليلاً فسبحان من أسرى

    تخيَّرتها دون السَّفائن مركبا

    A swift swimmer, she journeyed by night—glory to Him who sent us journeying!

    I chose her over the other ships as my vessel,

  4. وأعْددْتُها للسَّير شرقاً ومغربا

    فكانت كمثل الطَّير إنْ رمت مطلبا

    And prepared her for travel eastward and westward.

    She was like a bird whenever I sought a destination,

  5. تمدّ جناحاً من قوادمه الصّبا

    تروم بأكناف الغريّ لها وكرا

    Spreading a wing with the east wind among its flight-feathers,

    Seeking herself a nest in the environs of al-Ghari.

  6. وكانت تُحلَّى قبل هذا تجمُّلا

    وقد غذيت فيما أمرَّ وما حلا

    Before this, she used to be adorned for beauty,

    Nourished by what was bitter and what was sweet.

  7. أظنّ على فقد الشَّهيد بكربلا

    كساها الأسى ثوب الحداد ومن حُلى

    I think, over the loss of the martyr at Karbala,

    Grief clothed her in mourning's robe, and of the ornaments

  8. تجمّلها بالصبر لاعجها أعرى

    إلى موقفٍ سرنا بغير توقّف

    Of her patient composure, her burning anguish stripped her bare.

    We journeyed without stopping to a station

  9. يزيد بكائي عنده وتلهُّفي

    ولما تجارينا بفلك ومدنف

    Where my weeping and anguished longing increase.

    And when we raced, a vessel and a heartsick man,

  10. جرت وجرى كلٌّ إلى خير موقف

    يقول لعينيه قفا نبك من ذكرى

    She sped and he sped, each toward the finest station.

    He says to his eyes, 'Halt, let us weep over remembrance.'

  11. ترامت بنا فلك فيا نعم مرتمى

    إلى دُرَّةِ الفخر الَّتي لن تقوّما

    A vessel swept us onward—what a splendid landing-place!

    Toward the pearl of glory that can never be appraised.

  12. فخضنا إليه والبحر قد طمى

    وكم غمرة خضنا إليه وإنَّما

    We plunged toward him, the sea having risen high.

    How many depths we crossed toward him! For only

  13. يخوض عباب البحر من يطلب الدُّرَّا

    إلى مرقد يعلو السّماكين منزلا

    The seeker of pearls plunges into the sea's surging waters.

    Toward a resting place whose station rises above the two Simak stars,

  14. وقد نالَ ما نال الصراح من العُلى

    نسير ولا نلوي عن السَّير معدلا

    And which has attained the heights attained by al-Surah.

    We journey without turning aside to any other course.

  15. نؤمُّ ضريحاً ما الضراح وإنْ علا

    بأَرفعَ منه لا وساكنه قدرا

    We seek a tomb; al-Durah, however high,

    Is no higher than it in rank—no, by its dweller!

  16. فزوج ابنة المختار كانَ غضنفرا

    علا وارتضته الطهر من سائر الورى

    For the husband of the Chosen One's daughter was a lion.

    He rose high, and the Pure One chose him from all humankind.

  17. أتعرف من هذا الَّذي طال مفخرا

    هو المرتضى سيف القضا أسدُ الشرى

    Do you know who this is, towering in glory?

    He is al-Murtada, the sword of divine decree, the lion of al-Shara,

  18. عليّ الذرى بل زوج فاطمة الزهرا

    عيون الورى إنْ لاحظت منه كنهه

    Lofty of summit—nay, the husband of Fatimah al-Zahra.

    If humankind's eyes behold his true essence,

  19. ترد عن التشبيه حسرى فينتهوا

    وإن مقاماً لا ترى العين شبهه

    They are turned back exhausted from comparison, and people desist.

    Indeed, a station whose like no eye can see

  20. مقام عليٍّ كرَّم الله وجهه

    مقام عليٍّ ردَّ عين العُلى حسرى

    Is Ali's station—may God honor his face.

    Ali's station sent the eye of loftiness back exhausted.

  21. لقد صيَّر الغبراءَ خضراءَ قبرُه

    وأشرقَ فيها في الحقيقة بدره

    His grave has indeed turned the dusty earth into green heaven,

    And his full moon truly shone within it.

  22. وقد وافق الإِعجاز لله درّه

    أثيرٌ مع الأَفلاك خالف دوره

    And it has reached the miraculous—how wondrous he is!

    Ether amid the spheres, its course reversed:

  23. فمن فوقه الغبرا ومن تحته الخضرا

    أحاطَ بنا علماً فليت سليقة

    Above it lies the dusty earth, and beneath it the green sky.

    His knowledge encompassed us; would that a natural gift

  24. تفيد علوماً عن عُلاه دقيقة

    مجازاً وقد جزنا إليه طريقة

    Could yield subtle knowledge of his lofty rank.

    Figuratively, having crossed a path toward him,

  25. أحطنا به وهو المحيط حقيقة

    بنا فتعالى أن نحيط به خُبرا

    We encompassed him, while he truly encompasses

    Us—too exalted for us to encompass him in knowledge.

  26. فطفْ في مقام حلَّ فيه ولبّه

    ترى العالم الأَعلى حفيفاً بتربه

    Circle the station where he dwelt, and answer him, 'Here I am!'

    You will see the higher world clustered around his dust.

  27. فكالمسجد الأَقصى وأيّ تشبّه

    تطوفُ من الأَملاك طائفة به

    Like al-Aqsa Mosque—yet what comparison can there be?

    A company of angels circles him,

  28. فتسجد في محراب جامعه شكرا

    فأثنى عليه من علا مثل من دنا

    Then prostrates in his mosque's prayer niche in gratitude.

    Those on high praised him, just as those near did,

  29. وكلٌّ بما أثنى أجادَ وأحسنا

    فخرب من الدانين إذ ذاك أعلنا

    And each excelled and did well in the praise he offered.

    Then a group [text uncertain] of those near proclaimed,

  30. وحزب من العالين يهتف بالثنا

    عليه بوحيٍ كدْتُ أسمعه جهرا

    And a company of those on high cried out praise

    Of him, in a revelation I almost heard aloud.

  31. حججنا إلى بيت علا بجانبه

    عشيَّة آوينا إلى باب غابه

    We made pilgrimage to a house that rose high beside him,

    The evening we took refuge at the gate of his thicket.

  32. ومن قد سمت أركان كعبتنا به

    جديرٌ بأن يأوي الحجيج لبابه

    And he through whom our Kaaba's pillars rose high

    Deserves that pilgrims seek shelter at his door,

  33. ويلمس من أركان كعبته الجدرا

    فيوض علوم الله من قدم حوى

    And touch the walls at his Kaaba's corners.

    From of old he held the outpourings of God's knowledge,

  34. فقسّم منها ما أفاد وما احتوى

    ومن قبل ما يثوي ومن بعد ما ثوى

    And apportioned from them what he imparted and what he held.

    Both before he lay at rest and after he had done so,

  35. حريٌّ بتقسيم الفيوض وما سوى

    أبي الحسنين الأَحسنين به أحرى

    He is worthy to dispense the outpourings; none besides

    The father of Hasan and Husayn, the two fairest, is worthier of it.

  36. ظللنا وكم جان لديه ومذنب

    وذي حاجة منَّا وصاحب مطلب

    We remained, with many an offender and sinner before him,

    And many among us in need or bearing a request,

  37. يقبّل والأَجفان تهمي بصيّب

    ثرًى منه في الدُّنيا الثراء لمترب

    Kissing, while eyelids streamed in a downpour,

    Dust from which comes worldly wealth for the destitute,

  38. وللمذنب الجاني الشَّفاعة في الأخرى

    خدمنا أمير المؤمنين بموطنٍ

    And, for the offending sinner, intercession in the life to come.

    We served the Commander of the Faithful in a place

  39. نعفّر فيه الوجه قَصْدَ تيمُّنِ

    ويخدم قبر المرتضى كلٌّ مؤمنٍ

    Where we pressed our faces into dust, seeking blessing.

    And every believer serves al-Murtada's grave

  40. بأهداب أجفانٍ وأحداق أعينِ

    وحرّ وجوه عفَّرتها يد الغبرا

    With lashes of eyelids and pupils of eyes,

    And noble faces dusted by the hand of earth.

  41. أزلنا غباراً كانَ في قبر حيدر

    فلاح كغمد المشرفيِّ المشهر

    We removed dust that lay at Haydar's tomb,

    And it gleamed like the sheath of a brandished Mashrafi sword.

  42. ولا غروَ في ذاك المكان المطهر

    أمطنا القذى عن جفن سيف مذكر

    No wonder, in that purified place,

    We cleared the mote from the sheath of a hard-steeled sword,

  43. أجلّ سيوف الله أشهرها ذكرا

    تبدَّى سنا أنواره وتبيَّنا

    The greatest of God's swords, the most renowned.

    The radiance of his lights appeared and became clear,

  44. غداة جلونا قبره فتزيَّنا

    فحيَّر أفهاماً وأبهرَ أعيُنا

    The morning we polished his grave, and it was adorned,

    Bewildering minds and dazzling eyes.

  45. فوالله ما ندري وقد سطع السَّنا

    جلينا قراباً أمْ جلونا قبرا

    By God, with the radiance shining, we do not know:

    Did we polish a scabbard, or did we polish a grave?