قالوا ألم تَحضَر عليّاً عندما

قالوا ألم تَحضَر عليّاً عندما

دفنُوهُ قلتُ هناك بئسَ المحضرُ

دفنُوهُ قلتُ هناك بئسَ المحضرُ

They said, “Were you not there for Ali when

They said, “Were you not there for Ali when

they buried him?” I said, “What a wretched gathering that was!

they buried him?” I said, “What a wretched gathering that was!”

لا أستطيعُ أرَى المَعالي بينكم

لا أستطيعُ أرَى المَعالي بينكم

مَحمولةً وأرى المكارِم تقبرُ

مَحمولةً وأرى المكارِم تقبرُ

I cannot bear to see lofty virtues among you

I cannot bear to see lofty virtues in your midst

carried upon a bier, and noble qualities laid in the grave.

carried along, and to see noble qualities buried.

لم يمضِ قبلَكَ من أراه أُسوَةً

لم يمضِ قبلَكَ من أراه أُسوَةً

فأَقولُ هذا مثلُ ذاك وأصبرُ

فأَقولُ هذا مثلُ ذاك وأصبرُ

Before you, no one I deemed an exemplar had passed away,

No one before you has died whom I could take as a consoling example,

so that I might say, ‘This is like that,’ and endure.

and say, “This one is like that one,” and endure patiently.

قد كنتَ جُزءاً والأكارمُ كلُّهم

قد كنتَ جُزءاً والأكارمُ كلُّهم

جُزءٌ ولكنَّ الأقلَّ الأكثرُ

جُزءٌ ولكنَّ الأقلَّ الأكثرُ

You were one part, and all the noble men together

You were indeed one part, and all the noble men

another—but the lesser part was the greater.

were one part; and yet the lesser was the greater.

ما كان أكثَرَهُم وأنتَ جَليسُهُم

ما كان أكثَرَهُم وأنتَ جَليسُهُم

وأقلَّهم إذ قَدَّموكَ وكَبَّروا

وأقلَّهم إذ قَدَّموكَ وكَبَّروا

How numerous they were when you sat among them,

How numerous they were with you as their companion,

and how few when they bore you forth and cried, ‘God is greatest!’

and how few when they brought you forward and proclaimed, “God is greatest!”