ما بعد يومك في صرف الردى خطر

قضى الندى والتقى والعلم والخطر

After your day, death's vicissitudes hold no peril.

Generosity, piety, learning, and eminence have perished.

قد كان من قبلها الإسلام في حذر

لو كان يدفع محتوم القضا حذر

Before that calamity, Islam had been on its guard—

if vigilance could avert fate's inevitable decree.

لا يملك الدهر عذراً بعد حادثة

يغنى بها مثل صبر الصابر العذر

Time has no excuse after a calamity

that does away with excuses, like the patience of the steadfast.

ما كل جان تناهى في جنايته

يمحو اساءته ان جاء يعتذر

Not every offender who goes to extremes in his wrongdoing

erases his offense by coming to apologize.

رزية جلل عم المصاب بها

فما نجا من مرامي حزنها بشر

A grave calamity whose affliction encompassed all:

no mortal escaped the shafts of its grief.

بها المعزى رسول الله وابنته

وصنوه المرتضى والعترة الخير

For it, condolences are offered to God's Messenger and his daughter,

and his peer al-Murtada and the virtuous progeny.

نعي اطل على الافاق جاحمه

كما تطاير من جمر الغضا شرر

A death announcement whose blaze loomed over the horizons,

as sparks fly from the embers of ghada wood.

فالشرع يندب منه خير منتصر

ندب يحوط الهدى عزاً وينتصر

Thus sacred law mourns in him its finest champion,

a gallant man who guarded guidance with honor and fought for it.

اليوم نيرّها العالي السنا خمدت

انواره فعلى أفق السما قتر

Today its luminary, lofty in radiance, has had

its lights quenched; a dark haze hangs over heaven's horizon.

اليوم باب جنان الخلد منفتح

بشراً به ولواء الشرع منكسر

Today the gate of the gardens of eternity stands open

in joyful welcome to him, while sacred law's banner lies broken.

فأي بحر خضم ضمه جدث

واي حبر فقيه لفت الحبر

What vast ocean has a grave enfolded!

And what learned jurist the striped cloths have wrapped!

وهل تعد معدّ مثله وزراً

إذا عرتها غواش مالها وزر

And can Ma'add count his equal as a refuge

when overwhelming afflictions assail her and she has no shelter?

كان العصام لها من كل طارقة

تطيش من عظمها الأحلام والفكر

He was her safeguard against every sudden calamity

whose enormity confounds judgment and thought,

ومرهف الحدّ لا تنبو مضاربه

إذا نبا في الضراب الصارم الذكر

and a keen-edged sword whose striking edges never recoil

when the steel-forged sword fails in battle,

وغيث عارفة ينهل صيبه

واداً إذا ضن في معروفه المطر

and a rain of bounty, its downpour pouring forth

lovingly, when rain withholds its kindness.

فلتبكه مضر الحمراء نادبة

فقد اصيبت بحامي عزها مضر

Let Mudar the Red weep for him, lamenting;

for Mudar has been stricken in the defender of her glory.

الفاعل الفعل قدماً كله كرم

والقائل القول حكماً كله غرر

His every deed was generosity from of old,

and his words were wisdom, all radiant gems.

يا لهفها لهف مطوي على حرق

تذكو لواعجها جمراً فتستعر

Oh, her anguish—an anguish wrapped around burning grief!

Her torments glow like embers and burst into flame.

صفا به عيشها دهراً فكيف بها

وصفو موردها قد شابه الكدر

Through him her life was serene for an age; what now of her,

when the clarity of her watering place is tainted with murk?

يا ناشد الفضل قد اقوت معالمه

بعد الحسين فلا ربع ولا اثر

O seeker of excellence, its landmarks lie deserted

after al-Husayn: neither dwelling nor trace remains.

قد اصبح العلم منه فاقداً علماً

منه ينابيع علم الله تنفجر

Learning has now lost in him a guiding landmark,

from whom the springs of God's knowledge gushed.

جاءت رزيته بكراً تروع كما

كانت مكارمه في الناس تبتكر

His calamity came, unprecedented and terrifying, just as

his noble deeds among people were ever original.

يا غائباً عن عيون كان قرتها

فشئفها الدائمان الدمع والسهر

O you absent from eyes whose delight you were,

the ceaseless pair—tears and sleeplessness—have ravaged them.

أنت الجواد ودمعي سائل فأنل

عيني مناما فأقصى سؤلها نظر

You are the generous one, and my tears flow in plea; grant

my eyes sleep, for their utmost wish is a glimpse.

ما ساجلتك غوادي المزن في كرم

الا جفون عليك اليوم تنهمر

No morning rainclouds rivaled you in generosity,

save eyelids pouring tears for you today,

حيث ثراك وان حل الغمام بها

وطفاء من كوثر الفردوس تنحدر

where your grave-earth lies, though clouds have alighted there,

rain-laden, descending from Paradise's Kawthar,

وغازلت روضها المطلول نافحة

من جنة الخلد يسري نشرها العطر

and a fragrant breeze caressed its dew-covered garden,

from the garden of eternity, its sweet perfume wafting.

حاشا بني الفضل ان يغشى معاليها

وقد حماها سمي المصطفى غير

Far be it that the sons of excellence's lofty honors be assailed

by fortune's changes, when al-Mustafa's namesake has guarded them.

لأن اصيب به آل المعز ففي

محمد شرف باق ومفتخر

Since the house of al-Mu'izz has suffered his loss, in

Muhammad endure honor and a cause for pride.

الماجد الحسب الحامي حقيقته

يوم الحفاظ فلا وهن ولا خور

He of glorious ancestry, the defender of his honor,

when honor must be defended, with neither frailty nor weakness.

جم المناقب لا يحصى لها عدد

حتى تعدّ وتحصى الانجم الزهر

Rich in virtues, whose number cannot be counted

until the bright stars themselves are reckoned and counted.

متى ترد بحره الاحكام اصدرها

بالري يحمد ورد الزاخر الصدر

Whenever rulings come to his ocean, he sends them back

with thirst quenched; departure praises the visit to that swelling sea.

ورب غامضة غاض البيان بها

وفاض في القائلين القعي والحصر

How many an obscure question in which eloquence ebbed,

while faltering and speechlessness overflowed among speakers!

جلت غياهبها انوار فكرته

فاسفرت وتجلت دونها الغمر

The lights of his thought dispelled its darkness,

so it shone forth, and the depths before it lay bare.

يعطي العفاة جزيلا وهو مبتسم

ويمنح الذنب عفواً وهو مقتدر

He gives abundantly to seekers of bounty, smiling,

and pardons wrongdoing even while he holds power.

فالحمد منتظم يوم الفخار له

نظم العقود وشمل الوفر منتثر

So praise is strung for him on the day of glory

like necklaces, while his gathered wealth lies scattered.

اسدى العوارف في بدو وفي حضر

طرّاً فاثنى عليه البدو والحضر

He bestowed kindnesses in the desert and in towns,

upon all, so nomads and townsfolk praised him.

بطلعة الخلف المهدي قد وضحت

سبل الرشاد لمن اضحى له بصر

With the appearance of the successor al-Mahdi, clear have become

the paths of right guidance to whoever has sight.

به العزاء عن الماضي وان صدعت

له قلوب على برح الأسى صبر

In him is solace for the departed, though shattered

for him are hearts steadfast beneath grief's torment.

يا بن الهداة الميامين الذين جلوا

ليل الضلال بصبح الرشد إذ سفروا

O son of the blessed guides who dispelled

error's night with guidance's dawn when they shone forth,

وما البليغ وان غإلى بمدحته

ببالغ كنههم يوماً إذا ذكروا

no eloquent speaker, however lavish in his praise,

can ever reach their essence when they are mentioned.

نعم ترفع عن نظم المديح لهم

مجدبه جاءت الايات والسّور

Yes, above all verses composed in their praise rises

a glory proclaimed by the verses and surahs.

ورب مستعظم اخبار فضلهم

وبالعيان رأى ما دونه الخبر

Many a one who marveled at reports of their excellence

saw with his own eyes what reports fell short of.

هم الاعزة لاتيه ولا كبر

والعز يأخذ منه التيه والكبر

They are the mighty, without conceit or arrogance,

yet conceit and arrogance borrow from their dignity.

ومثل اعراقهم طيباً خلائقهم

إذا زكى الأصل يزكو الفرع والثمر

Their characters are as pure as their ancestral roots;

when the root is pure, branch and fruit are pure.

لا يجزعون وان جلت مصيبتهم

فكلما عظمت ارزائهم صبروا

They do not despair, however great their calamity;

whenever their afflictions grew greater, they remained patient.

عليهم من دروع الصبر محكمة

ما نسج داود يوم الروع ما الزبر

Upon them are firmly wrought coats of patience:

what is David's woven mail on terror's day? What are iron plates?

كأنما الصبر في أفواههم ضرب

مستعذب النهل وهو الصاب والصبر

It is as though patience in their mouths were honey,

sweet to drink, though it is bitter sap and aloe.

بقاء مثلك والآثار شاهدة

نعمى ويسعد بالنعمى الأولى شكروا

The survival of one like you—as your deeds bear witness—

is a blessing, and those who give thanks rejoice in blessings.

يا حسنها درر لكنها قصدت

بحراً وايسر ما في الابحر الدرر

How lovely these pearls! Yet they have sought

an ocean, and pearls are the least of what oceans hold.

وان تفز بقبول فهو اعظم ما

ترجو وليس لها غير الرضا وطر

And if they win acceptance, that is the greatest thing

they hope for; they have no desire beyond approval.