مررت بكربلاء فهاج وجدي

مصارع فتيةٍ غر كرام

I passed through Karbala, and my grief was stirred:

The killing grounds of radiant, noble youths,

حماةٍ لا يضام لهم نزيل

أماجد برئوا من كل ذام

Protectors whose guest was never wronged,

Noble men free of every fault.

قبور تنطف العبرات منها

كما نطف العبير على الأكام

Graves from which tears trickle,

As perfume dripped upon the hillocks.

وقفت بها لألثم من ثراها

أريج المسك مفضوض الختام

I stood there to kiss, from its soil,

The fragrance of musk with its seal broken.

وتحت يدي وقد ضمت لصدري

كلوم لا يقوم بها كلامي

And beneath my hand, pressed against my breast,

Were wounds my words cannot do justice to.

وقد نصلت دموع العين فيها

نصول الدر سل من النظام

And tears from the eye had slipped loose there,

Like pearls slipping free, drawn from their string.

أسائلُ ربعها عن ساكنيه

ولاةِ العز والتربِ السوامي

I question its dwelling-place about its inhabitants,

Lords of glory and of lofty tombs.

ومثل لي الحسين بها غريباً

فلهفي للغريب المستضام

And Husayn appeared to me there, a stranger;

Oh, my anguish for that wronged stranger!

تكاد النفس إن ذكرته يوماً

تفر من الحياة إلى الحمام

If ever I recall him, my soul almost

Flees from life to death.

ابي النفس ما القى قياداً

غداة الطف للجيش اللهام

Unbowed in spirit, he did not yield the reins

At al-Taff that morning to the vast army.

يحامي عن حقيقته وحيداً

بنفسي ذلك البطل المحامي

He defended his honor alone;

May my life ransom that heroic defender!

بعين للعدى ترنو وأخرى

بها يرنو على نحو الخيام

With one eye gazing toward the foes, and another

With which he gazed toward the tents.

سعى للحرب يهتز ارتياحاً

ونار الحرب موقدةُ الضرام

He hastened to battle, quivering with delight,

While the fire of war was kindled into a blaze.

تقارعه الهموم فيتقيها

بقلبٍ مثل حامله همام

Cares battered him, and he warded them off

With a heart as valiant as its bearer.

همت كفاهُ في سلمٍ وحربٍ

على العافين بالمنن الجسامِ

His hands poured forth, in peace and war,

Immense favors upon those seeking bounty.

تسل من الرقاق له سيوفٌ

فتغمد في المفارق واللمام

Slender swords were unsheathed for him,

Then sheathed in crowns and locks of hair,

إلى أن خر فوق الترب ملقى

على الرمضاء عز له المحامي

Until he fell upon the dust, cast down

On the scorching ground, with no defender at hand.

ولم ار مثل رزئك ليس يفنى

على الأيام عاماً بعد عام

I have seen no loss like yours, a loss that never fades

Through the days, year after year.

وكل حشى عليك كأن فيه

لسان الرمح أو طرف الحسام

And every heart, grieving for you, seems to hold

The tongue of a spear or the point of a keen sword.

ألا يا كربلا كم فيك بدر

علاهُ الخسفُ من قبلِ التمامِ

O Karbala, how many a full moon within you

Was eclipsed before it reached its fullness!

وكم غصنٍ بارضك جب غضا

يفدى بالنفوسِ من الكرام

And how many a branch in your earth was cut while tender,

That the noble would ransom with their lives!

وكم من آل أحمد من ابي

قضى ظماً ولج الماء طامي

And how many of Ahmad's house, unbowed in spirit,

Died of thirst while the deep waters brimmed!

ويا لك عصبةً لم ترع إلا

لآل الله في الشهر الحرام

And what a band: it honored no bond of kinship

With God's household in the sacred month!

فهذا موثقٌ عانٍ وهذا

عليلٌ لا يفيق من السقام

So this one is bound, a captive, and this one

Is sick, never recovering from illness;

وذاك مجرع كاس المنايا

بضرب السيف أو رشق السهام

And that one is forced to drink the cup of death

By sword-blows or volleys of arrows.

وأفئدةٌ العقائل من معد

لها خفقان أجنحة الحمام

And the hearts of the noble women of Ma'add

Flutter like the wings of doves.

ألا من مبلغ عني قريشاً

ربيع الناس في البلد الحرام

Who will convey my message to Quraysh,

The people's springtime in the sacred city?

فلا حملت أكفكم سيوفاً

وراس السبط فوق الرمح سامي

So may your hands never carry swords,

While the grandson's head rises high upon a spear!

ولا ركبت فوارسكم خيولاً

وصدر السبط مرضوض العظام

Nor may your horsemen ride horses,

While the bones of the grandson's breast lie crushed!

ولا حجبت كرائمكم خيامٌ

ورحل السبط منهوب الخيام

Nor may tents veil your noble women,

While the grandson's camp has its tents plundered!

ولا روى الغمام لكم ظماءً

وسبط محمدٍ في الطف ظامي

Nor may the clouds quench your thirst,

While Muhammad's grandson thirsts at al-Taff!

ولا بلغ الفطام لكم صبي

ويذبح طفله قبل الفطام

Nor may a child of yours reach weaning,

While his child is slaughtered before weaning!

وأنصار له في الله باعوا

حياةَ النفس بالموت الزؤام

And his supporters, who for God's sake sold

Their lives for a terrible death,

حموا وسموا فما حامٍ وسامٍ

سواهم من بني حامٍ وسام

They defended and rose high; no defender or exalted one

Exists besides them among the sons of Ham and Shem.

أيا ابن المقدمين على المنايا

إذا ما الغلب تحجم في الصدام

O son of those who advance upon death,

When the mighty draw back from the clash!

وهم حجج الإله على البرايا

بهم عرف الحلال من الحرام

And they are God's proofs before all creation;

Through them the lawful was known from the forbidden.

تسمى بالعلى قوم سواهم

فكان نصيبهم منها الاسامي

Others called themselves exalted,

Yet their share in exaltation was only names.

متى أنا قائمٌ أعلى مقامٍ

ولاقٍ ضوءَ وجهكَ بالسلام

When shall I stand at the highest station,

And meet your face's radiance with a greeting of peace,

وقد نشرت لك الرايات تبدو

خوافقها بمكةَ فالمقام

With banners already unfurled for you, showing

Their fluttering folds in Mecca, then at the Maqam?

هنالكَ يشتفي الصادي ويحظى

وليكم بإدراك المرام

There the thirsty finds relief, and

Your devoted follower is blessed with attaining his goal.