ومذ أتى الدنيا علي وأتى

ومذ أتى الدنيا علي وأتى

بشيره يسحب ذيل الجذل

بشيره يسحب ذيل الجذل

And when Ali came into the world, and there came

Since life came to me as it does

his bearer of glad tidings, trailing the hem of joy,

With its herald dragging his robe’s tail

قلت وإني أحمد مؤرخاً

قلت وإني أحمد مؤرخاً

قرة عين لي من الدنيا علي

قرة عين لي من الدنيا علي

I said—I, Ahmad—composing a chronogram:

I said, though praising a historian

“Ali is the delight of my eyes in this world.”

The joy of my eye is Ali