1. قُل لِلرِجالِ طَغى الأَسير

    طَيرُ الحِجالِ مَتى يَطير

    Tell the men: the captive has rebelled.

    When will the bird of curtained chambers fly?

  2. أَوهى جَناحَيهِ الحَدي

    دُ وَحَزَّ ساقَيهِ الحَرير

    Iron has weakened its wings,

    and silk has cut into its legs.

  3. ذَهَبَ الحِجابُ بِصَبرِهِ

    وَأَطالَ حَيرَتَهُ السُفور

    The veil has robbed it of patience,

    and unveiling has prolonged its bewilderment.

  4. هَل هُيِّئَت دَرَجُ السَما

    ءِ لَهُ وَهَل نُصَّ الأَثير

    Have the steps of heaven been prepared

    for it, and has the ether been set in place?

  5. وَهَل اِستَمَرَّ بِهِ الجَنا

    حُ وَهَمَّ بِالنَهضِ الشَكير

    And has its wing grown strong,

    and has its young plumage stirred to rise?

  6. وَسَما لِمَنزِلِهِ مِنَ الدُن

    يا وَمَنزِلُهُ خَطير

    And has it risen to its station in the world,

    a station of high importance?

  7. وَمَتى تُساسُ بِهِ الرِيا

    ضُ كَما تُساسُ بِهِ الوُكور

    And when will gardens be governed by it,

    as nests are governed by it?

  8. أَوَ كُلُّ ما عِندَ الرِجا

    لِ لَهُ الخَواطِبُ وَالمُهور

    And is all that men have to offer it

    matchmakers and bridal dowries,

  9. وَالسِجنُ في الأَكواخِ أَو

    سِجنٌ يُقالُ لَهُ القُصور

    and prison in huts, or

    a prison they call 'palaces'?

  10. تَاللَهِ لَو أَنَّ الأَدي

    مَ جَميعُهُ رَوضٌ وَنور

    By God, even if the earth's surface

    were all gardens and blossoms,

  11. في كُلِّ ظِلٍّ رَبوَةٌ

    وَبِكُلِّ وارِفَةٍ غَدير

    with a hill in every shade,

    and by every spreading tree a pool,

  12. وَعَلَيهِ مِن ذَهَبٍ سِيا

    جٌ أَو مِنَ الياقوتِ سور

    and around it a fence of gold,

    or a wall of ruby,

  13. ما تَمَّ مِن دونِ السَما

    ءِ لَهُ عَلى الأَرضِ الحُبور

    without the sky, no joy would be complete

    for it upon the earth.

  14. إِنَّ السَماءَ جَديرَةٌ

    بِالطَيرِ وَهوَ بِها جَدير

    The sky is indeed worthy

    of the bird, and the bird is worthy of it.

  15. هِيَ سَرجُهُ المَشدودُ وَه

    وَ عَلى أَعِنَّتِها أَمير

    The sky is its tightly fastened saddle, and

    the bird is master of its reins.

  16. حُرِّيَّةٌ خُلِقَ الإِنا

    ثُ لَها كَما خُلِقَ الذُكور

    Freedom—women were created

    for it, just as men were.

  17. هاجَت بَناتَ الشِعرِ عَي

    نٌ مِن بَناتِ النيلِ حور

    The daughters of poetry were stirred by large-eyed beauties

    among the lovely-eyed daughters of the Nile.

  18. لي بَينَهُنَّ وَلائِدٌ

    هُم مِن سَوادِ العَينِ نور

    Among them I have young daughters,

    who are light from the blackness of my eye.

  19. لا الشِعرُ يَأتي في الجُما

    نِ بِمِثلِهِنَّ وَلا البُحور

    Poetry cannot bring forth amid its pearls

    their like, nor can the seas.

  20. مِن أَجلِهِنَّ أَنا الشَفي

    قُ عَلى الدُمى وَأَنا الغَيور

    For their sake, I am compassionate

    toward the lovely statues, and jealously protective.

  21. أَرجو وَآمَلُ أَن سَتَج

    ري بِالَّذي شِئنَ الأُمور

    I hope and expect that affairs will run

    in accordance with their wishes.

  22. يا قاسِمُ اُنظُر كَيفَ سا

    رَ الفِكرُ وَاِنتَقلَ الشُعور

    O Qasim, see how

    thought has traveled and feeling has spread.

  23. جابَت قَضَيَّتُكَ البِلا

    دَ كَأَنَّها مَثَلٌ يَسير

    Your cause has traveled through the lands,

    like a proverb passed around.

  24. ما الناسُ إِلّا أَوَّلٌ

    يَمضي فَيَخلِفُهُ الأَخير

    People are but predecessors

    who pass on, and successors who replace them.

  25. الفِكرُ بَينَهُما عَلى

    بُعدِ المَزارِ هُوَ السَفير

    Thought between them, across

    the distance that parts them, is the envoy.

  26. هَذا البِناءُ الفَخمُ لَي

    سَ أَساسُهُ إِلّا الحَفير

    This splendid edifice has no

    foundation but the excavated trench.

  27. إِنَّ الَّتي خَلَّفتَ أَم

    سِ وَما سِواكَ لَها نَصير

    Indeed, she whom you left behind yesterday—

    with none but you to champion her—

  28. نَهَضَ الحَقُّ بِشَأنِها

    وَسَعى لِخِدمَتِها الظَهِر

    truth has risen to uphold her cause,

    and the strong-backed ally has striven to serve her.

  29. في ذِمَّةِ الفُضلى هُدى

    جيلٌ إِلى هادٍ فَقير

    In the charge of noble Huda

    is a generation in need of a guide.

  30. أَقبَلنَ يَسأَلنَ الحَضا

    رَةَ ما يُفيدُ وَما يُضير

    They came forward, asking civilization

    what benefits and what harms.

  31. ما السُبلُ بَيِّنَةٌ وَلا

    كُلُّ الهُداةِ بِها بَصير

    The paths are not clear, nor

    is every guide well-versed in them.

  32. ما في كِتابِكَ طَفرَةٌ

    تُنعى عَلَيكَ وَلا غُرور

    Your book contains no rash leap

    to be held against you, nor any conceit.

  33. هَذَّبتَهُ حَتّى اِستَقامَت

    مِن خَلائِقِكَ السُطور

    You refined it until its lines stood straight,

    shaped by the qualities of your character.

  34. وَوَضَعتَهُ وَعَلِمتَ أَن

    نَ حِسابَ واضِعِهِ عَسير

    And you composed it, knowing that

    its author would face a stern reckoning.

  35. لَكَ في مَسائِلِهِ الكَلا

    مُ العَفُّ وَالجَدَلُ الوَقور

    On its questions, yours is speech

    that is chaste, and debate that is dignified.

  36. وَلَكَ البَيانُ الجَذلُ في

    أَثنائِهِ العِلمُ الغَزير

    And yours is lively eloquence; in

    its midst lies abundant knowledge,

  37. في مَطلَبٍ خَشِنٍ كَثي

    رٌ في مَزالِقِهِ العُثور

    on a rugged quest, with much

    stumbling in its slippery places.

  38. ما بِالكِتابِ وَلا الحَدي

    ثِ إِذا ذَكَرتَهُما نَكير

    There is no objection in the Book or the Tradition

    when you mention them,

  39. حَتّى لَنَسأَلُ هَل تَغا

    رُ عَلى العَقائِدِ أَم تُغير

    so we even ask: do you jealously defend

    the creeds, or attack them?

  40. عُشرونَ عاماً مِن زَوا

    لِكَ ما هِيَ الشَيءُ الكَثير

    Twenty years since your passing

    are not so very many.

  41. رُعنَ النِساءَ وَقَد يَرو

    عُ المُشفِقَ الجَلَلُ اليَسير

    They have frightened women; even

    a slight misfortune may frighten the tenderhearted.

  42. فَنَسينَ أَنَّكَ كَالبُدو

    رِ وَدونَ رِفعَتِكَ البُدور

    So they forgot that you are like the full moons,

    though full moons lie beneath your loftiness.

  43. تَفنى السِنونُ بِها وَما

    آجالُها إِلّا شُهور

    The years pass away with them, yet

    their lifespans are only months.

  44. لَقَد اِختَلَفنا وَالمُعا

    شِرُ قَد يُخالِفُهُ العَشير

    We did disagree; a companion

    may have a friend disagree with him,

  45. في الرَأيِ ثُمَّ أَهابَ بي

    وَبِكَ المُنادِمُ وَالسَمير

    in opinion; then I was summoned,

    along with you, by the boon companion and evening friend.

  46. وَمَحا الرَواحُ إِلى مَغا

    ني الوُدِّ ما اِقتَرَفَ البُكور

    And the evening journey to the abodes

    of affection erased the morning's offenses.

  47. في الرَأيِ تَضطَغِنُ العُقو

    لُ وَلَيسَ تَضطَغِنُ الصُدور

    In opinion, minds harbor rancor,

    but hearts harbor none.

  48. قُل لي بِعَيشِكَ أَينَ أَن

    تَ وَأَينَ صاحِبُكَ الكَبير

    Tell me, by your life, where are you,

    and where is your great companion?

  49. أَينَ الإِمامُ وَأَينَ إِس

    ماعيلُ وَالمَلَأُ المُنير

    Where is the Imam, and where is Ismail

    and the radiant company?

  50. لَمّا نَزَلتُم في الثَرى

    تاهَت عَلى الشُهُبِ القُبور

    When you descended into the earth,

    the graves vaunted themselves above the shooting stars.

  51. عَصرُ العَباقِرَةِ النُجو

    مِ بِنورِهِ تَمشي العُصور

    The age of geniuses, those stars—

    by its light the ages walk.