يقولون لم تطرى عليا وأخته

وتنسى حسينا والحسين كريم

They say, “Why do you extol Ali and his sister,

And forget Husayn, when Husayn is noble?”

فقلت فؤادى للثلاثة منزل

هما طُنُباه والحسين صميم

So I said: My heart is a home for the three;

Those two are its tent ropes, and Husayn its core.

ثلاثة أسباب لأُنسى ولذتي

يبارك فيها مانِحِى ويديم

Three sources of my comfort and delight,

My Giver blesses them and sustains them.

إذا ما بدا لي أن أفاضل بينهم

أبى لي قلب عادل ورحيم

If ever it occurs to me to favor one over another,

A just and compassionate heart will not let me.

أحبِ صغار العالمين لأجلهم

ويعطف قلبي ذو أب ويتيم

I love the world's little ones for their sake,

And a child with a father and an orphan alike move my heart to tenderness.

أمينتيَ الدنيا إذا هي أقبلت

على العيش منها نضرة ونعيم

My Amina is the world; when she draws near,

Life gains radiance and bliss from her.

ذكاء تمناه الفتى حلية له

ووجه يسر الناظرين وسيم

Intelligence a young man would wish for as his adornment,

And a handsome face that delights beholders.

فأما علىٌّ فالمسيح حداثة

وقور إذا طاش الصغار حليم

As for Ali, he is Christ in childhood:

Dignified and forbearing when the little ones are flighty.

وقبل حسين ما تكلم مرضع

ولا نال علياء البيان فطيم

And before Husayn, no suckling infant had spoken,

Nor had a weaned child attained the heights of eloquence.

إذا راح يهذى بالحديث فشاعر

فإن جدّ فيما قاله فحكيم

When he babbles away, he is a poet;

And if he is earnest in what he says, he is a sage.

عصيفير روض رَبِّ صنه وأبِقه

فأنت بقلب قد خَلقت عليم

A little garden sparrow—my Lord, protect him and keep him alive;

For You know well the heart You have created.