حَيَّ فَحنَّ لهُ الفُؤادُ المُدْنَفُ

طَيْفٌ ألَمَّ بِمَنْ لهُ يَتَشَوفُ

The heart pined for him, though cloven in twain,

A phantom distressed the longing soul,

لأيِّا تَخَلَّصَ كَالشِّفَاءِ وَدُونَهُ

ظَنٌّ يُسِيءُ بِهِ وَوَعْدٌ يُخلِفُ

That liberation was like a healing balm, while below it

Suspicion does him wrong, and a promise that will fail,

وَأقَلُّ مَا استَقَلَلْتُ وَقْفَةُ زَائِرٍ

خَافَ العُيُونَ وَضَاقَ عَنْهُ المَوْقِفُ

The least of what I endured was the stance of a visitor

Who feared people’s eyes, and the gathering place was too confining for him,

وَأقَلُّ مِنْهَا وَكُنتُ جَلْداً قَبْلَهَا

صَبْرِي وَقَدْ وَلَّى الخَيَالُ المُشرِفُ

And less than that - previously I was steadfast -

Was my patience, though my soaring thoughts had turned away.

مَاذا لَقِيتُ مِنَ الزَّمِانِ يَرُوعُنِي

بِالحَيفِ حتى في المَنَامِ يُخَوّفُ

What have I encountered from fate that fills me with panic?

It does me injustice, alarming me even in my dreams,

مِنْ كُلِّ وَجْهٍ لِي عَلَيِهِ مَلاَمَةٌ

وَلَهُ عَلَيَّ غَضَاضَةٌ وَتَكَلُّفُ

From every aspect I have blame for it,

While it is peeved at me, and difficulties abound,

أفَلاَ كَفَى أنْ عِشْتُ فِيهِ وَقَالِبي

وَاهٍ وَقَلبِي بِالدَّواهِي يُقصَفُ

Is it not enough that I lived in it while my days

And my heart with sorrows were being shredded?

يَرِدُ المِياهَ بَنوهُ لاَ عَنْ غُلَّةٍ

وَأحُوُمُ مِنْ فَرطِ الغَلِيلِ فَأصْرِفُ

Its waters flow turbid, not from flooding,

And I seethe from the excess agony, so I avert myself,

هَينٌ عَلَيْهِمْ لَوْ قَذَفْتُ بِهِمَّتي

وَسَعَيتُ مَا بَينَ المَلا أتكَفَّفُ

It is easy for them if I were to fling away my resolve,

And seek what lies between retreat and begging for subsistence,

وَالمَوتُ أسعَدُ وَهوَ بُغيَةُ كُلِهم

لِي مِنْ وُقُوفي بَينَهُمْ أستًعْطِفُ

Yet death is more felicitous, the goal of all of them for me,

Than my standing among them petitioning for favor,

فَإذا قَرِمْتُ أكَلْتُ لَحْمَ أنَامِلي

وَإذا عَطِشتُ فَمِنَ دَمِي أتَرَشَّفُ

So when I am famished, I will eat my finger-flesh,

And when thirsty, my own blood will I sip,

وَتَنُوبُ عَنْ خُطبِ الوُفُودِ دَفَاتِري

إذْ حِيلَتِي عَنْ غَيرَ ذَلِكَ تَضْعُفُ

My records will take the place of envoys’ speeches,

Since my cunning for anything else is deficient,

عَجَباً لأيَّامٍ تَجُورُ ألمْ يَكُنْ

فِيهَا عَلِيُّ بنُ الحُسَينِ المُنصِفُ

How wondrous are days that wrong – was there not in them

Ali son of Hussein, the judicious one?

حَرَمُ الأمَانِ لِمَنْ أرَادَ حِمَايَةً

وَلِذي الخَصَاصَةِ فالسَّحابُ الأوْطَفُ

Sanctuary for one who wanted protection,

And for the needy, a rain-heavy cloud,

مَلأ القُلُوبُ إذا بَدَا متبَسِّماً

وَذَكَاؤُهُ مِثلُ الزَّمَانِ وَنَيِّفُ

Hearts are filled when he appears smiling,

And his intelligence is like the times – and more,

كَمْ تَحْتَمِي في القَولِ عند مَديحِه

مِنْ قَوْلَةٍ عندَ التَّأمُلِ تَكْثُفُ

How much you obscure in speech when praising him,

Words, which when contemplated upon, grow dense.

حَتى إذا نُثِرَ المَدِيحُ بَدَا لَهُ

بَدْءَ الهَوَى ذاك الكثيفُ الألطَفُ

Until when praise was strewn about, affection for him

Became visible - the thickest, gentlest beginning,

فَتَعُودُ مِنْ آدابِهِ بِفَوَائِدٍ

وَبِمِثْلِهَا أخرَى عَلَيهَا تُعطَفُ

So you return from his manners with benefits,

And with more like those that branch out from them,

وَعَلاَ لِهِمَّتِه الكرِيمةِ أنْ يُرَى

فِي غَيْرِ طَاعَةٍ رَبِّهِ يَتَصَرِّفُ

And it is evident for his noble spirit to be seen

Acting outside obeying his Lord.

وَكَفَاهُ عَنْ سَمْعِ المَلاَهِي دَرْسُهُ

قَوْلُ النبِي وَوِرْدُهُ وَالمُصْحَفُ

And it suffices him from hearing idle things – his study

Of the Prophet’s words, his recital, and the Mus’haf.

وَتَفَقُّههٌ فِي الدينِ ثمة فَصلُهُ

لِحُكُومَةٍ عَنْهَا الشرِيعَةُ تَكشِفُ

And his jurisprudence in religion, followed by

An governance which Islamic Law elucidates,

وَإفاضَةٌ لِلعُرفِ بَينَ طَوَائِفٍ

تَأتِي وَأخْرَى بِالجَوَائِزِ تُصْرَفُ

And an outpouring of convention among groups

Who come and others go with permits.

وَألَذُّ مَا يُسديِهِ مِنهَا عِندَهُ

نَيْلٌ يُعَانُ بِهِ الفَقِيهُ وَيُتْحَفُ

And the sweetest thing he facilitates therewith at his side

Is an attainment through which the jurist gains and is granted.

وَمَضَتْ كَذا عَفواً جَميعُ فِعَالِهِ

لاَ رَاجِعٌ عنها وَلاَ مُتَكَلِّفُ

And thus easily did all of his actions pass

With no reservations, nor affectations,

وَدَعَا بِقَفْصَةَ فَاسْتَجَابَ مُعِينُهَا

عَقِبَ النِّدا وَهوَ الأبِي المُتَعَسِّفُ

And he called for Qafsah, so its supporter answered him

After the hostilities – and he is the unwavering hero.

وَجَرَى يُخَرِّقُ كُلَّ بَطنِ قَرَارَةٍ

عَرَضَتْ لَهُ ولِكُلّ صَلدٍ يُثْقَفُ

And he proceeded to rip open every obstinate belly

That faced him, and every hardened one that he detected.

وَأطاعَتِ الأنجَادُ فِيهِ وِهَادَهَا

وَتَمَاثَلَتْ أوعَارُهَا وَالصَّفصَّفُ

The swords obeyed him, and their sheaths,

As did their naked blades and sword-belts.

فَتَرَاهُ كَالثُّعْبَانِ فِي حَرَكَاتِهِ

سَهْل المَمَرّ عَلَى البَسِيطَةِ يزْحَفُ

So you see him like a serpent in his motions,

Smoothly gliding over the flat ground, crawling,

حَتى لَوَى بِشِعَابِ تُونِسٌ رَأسَهُ

وَمَشَى عَلَى أرْجَائِهَا يَتَطَوَّفُ

Until Tunis wraps its head in its mountain-passes,

And he walks about all of its outskirts, roaming,

وَانْحَلَّ عَنْ عَذْبِ الزُّلاَلِ وِكَاؤُهُ

فَإذا بِهِ فِي كُلّ رَبْعٍ يُقْذَفُ

And his shelter is deprived of fresh water,

For he is tossed into every quarter.

فَغَدَتْ به الأكْبادُ بَعْدَ أوَارِهَا

رِياًّ وَصَحَّ سَمِينُهَا وَالأعْجَفُ

Thus he caused the livers, after their hiding-places,

To be seen, and made taut their fattened and emaciated.

وَرَأتْهُ أعظَمَ مِنّةٍ إذْ جَاءَهَا

وَالنَّجْمُ فِي وَقتِ الإغَاثَةِ مُخلِفُ

And she saw him her greatest boon when he came to her

While the star in the time of deliverance lags,

لاَزَالَ يُظْهِرُ كُلَّ حِينٍ غُرَّةً

يَفنَى الزَّمَانُ وَنُورُهَا لاَيَكْسِفُ

He continues every so often to display a bloom

While time perishes, and its light does not dim.