يا حادي الركب أنخ يا حادي

ما غير وادي الطف لي بوادي

O caravan-driver, make the camels kneel, O driver.

To me, no valley is a valley but the valley of al-Taff.

يعتادني شوقي إلى الطف فكن

مشاركي في شوقي المعتاد

My longing for al-Taff returns to me; so be

my companion in my recurring longing.

للَه أرض الطف أرضاً إنها

أرض الهوى المعبود فيها الهادي

God's is the land of al-Taff—what a land! It is

the land of love, where the Guide is worshipped.

أرض يحار الطرف في حائرها

مهما بدا فالنور منه بادِ

A land where the gaze is bewildered within its sacred enclosure;

whenever it comes into view, light shines forth from it.

حي الحيا الطف وحيا أهله

من رائح من الحيا أو غاد

May the rain greet al-Taff and greet its people,

be it rain arriving at evening or at dawn.

حي يرى أنواره موشية

تزهى على موشية الأبراد

A settlement whose blossoms seem embroidered,

outshining embroidered cloaks,

زهوى بحب المصطفى وآله

على الأعادي وعلى الحساد

as I glory in love of the Chosen One and his family

over enemies and over the envious.

قوم علي منهم وأبناه أف

ديهم بآبائي وبالأجداد

A people of whom are Ali and his two sons—I would ransom

them with my fathers and forefathers.

هم الالى ليس لهم في فخرهم

ندٍّ وحاشاهم من الأنداد

They are those who, in their glory, have no

equal—and far be it from them to have peers.

يا دمع أسعدني ولست منصفي

يا دمع أن قصرت في إسعادي

O tears, help me mourn; you do not do me justice,

O tears, if you fall short in helping me mourn.

ما أنس لا أنس الحسين والألى

باعوا به الاصلاح بالإفساد

Whatever I forget, I will not forget Husayn and those who

traded reform for corruption at his expense.

لما رآهم أشرعوا صم القنا

وجردوا البيض من الأغماد

When he saw them level their stout lances

and draw their gleaming swords from their sheaths,

نازعهم ارث أبيه قائلا

أليس ارث الأب للأولاد

he disputed with them over his father's inheritance, saying,

“Does not a father's inheritance belong to his children?

أنا الحسين بن علي أسد ال

روع الذي يعلو على الآساد

I am Husayn, son of Ali, the lion of

battle, who towers above the lions.”

فأضمروا تصديقه وأظهروا

قول مصرين على الأحقاد

So they concealed their acknowledgment of his truth, and uttered

the words of men persisting in their rancor.

ففارق الدنيا فديناه وهل

لذايق كأس المنايا فاد

So he departed this world—may we be his ransom! But is there

a ransom-giver for one who tastes the cup of death?

ولم يرم زاداً سوى الماء فما

أن زودوه منه بعض الزاد

And he sought no provision except water, yet

they did not supply him with even a little of it.

أروى التراب ابن علي من دمٍ

أي دمٍ وابن علي صاد

Ali's son quenched the dust's thirst with blood—

what blood!—while Ali's son was thirsty.

حمى الصفايا ن بنات المصطفى

في ملك أو غاد بني أوغاد

The sanctuary of the chosen women, daughters of the Chosen One,

lies in the possession of scoundrels, sons of scoundrels.

قريحة أكبادها تملكها

عصابة غليظة الأكباد

Their livers wounded, they are held

by a band with hardened livers.

لذا غدت أيامنا مآتماً

وكن كالأعراس والأعياد

Thus our days have become mourning gatherings,

though once they were like weddings and festivals.