1. قفِ الركبَ العجالَ قفِ

    نلمَّ بساكني النَّجَفِ

    Halt the hurrying caravan; halt!

    Let us visit the dwellers of Najaf.

  2. نلمَّ بروضةٍ أكْرِمْ

    بها من روضةٍ أُنُف

    Let us visit a garden—how noble

    a pristine garden it is!

  3. بمختلفٍ لأبكارِ ال

    سحائب أيِّ مختلف

    A haunt for virgin

    clouds—what a haunt!

  4. مدبّجةٌ رفارفُ بس

    طها موشيَّة السُّجُف

    Embroidered are the fringes of its

    carpets; brocaded are its curtains.

  5. ترى أَنوارَها ما بي

    نَ مُفْتَرِقٍ وَمُؤتَلِف

    You see its blossoms, ranging

    between scattered and gathered,

  6. كمذهبةِ السُّطورِ يَلُحْ

    نَ حين يَلُحْنَ في الصحف

    like gilded lines, gleaming

    when they gleam upon the pages.

  7. ترى طَرْفَ الأقاحي بي

    نها من أطْرَفِ الطُّرَف

    You see the daisies' eyes among

    them, among the rarest marvels,

  8. كجاماتِ العقيقِ لها

    من البِلَّوْرِ كالشُّرَف

    like agate cups, with

    crystal resembling battlements.

  9. وذا لكرامةِ الجدفِ ال

    ذي أفديه مِنْ جَدَف

    All this is for the honor of the tomb

    which I would ransom—what a tomb!

  10. فحيثُ تصرَّفَتْ هممي

    إلى مَنْ فيه منصرفي

    Wherever my aspirations turn,

    my turning is toward the one within it:

  11. صَفِيّ المصطفى وكفى

    فصفْ أوْ لا فلا تَصِف

    the Chosen One's intimate—and that suffices.

    So describe him—or no, do not describe.

  12. أخوه وصهرُهُ وظهي

    ره في موقفِ التلف

    His brother, his son-in-law, and his

    supporter in mortal peril;

  13. وكاشفُ همِّهِ أبداً

    بوجهٍ فيه منكشف

    ever the dispeller of his sorrow,

    with a countenance that brought relief.

  14. حباهُ بالوصيَّةِ إِذ

    حباه وهو ذو دَنَف

    He honored him with his testament when

    he honored him, himself gravely ill.

  15. يقولُ له وقد عرق ال

    جبينُ مقالَ ذي لطف

    He says to him, as sweat covers his

    brow, with words of tenderness:

  16. عليُّ دنا الفراق فكن

    تَ إِذ فارقْتَني خلفي

    “Ali, parting draws near; you were

    my successor when you parted from me.”

  17. وَقَرَّبَهُ وعانَقَهُ

    عناقَ اللامِ للألِف

    He drew him near and embraced him,

    as lam embraces alif.

  18. وودَّعه وَأَدْمُعُه

    أَسىً إِلاَّ تَفِضْ تَكِف

    And he bade him farewell, his tears,

    in sorrow, if not pouring, trickling.

  19. فذاك البَرُّ إِنْ أَحْلِفْ

    فإني البَرُّ في حلفي

    That is the righteous one; if I swear,

    I am true to my oath.

  20. أتيح له المراديُّ ال

    لئيمُ الأصلِ والطَّرَف

    Al-Muradi was destined for him,

    base in origin and lineage.

  21. أتاه وهو في المحرا

    بِ في ثوبٍ من السّدف

    He came to him while he was in the prayer-

    niche, in a robe of darkness,

  22. بمصقولٍ قضيفِ حدّ

    ه في غايةِ القَضَف

    with a polished, slender blade, its edge

    of the utmost thinness.

  23. وذاك لِزُلْفَةٍ جازت

    به أقصى مَدَى الزُّلَف

    And that was for a nearness which carried

    him beyond the utmost reach of nearness.

  24. فزاد الله مولانا

    به تُحَفاً إلى تُحَف

    So God bestowed more upon our master

    through it—gifts upon gifts,

  25. وأسكنه به غرفاً

    مضافاتٍ إلى غرف

    and housed him, through it, in chambers

    added to chambers,

  26. يدومُ بقاءُ ساكنها

    بلا هَرَمٍ ولا خَرَف

    whose dweller's life endures

    without old age or failing mind.

  27. ألم تَر ما اتفقنا في ال

    حُسَيْنِ عليه مِنْ كَلف

    Have you not seen what we agree on concerning

    Husayn: our ardent love,

  28. ومن قَلَقٍ ومن جَزَعٍ

    ومن كَمَدٍ ومن أَسَف

    our disquiet and our anguish,

    our heartache and our sorrow?

  29. تناوَلَهُ العُداةُ تنا

    ولاً بالخُرْقِ والعُنُف

    The enemies seized him,

    seizing him roughly and violently,

  30. ولم يُبْقول على مته

    جّدٍ وأبيه معتَكف

    nor did they spare a keeper of night

    vigils—by his father!—devoted to retreat,

  31. كأن لم يُرْجَ في دنيا

    وآخرة ولم يُخَف

    as though no hope were placed in him in this world

    or the next, nor any fear of him,

  32. ولم يُهْلِلْ بتلبيةٍ

    ولم ينْسُكْ ولم يَطُف

    and he had never raised the pilgrim's cry,

    nor performed the rites, nor circumambulated.

  33. بنفسي ذاك من خَلَفٍ

    تحلَّى حِلْيَةَ السَّلَف

    My life for that descendant,

    adorned with his forebears' virtues!

  34. عزيزُ العزِّ ذو أَنَفٍ

    له فضل على الأنَف

    Mighty in honor, possessed of proud dignity,

    with an excellence rising above pride.

  35. جوادٌ جوده سَرَفٌ

    وما هُوَ منه بالسَّرف

    Generous, his generosity is extravagance,

    yet in him it is no extravagance.

  36. يحيِّي مَنْ يُحَيِّيه

    بلا تيهٍ ولا صَلَف

    He greets whoever greets him,

    without arrogance or conceit.

  37. أتاه حِمامُهُ نَصَفاً

    بنفسي ذاك مِنْ نَصَف

    His death came to him in middle age;

    my life for that man in midlife!

  38. فيا عبراتيَ ابتدرِي

    على الخدَّيْنِ لا تقفي

    So, O my tears, rush forth

    over both cheeks; do not stop,

  39. لمكتنفٍ بأسياف ال

    أعادي أيّ مكتنف

    for one encircled by the swords of

    his foes—utterly encircled!

  40. تَزَاحَمَ نَبْلُهُمْ فيه

    تَزَاحُمَهُنَّ في الهدف

    Their arrows crowded into him

    as they crowd into a target.

  41. وما يأوي إلى حِرْزٍ

    ولا وَزَرٍ ولا كَنَف

    He found no refuge,

    no shelter, no protection.

  42. حَمَتْهُ من الفراتِ حما

    تُهُمْ بالبيض والحَجَف

    He was barred from the Euphrates by

    their guards, with bright swords and hide shields.

  43. متى ما يدنُ من جُرُفٍ

    يذودوه عن الجُرُفِ

    Whenever he approached a riverbank,

    they drove him from the bank.

  44. فَيُصرَفُ عنه ذا ظمأٍ

    مقيمٌ غير منصرف

    So he was turned away from it, with a thirst

    that stayed and would not depart.

  45. تغيَّبَ جدُّه عنه

    فأُقصي بَعدَهُ وجُفي

    His grandfather was absent from him,

    so after him he was cast out and shunned.

  46. يعزُّ على مُلاطِفِهِ

    بأنواعٍ من اللُّطُف

    It would grieve the one who cherished him

    with every kind of tenderness—

  47. على مَن كلن يَحمِلُهُ

    على الكفًّين والكَتِف

    the one who used to carry him

    in both hands and on his shoulder—

  48. فعالُ العُصبةِ الحُيُف ال

    تي من أَحيَفِ الحُيُف

    the deeds of that unjust band,

    itself among the most unjust of the unjust.

  49. أآلَ المصطفى يا خي

    ر مؤتزَرٍ ومُلتَحَف

    O family of the Chosen One, O best

    of those in waistcloths and cloaks,

  50. ويا سُقُفَ العلى المتعا

    ليات على عُلى السُّقُف

    and O roofs of eminence, rising

    above the highest roofs,

  51. متى قِسنا إليكمْ ذا

    ندىً ماضٍ ومؤتَنَف

    whenever we compare with you a man

    of bounty, past or yet to come,

  52. نقِسْ صدفاً بلا درٍّ

    إلى دُرٍّ بلا صَدَف

    we compare a shell without a pearl

    to a pearl without a shell.

  53. هي الضبيّة اعرفْ لَفْ

    ظَها الضبيَّ واعترف

    This is the Ḍabbiyya; recognize

    its Ḍabbī wording, and acknowledge it.