1. صاحَت بِذَودِيَ بَغدادٌ فَآنَسَني

    تَقَلُّبي في ظُهورِ الخَيلِ وَالعيرِ

    Baghdad clamored for my expulsion, and I was comforted

    by my roaming on the backs of horses and caravan camels.

  2. وَكُلَّما هَجهَجَت بي عَن مَنازِلِها

    عارَضتُها بِجَنانٍ غَيرِ مَذعورِ

    And whenever she shooed me away from her dwellings,

    I confronted her with a fearless heart.

  3. أَطغى عَلى قاطِنيها غَيرَ مُكتَرِثٍ

    وَأَفعَلُ الفِعلَ فيهاغَيرَ مَأمورِ

    I lord it over her inhabitants, unconcerned,

    and do my deeds within her, at no one's command.

  4. خَطبٌ يُهَدِّدُني بِالبُعدِ عَن وَطَني

    وَما خُلِقتُ لِغَيرِ السَرجِ وَالكورِ

    A calamity threatens me with distance from my homeland,

    yet I was made for nothing but horse-saddle and camel-saddle.

  5. إِنّي وَإِن سامَني مالا أُقاوِمُهُ

    فَقَد نَجَوتُ وَقِدحي غَيرُ مَقمورِ

    Indeed, even if it inflicted on me what I could not withstand,

    I have escaped, my gaming arrow unbeaten.

  6. عَجلانَ أُلبِسُ وَجهي كُلَّ داجِيَةٍ

    وَالبَرُّ عُريانُ مِن ظَبيٍ وَيَعفورِ

    In haste, I clothe my face in every dark night,

    while the wilderness is bare of gazelle and fawn.

  7. وَرُبَّ قائِلَةٍ وَالهَمُّ يُتحِفُني

    بِناظِرٍ مِن نِطافِ الدَمعِ مَمطورِ

    And many a woman said, while sorrow endowed me

    with an eye showered with drops of tears:

  8. خَفِّض عَليكَ فِلِلأَحزانِ آوِنَةٌ

    وَما المُقيمُ عَلى حُزنٍ بِمَعذورِ

    Be gentle with yourself; sorrows have their seasons,

    and one who persists in grief is not excused.

  9. فَقُلتُ هَيهاتَ فاتَ السَمعُ لائِمَه

    لا يُفهَمُ الحُزنُ إِلّا يَومَ عاشورِ

    So I said: Far from it! My ear has escaped its reprover;

    grief is understood only on the day of Ashura.

  10. يَومٌ حَدا الظُعنَ فيهِ لِاِبنِ فاطِمَةٍ

    سِنانُ مُطَّرِدِ الكَعبَينِ مَطرورِ

    A day when Fatimah's son's departure was driven onward

    by the sharpened tip of an evenly jointed spear.

  11. وَخَرَّ لِلمَوتِ لا كَفٌّ تُقَلِّبُهُ

    إِلّا بِوَطءٍ مِنَ الجُردِ المَحاضيرِ

    And he fell into death; no hand turned him over,

    only the tread of sleek, swift-running horses.

  12. ظَمآنَ سَلّى نَجيعُ الطَعنِ غُلَّتَهُ

    عَن بارِدٍ مَن عُبابِ الماءِ مَقرورِ

    He thirsted; the blood of spear-thrusts consoled his burning thirst

    in place of cool, chilled water from a swelling flood.

  13. كَأَنَّ بيضَ المَواضي وَهيَ تَنهَبُهُ

    نارٌ تَحَكَّمُ في جِسمٍ مِنَ النورِ

    As though the bright, keen blades, while ravaging him,

    were fire holding sway over a body of light.

  14. لِلَّهِ مُلقَىً عَلى الرمضاءِ عَضَّ بِهِ

    فَمُ الرَدى بَينَ إِقدامٍ وَتَشميرِ

    God's is the one cast on the scorching ground, bitten

    by death's mouth amid bold advance and strenuous effort.

  15. تَحنو عَلَيهِ الرُبى ظِلّاً وَتَستُرُه

    عَنِ النَواظِرِ أَذيالُ الأَعاصيرِ

    The hills bend over him with shade, and he is veiled

    from watching eyes by the trailing skirts of whirlwinds.

  16. تَهابُهُ الوَحشُ أَن تَدنو لِمَصرَعِهِ

    وَقَد أَقامَ ثَلاثاً غَيرَ مَقبورِ

    Wild beasts stand in awe of him, fearing to approach where he fell,

    though he remained three nights unburied.

  17. وَمورِدٌ غَمَراتِ الضَربِ غُرَّتَهُ

    جَرَّت إِلَيهِ المَنايا بِالمَصاديرِ

    And one who led his radiant brow into the engulfing blows—

    death drew toward him the paths of departure.

  18. وَمُستَطيلٌ عَلى الأَزمانِ يَقدِرُها

    جَنى الزَمانُ عَليها بِالمَقاديرِ

    And one who towered over the ages, taking their measure—

    time wronged them through its decrees.

  19. أَغرى بِهِ اِبنَ زِيادٍ لُؤمُ عُنصُرِهِ

    وَسَعيُهُ لِيَزَيدٍ غَيرُ مَشكورِ

    The baseness of his stock incited Ibn Ziyad against him,

    and his service to Yazid won no praise.

  20. وَوَدَّ أَن يَتَلافى ما جَنَت يَدُهُ

    وَكانَ ذَلِكَ كَسراً غَيرَ مَجبورِ

    And he wished to remedy what his hand had perpetrated,

    but that was a fracture left unmended.

  21. تُسبى بَناتُ رَسولِ اللَهِ بَينَهُمُ

    وَالدينُ غَضُّ المَبادي غَيرُ مَستورِ

    The daughters of God's Messenger are taken captive among them,

    while the faith is still tender in its beginnings, unconcealed.

  22. إِن يَظفَرِ المَوتُ مِنّا بِاِبنِ مُنجِبَةٍ

    فَطالَما عادَ رَيّانَ الأَظافيرِ

    If death wins from us a son of a noble mother,

    often has it returned with blood-sated claws.

  23. يَلقى القَنا بِجَبينٍ شانَ صَفحَتَهُ

    وَقعُ القَنا بَينَ تَضميخٍ وَتَعفيرِ

    He meets the spears with a brow whose surface was marred

    by spear-blows, amid bloodstains and dust.

  24. مِن بَعدِ ما رَدَّ أَطرافَ الرِماحِ بِهِ

    قَلبٌ فَسيحٌ وَرَأيٌ غَيرُ مَحصورِ

    After the tips of lances had been repelled with it

    by a capacious heart and unconfined judgment.

  25. وَالنَقعُ يَسحَبُ مِن أَذيالِهِ وَلَهُ

    عَلى الغَزالَةِ جَيبٌ غَيرُ مَزرورِ

    And battle-dust drags its skirts, and has

    over the sun a neckline left unbuttoned.

  26. في فَيلَقٍ شَرِقٍ بِالبيضِ تَحسَبُهُ

    بَرقاً تَدَلّى عَلى الآكامِ وَالقورِ

    In an army choked with gleaming swords, which you would take

    for lightning hanging over hillocks and flat-topped heights.

  27. بَني أُمَيَّةَ ما الأَسيافُ نائِمَةً

    عَن شاهِرٍ في أَقاصي الأَرضِ مَوتورِ

    Sons of Umayyah, the swords are not asleep

    heedless of a bereaved man who draws them at earth's farthest ends.

  28. وَالبارِقاتُ تَلَوّى في مَغامِدِها

    وَالسابِقاتُ تَمَطّى في المَضاميرِ

    And the flashing blades writhe within their sheaths,

    and the swift horses stretch in the racecourses.

  29. إِنّي لَأَرقُبُ يَوماً لا خَفاءَ لَهُ

    عُريانَ يَقلَقُ مِنهُ كُلُّ مَغمورٍ

    Indeed, I await a day that cannot be concealed,

    naked, unsettling every man sunk in obscurity.

  30. وَلِلصَوارِمِ ما شاءَت مَضارِبُها

    مِنَ الرِقابِ شَرابٌ غَيرُ مَنزورِ

    And keen swords shall have all their striking edges desire:

    from necks, a draught by no means scant.

  31. أَكُلَّ يَومٍ لَآلِ المُصطَفى قَمَرٌ

    يَهوي بِوَقعِ العَوالي وَالمَباتيرِ

    Must a moon of the Chosen One's household each day

    fall beneath the blows of tall spears and cleaving swords?

  32. وَكُلَّ يَومٍ لَهُم بَيضاءُ صافِيَةٌ

    يَشوبُها الدَهرُ مِن رَنقٍ وَتَكديرِ

    And each day, theirs is a pure white radiance

    that time taints with murk and clouding.

  33. مِغوارُ قَومٍ يَروعُ المَوتُ مِن يَدِهِ

    أَمسى وَأَصبَحَ نَهباً لِلمَغاويرِ

    A people's bold raider, whose hand terrifies death,

    has become, evening and morning, plunder for raiders.

  34. وَأَبيَضُ الوَجهِ مَشهورٌ تَغَطرُفُهُ

    مَضى بِيَومٍ مِنَ الأَيامِ مَشهورِ

    And one bright of face, renowned for his noble bearing,

    passed away on a day famed among days.

  35. ما لي تَعَجَّبتُ مِن هَمّي وَنَفرَتِهِ

    وَالحُزنُ جُرحٌ بِقَلبي غَيرُ مَسبورِ

    Why did I marvel at my sorrow and its restiveness,

    when grief is an unprobed wound in my heart?

  36. بِأَيِّ طَرفٍ أَرى العَلياءَ إِن نَضَبَت

    عَيني وَلَجلَجتُ عَنها بِالمَعاذيرِ

    With what eye shall I behold lofty honor, if

    my eye runs dry and I stammer excuses about it?

  37. أَلقى الزَمانَ بِكَلمٍ غَيرِ مُندَمِلٍ

    عُمرَ الزَمانِ وَقَلبٍ غَيرِ مَسرورِ

    I face time with an unhealed wound,

    for the lifetime of time, and with a joyless heart.

  38. يا جَدِّ لا زالَ لي هَمٌّ يُحَرِّضُني

    عَلى الدُموعِ وَوَجدٌ غَيرُ مَقهورِ

    O my grandfather, may I always have a sorrow urging me

    to tears, and a yearning never subdued.

  39. وَالدَمعُ تَحفِزُهُ عَينٌ مُؤَرَّقَةٌ

    حَفزَ الحَنِيَّةِ عَن نَزعٍ وَتَوتيرِ

    And tears are impelled by an eye kept sleepless,

    as a curved bow thrusts when drawn and strung.

  40. إِنَّ السُلوَّ لَمَحظورٌ عَلى كَبِدي

    وَما السُلُوُّ عَلى قَلبٍ بِمَحظورِ

    Indeed, solace is forbidden to my liver,

    yet solace is not forbidden to a heart.