1. O eye, no more frowning or swelling,
Only cry for sorrows, not out of joy,

2. Be generous, let your eyelids brim over,
Then celebrate with tears and profit.

3. O eye, in Karbala are graves where
My heart has left its own graves of sorrow,

4. Graves beneath which are pulpits of
Knowledge, forbearance and wondrous sight,

5. Of the House of Fatima, Allah's family,
The people of glory and noble lords,

6. How many swords were drawn by them and how
Much blood was shed on earth flowing freely,

7. My soul is yours to sacrifice for you,
My soul, my mother, my family and father,

8. Do not be far though far you are, O sons
Of the Prophet, and time is full of turns.

9. O soul, do not despair or feel distressed,
Pour on my grief water from hilltops,

10. Guard me, the gleam of conscience, and feel
Patience, graceful solace, and await reward.

11. Men on earth are quick to murder and sudden
Death is expected, inevitable,

12. The murdered will be assembled, and he
Who killed him will be asked about the cause.

13. Woe and hellfire to whomever handed him over
To the burning flames and blaze.

14. O elite of Allah among all creatures,
And most generous of Arabs and non-Arabs,

15. You are gleaming stars of guidance and its planets,
The center of glory and lineage and prestige,

16. The dispensers of the Cistern on a day when no relatives
Can bring water to their kindred outcasts.

17. When I think of you and the misfortune, my heart
Is detached, floating in wonder.

18. You still live among them between
A murdered one and one dispossessed.

19. There was consent in your absence,
And how much begrudging consent over wrath!

20. Until the Prophet confined a raving fool,
The prisoner of unsheathed swords in war,

21. With two far removed who had lineage
Though far removed from such lineage,

22. Taym had no brother of Hashim
And Adi no father of Ahmad.

23. But news of enmity and rancor rushed forth
In the blindness of night's darkness.

24. They rose with a false claim of injustice
And a terrible lie as proof.

25. So your prophet willed it and showed
Hostility like that of a dog,

26. And from then time turned against them
After being kind, with barren hills,

27. Do not skin me with the blades of your tongues,
I do not graze with oppressors.

28. We belong to Allah and to Him we return
Due to forgetfulness of night and erring.

29. Tomorrow Ali rose but never
To return, and morn seemed ominous.

30. Deceived by the sword he served.
When would it strike in battle obeying him?

31. It finished him off, and had it wished, it would
Have whispered to the curving blades to flee.

32. O my lasting sorrow, agony, sighs,
And oh my regret and hardship!

33. For the horror of a day when knowledge and faith
Were diminished, from their cheeks the radiance gone.

34. That day no misfortune had ever
Struck the Chosen One or ever occurred,

35. A day that darkened the morning with its gloom
And clothed the sun in the fog of dusk,

36. And the House of the Best was left by
The battlements, confused, their veils torn.

37. Eyes will roam over Abu Hasan's tomb
Lined with wounds and lamentations,

38. Drowning a quarter of sorrows with their tears,
Mourning its loss through their flowing grief,

39. Moaning as the soul tosses about in them
A millstone of death, massive, firm.

40. My craving for that narrator, or that view,
And tidings and sermons!

41. O Master of Successors, supremely guided,
The desired and exalted one of rank,

42. If the army of sorrows marches from you
To the sunlit plain, sanctuary and veil,

43. Then you may cripple the oppressors with your steps,
Crippling them with blows that shake the knees,

44. And many a skull split open
On cheeks, pigeons scattering.

45. You dyed its corners and smashed it,
With your Indian sword flashing meteors,

46. Or the red chested, blond, blue headed one,
Even if he was red headed and mud spattered.

47. Ali passed away, may Allah bless his soul
With long lasting prayers and habit.

48. And each soul has its own reasons
That flow to it like children playing.

49. People judge the unknown and I have not known them
To judge without zeal.

50. But tomorrow, know well their meeting,
For they watch, so you watch out.