ألله يا حامي الشريعه

أتقرّ وهي كذا مَروعه

God! O protector of the Law,

can you rest while she is so terror-stricken?

بك تستغيثُ وقلبها

لك عن جوى يشكو صدوعه

She cries to you for help, and her heart

complains to you of its grief-born fractures.

تدعو وجُرد الخيل مُصغية

لدعوتها سميعه

She calls, while the sleek horses listen

attentively to her call.

وتكاد ألسنة السيوف

تجيبُ دعوتها سريعه

And the tongues of swords almost

answer her call at once.

فصدورها ضاقت بسرّ

الموت فأذن أن تُذيعه

Their breasts are straitened by the secret

of death; permit them to proclaim it,

ضرباً رداءُ الحرب يبدو

منه مُحمرَّ الوشيعه

in blows that make war's mantle appear

with its weave crimson from them.

لا تشتفي أو تنزعنَّ

غروبها من كلّ شيعه

They find no relief until they wrench

their sharp edges from every faction.

أين الذريعةُ لا قرارَ

على العِدى أين الذريعه

Where is the recourse? There is no rest

in the face of foes—where is the recourse?

لا ينجعُ الإِمهال بالعا

تي فقم وأرق نجيعه

Delay does no good with the tyrant;

so rise and spill his lifeblood.

للصنع ما أبقى التحمّل

موضعاً فدع الصنيعه

For kindness, forbearance has left

no room; abandon benevolence.

طعناً كما دفقت أفاويقَ

الحيا مُزنٌ سريعه

Spear-thrusts like the pouring bursts

of rain from swift clouds.

يا بن الترائك والبواتك

من ضُبا البيض الصنيعه

O son of helmets and cleaving blades,

the edges of well-wrought white swords,

وعميدَ كلّ مغامرٍ

يَقظ الحفيظة في الوقيعه

and chief of every daring warrior,

vigilant in protective zeal in battle.

تنميه للعلياء هاشمُ

أهلُ ذروتها الرفيعه

Hashim raises him to glory,

the people of its lofty summit,

وذووا السوابق والسوابغ

والمثقفةِ اللموعه

and those with racing steeds and ample mail,

and straightened, gleaming spears.

من كلّ عبلِ الساعدين

تراهُ أو ضخمِ الدسيعه

Each is a man of burly forearms,

as you see him, or of vast bounty.

أن يلتمس غرضاً فحدّ ال

سيفِ يجعله شفيعه

If he seeks an end, the edge of the

sword he makes his intercessor.

ومقارع تحتَ القنا

يلقى الردى منه قريعه

And a combatant beneath the spears:

death meets its match in him.

لم يسرِ في ملمومةٍ

إلاَّ وكانَ لها طليعه

Never did he march by night with a massed host

without being its vanguard.

ومُضاجع ذا رونقٍ

ألهاهُ عن ضمِّ الضجيعه

And one who beds beside a gleaming blade,

which kept him from embracing his bedmate.

نسي الهجوع ومن تيقظَ

عزمهُ ينسى هُجوعه

He forgot sleep; one whose resolve

awakens forgets his slumber.

مات التصبّر بانتظا

رك أيُّها المحيي الشريعه

Patient endurance died while waiting

for you, O reviver of the Law.

فانهض فما أبقى التحمّلُ

غيرَ أحشاءٍ جَزوعه

Rise, for forbearance has left

nothing but anguished entrails,

قد مزَّقت ثوبَ الأسى

وشكت لِواصلِها القطيعه

that have torn the garment of sorrow

and complained of severed ties to the one bound to them.

فالسيف إنَّ به شفاء

قُلوبِ شيعتك الوجيعه

For in the sword lies the healing

of your followers' suffering hearts.

فسواهُ منهم ليس يُنعِشُ

هذه النفسَ الصريعه

For nothing else can revive among them

this fallen soul.

طالت حبال عواتقٍ

فمتى تعود به قطيعه

The cords of neck and shoulder have grown long;

when will they be cut by it?

كم ذا القعودُ ودينكم

هُدمت قواعده الرفيعه

How long this sitting idle, while your religion's

lofty foundations have been demolished?

تنعى الفروعُ أُصولَه

وأُصولهُ تنعى فُروعه

Its branches mourn its roots,

and its roots mourn its branches.

فيه تحكَّم مَن أباحَ ال

يوم حرمَته المنيعه

It is ruled at whim by one who has violated

today its inviolable sanctity;

مَن لَو بِقيمة قدره

غاليتُ ما ساوى رجيعه

one whose worth, even if I

inflated it, would not equal his own dung.

فاشحذ شبا عضب له الأ

رواحُ مُذعنةٌ مُطيعه

So whet the edges of a keen sword to which

souls are submissive and obedient.

إن يدعُها خفَّت لدع

وَتِه وإن ثقلت سريعه

If it calls them, they hasten to its

call, swift even when weighed down.

واطلب به بدم القتيل

بكربلا في خير شيعه

And with it seek vengeance for the blood of him slain

at Karbala among the finest followers.

ماذا يُهيجك إن صبرت

لوقعة الطفّ الفضيعه

What could stir you, if you endured

the horrific battle of al-Taff?

أترى تجيء فجيعةٌ

بأمضَّ من تلك الفجيعه

Do you think a calamity could come

more agonizing than that calamity?

حيثُ الحسينُ على الثرى

خيلُ العِدى طحنت ضُلوعه

Where al-Husayn lay upon the earth,

the foes' horses ground his ribs.

قتلته آل أُميَّةٍ

ظلمٍ إلى جنب الشريعه

The house of Umayya killed him

unjustly, beside the watering-place.

ورضيعهُ بدمِ الوريد

مخضَّبٌ فاطلب رضيعه

And his suckling child, with jugular blood,

was stained; avenge his suckling child.

يا غيرةَ الله اهتفي

بحميَّة الدين المنيعه

O zeal of God, cry out

with the invincible fervor of religion.

وضُبا انتقامكِ جرِّدي

لطلا ذوي البغي التليعه

And unsheathe the blades of your vengeance

for the long necks of the oppressors.

ودعي جنودَ الله تملأُ

هذه الأرضَ الوسيعه

And let God's hosts fill

this spacious earth.

واستأصلي حتَّى الرضيعَ

لآل حربٍ والرضيعه

And eradicate even the suckling boy

of the house of Harb, and the suckling girl.

ما ذنبُ أهل البيت ح

تَّى منهم أخلوا ربوعه

What sin had the People of the House committed,

that its dwellings were left bereft of them?

تركوهم شتَّى مصارعهم

وأجمعها فضيعه

They left them slain in scattered places,

and all their deaths were horrific:

فمغيبُ كالبدر ترتقبُ

الورَى شوقاً طلوعه

one hidden like the full moon, awaited

by all mankind, longing for his rising;

ومكابدٌ للسمّ قد سُقيت

حُشاشته نقيعه

and one tormented by poison: there was poured

into his last spark of life its infusion;

ومضرَّجٌ بالسيفِ آثر

عزَّه وأبى خضوعه

and one bloodied by the sword, who chose

his dignity and refused submission;

ألفى بمشرعة الردى

فخراً على ظمأٍ شُروعه

at death's watering-place he found

glory in entering it while thirsty.

فقضى كما اشتهت الحميَّةُ

تشكرُ الهيجا صنيعه

So he died as honor's zeal desired,

while battle gives thanks for his deed.

ومصفَّدٌ للهِ سلَّم

أمرّ ما قاسى جميعه

And one in chains entrusted to God

all the bitterest suffering he endured;

فلقسره لم تلق لولا

الله كفًّا مستطيعه

for to subdue him, you would find, were it not for

God, no capable hand.

وسبيَّة باتت بأفعى

الهمّ مهجتُها لسيعه

And a captive woman whose heart, all night,

was bitten by the serpent of sorrow;

سُلِبت وما سُلبت محا

مد عزّها الغرّ البديعه

she was despoiled, but never of the

radiant, wondrous virtues of her honor.

فلتغد أخبية الخدور

تطيح أعمدُها الرفيعه

So let the tents of the women's quarters

have their lofty pillars topple,

ولتبد حاسرةً عن الو

جه الشريفةُ كالوضيعه

and let her appear, her face unveiled—

the noblewoman like the lowly one.

فأرى كريمةَ من يواري

الخدرَ آمنةً منيعه

For I see a noble daughter of one whom

seclusion shelters, safe and inviolate,

وكرائمَ التنزيل بين

أُميَّةٍ برزت مروعه

while the noble women of Revelation, among

the house of Umayya, appear terrified.

تدعو ومن تدعو وتلك

كُفاة دعوتها صريعه

She calls—but whom can she call, when those

able to answer her call lie slain?

واهاً عرانينَ العُلى

عادت أُنوفكم جديعه

Alas, O chieftains of glory,

your noses have been cut off!

ما هزَّ أضلعَكم حداءُ

القوم بالعيس الضليعه

Did your ribs not stir at the camel-driving chant

of the people with their strong-ribbed white camels?

حَملت ودائعُكم إلى

مَن ليسَ يعرفُ ما الوديعه

Your entrusted treasures were carried to

one who does not know what a trust is.

يا ضلَّ سعيُكِ أُمة

لم تشكر الهادي صنيعه

O community, lost be your striving,

you who did not thank the Guide for his deed!

أأضعتِ حافظَ دينه

وحفظتِ جاهلةً مُضيعه

Did you abandon the guardian of his religion,

and ignorantly preserve the one who squandered it?

آلَ الرسالة لم تزل

كبدي لرِزؤكُم صديعه

O house of the Message, never has

my liver ceased to be riven by your calamity.

ولكم حَلوبةُ فِكرتي

دَرُّ الثنا تمري ضروعه

For you, the milch-cow of my thought

yields praise's milk from its udders.

وبكم أروضُ من القوا

في كلَّ فاركةِ شموعه

And through you I tame, among rhymes,

every mate-shunning, skittish one.

تحكي مخائلُها بروقَ

الغيث معطيةً منوعه

Her promise mimics the lightning

of rain, giving yet withholding.

فلديَّ وكَفّها وعنه

سواي خُلّبها لموعه

So her downpour is mine; deprived of it,

others have her glittering, rainless lightning.

فتقبَّلوها إنَّني

لغدٍ أُقدمها ذريعه

Accept her, then, for I

offer her as my recourse for the morrow.

أرجو بها في الحشر

راحةَ هذه النفسِ الهلوعه

Through her I hope, at the Gathering,

for rest for this anxious soul.

وعليكم الصلواتُ ما

حنَّت مطوَّقةٌ سَجوعه

And blessings be upon you as long as

a ring-necked dove sounds her melodious, longing coo.