أشاقك من ربي نجد هواها

ومن نسمات كاظمة شذاها

Has the air of Najd's hills stirred your longing,

and the fragrance of Kazima's breezes?

ونبه وجدك المكنون برق

تألق في العشية من رباها

Has lightning awakened your hidden yearning,

gleaming at dusk from its hills?

نعم وألم بي سحراً نسيم

يحدث عن شذا وادي قراها

Yes; a breeze passed over me before dawn,

telling of the fragrance of the valley of its villages.

فألمين وذكر عهوداً

بعامل لا عدا السقيا ثراها

It pained me and recalled days gone by

in Amil—may rain never pass its soil by.

بلاد لي بساحتها أناس

ولي صحب كرام في حماها

A land where I have people in its precincts,

and noble companions within its sanctuary.

أحن لجانب الشرقي منها

حنين مروعة ثكلت فتاها

I yearn for its eastern side

as a distraught woman yearns, bereft of her son.

وتلعب بي لذاكراها شجون

كما لعبت برياها صباها

At its remembrance, sorrows play upon me,

as its east wind played with its fragrance.

واشتاق الخيام وثم صحباً

عليه راح مزروراً خباها

I long for al-Khiyam and the companions there,

its tent standing buttoned shut around them.

نعمت بقربها زمناً ونفسي

برغم الحلم تمرح في غواها

For a time I enjoyed its nearness, while my soul,

despite sober judgment, reveled in its waywardness.

فكم من كاعب ألفت فبانت

تمج الكاس عذباً من لماها

How many a budding maiden I loved, who then departed,

pouring sweetness from her dark lips into the cup.

وكم هرعت لتلك وكم أقامت

بسوق اللهو طارحةً عصاها

How often my soul hurried to her, how often it stayed

in the marketplace of pleasure, laying down its staff.

وكم قطعت هنالك من ثمار

لعمر العز عذب مجتناها

How much fruit I plucked there—

by glory's life, sweet was its harvest!

بحيث العيش صفو والليالي

غوافلٌ راح مأموناً قضاها

There life was untroubled, and the nights

were heedless, their decrees harmless.

ولما أن رأيت الجهل عاراً

وإن العمر أجمله تناهى

But when I saw that ignorance was a disgrace,

and that life's fairest part had reached its end,

وإن النفس لا تنفك تسعى

إلى الشهوات فاغرةً لهاها

and that the soul never ceased striving

after desires, its maw gaping wide,

رددت جماحها فارتد قسراً

وألوت عن كثير من شقاها

I curbed its unruliness, which recoiled by force,

and it turned away from much of its misery.

وحركني إلى الترحال عنها

عزائم قد أبت إلا قلاها

I was moved to journey away from that land

by firm resolves that insisted on forsaking it.

فهبت بي لما أبغي عصوب

تلف الأرض لفاً في سراها

Then a hardy she-camel bore me toward what I sought,

folding up the earth in its night journey.

معودة على أن لا تبالي

بفري مفاوز ناء مداها

Trained to pay no heed

to cleaving wilderness of far-flung extent,

كستها عزمة الرائي شحوباً

وتدآب السرى عنقاً براها

the beholder's resolve had clothed it in pallor,

and ceaseless night travel at a swift gait had worn it thin.

إذا ما هجهج الحادي وأضحت

تثير النقع من طرب يداها

Whenever the camel-driver called out and it began

to raise dust with its forelegs in delight,

وأمست بعد إرقال وخبٍ

تغافل وهي نافحة براها

and, after swift pacing and trotting, began

to feign indifference while tossing its nose-rings,

يخيل لي بأن البر بحرٌ

يسارع في المسيل إلى وراها

it seemed to me that the land was a sea,

rushing in a torrent behind it.

إلى أن أمست الأعتاب أبدت

رغاها تشتكي نصباً عراها

Until, at evening by the thresholds, it uttered

its bellow, complaining of the exhaustion that beset it.

وقد لاحت لعينيها قباب

يرد الطرف عن بادي سناها

Domes had appeared before its eyes,

their visible radiance turning the gaze away.

هنالك قرت الوجناء عيناً

ونالت بالسرى أقصى مناها

There the stout-cheeked she-camel found contentment,

and through night travel attained its utmost desire.

وأنحت جانب الغروي شوقاً

يجاذبها لما تبغي هواها

It turned toward al-Gharawi's side in longing,

its passion drawing it toward what it sought.

فوافت بعد جدٍ خير أرض

يضاهي النيران سنا حصاها

After striving, it arrived at the finest land,

whose pebbles' radiance rivals the sun and moon.

فألقت في مفاوزها عصاها

وأرست في ذرى حامي حماها

In its trackless wastes it laid down its staff,

and anchored in the shelter of its sanctuary's guardian:

أبي الحسنين خير الخلق طراً

وأكرم من وطاها بعد طاها

Abu al-Hasanayn, the best of all creation,

the noblest to tread it after Taha,

وأعظم من نحته النيب قدراً

وأشرف من به الرحمن باهي

the greatest in rank whom aged she-camels sought,

the noblest in whom the All-Merciful took pride,

وأطيب من بني الدنيا نجاراً

وأقدم مفخراً وأتم جاها

the finest in lineage among the world's sons,

the most ancient in glory and the fullest in standing,

وأصبرها على مضض الليالي

وأبصرها إذا عميت هداها

the most patient among them under the nights' anguish,

the clearest-sighted when their guidance grows obscure,

وأحلمها إذا دهمت خطوب

تطيش لها حلوم ذوي نهاها

the most forbearing when calamities descend

that unseat the judgment of its men of reason,

وأنهضها بأعباء المعالي

إذا عن نيلها قصرت خطاها

the ablest to shoulder the burdens of lofty deeds

when their steps fall short of attaining them,

وأشجعها إذا ما ناب أمر

يرد الدارعين إلى وراها

the bravest among them when an ordeal arises

that drives armored warriors backward.

وإن هم أقدوا للحرب ناراً

أحال إلى لظاها من وراها

If they kindle a fire for war,

he consigns those behind it to its blaze.

وإن طرقت حماها مشكلاتٌ

وأرزم في مرابعها رجاها

If perplexing troubles strike its sanctuary,

and its horizon rumbles over its meadows,

جلاها من لعمري كل فضل

إلى قدسي حضرته تناهى

he dispels them—he to whom, by my life, every excellence

has come to culmination in his sacred presence.

أمام هدىً حباه اللَه مجداً

وأولاه علاء لن يضاهى

An imam of guidance whom God endowed with glory,

and granted an exaltation that none can rival;

وبحر ندىً سما الأفلاك قدراً

فدون مقامه دارت رحاها

an ocean of generosity, surpassing the heavens in rank,

with their millwheel turning beneath his station;

وبدر علا لأبناء الليالي

سناه كل داجيةٍ محاها

a full moon of exaltation for the children of the nights,

whose radiance effaces every dark night.

متى ودقت مرابعها غيوث

فمن تيار راحته سخاها

Whenever rains fall upon its meadows,

their bounty comes from the torrent of his palm.

أو اجتازت مسامعها علوم

فزاخر فيضٍ لجته غثاها

Or learning passes through its ears,

it is foam from the surging flood of his depths.

وإن نهجت سبيل الرشد يوماً

فمن أنوار غرته اهتداها

If it ever follows the path of right guidance,

its guidance comes from the lights of his brow.

وثم مناقب لعلاه أمست

يد الإحصاء تقصر عن مداها

There are virtues of his exalted rank that have become such

that the hand of enumeration cannot reach their full extent.

وأنى لي بحصر صفات مولى

له الأشياء خالقها براها

How could I encompass the qualities of a master

for whom their Creator fashioned all things?

وما مدحي وآيات المثاني

على علياه مقصور ثناها

What is my praise, when the verses of the Oft-Repeated

confine their praise to his exalted rank?

أخا المختار خذ بيدي فإني

غريق جرائم داج قذاها

Brother of the Chosen One, take my hand, for I

am drowned in sins whose dregs are dark.

وعدل في غد أودى لأني

وقفت من الجحيم على شفاها

Straighten my crookedness tomorrow, for I

have come to stand upon the brink of Hell.

وكف بفضلك الأسواء عني

فقد أخنى على جلدي أذاها

Keep evils from me through your grace,

for their harm has ravaged my endurance.

وباعد بين ما أبغي ودهر

أبت أحداثه إلا سفاها

Put distance between what I seek and an age

whose events insist on nothing but folly.

فأنت أجل من يدعي إذا ما

تفاقمت الحوادث لإنجلاها

For you are the greatest to call upon when

calamities worsen, that they may be dispelled.

فزعت إلى حماك ونار شوقي

للثم ثراك مسعور لظاها

I sought refuge in your sanctuary, while the fire of my longing

to kiss your soil burns with a raging blaze,

وبث لديك والآمال تجري

على خلدي وظلك منتهاها

and to unburden my heart before you, while hopes flow

through my mind, with your shade their final goal.