هل في الوقوف على ربى يبرين

برء لداء في الفؤاد دفين

Is there, in standing upon the hills of Yabrin,

a cure for a sickness hidden in the heart?

وهل الوقوف على الأماكن منقع

غللاً وقد بقيت بغير مكين

And does standing at those places quench

a thirst, when they remain without their dwellers?

حتام تتبع لحظ طرفك مجري الـ

ـعبرات إثر ركائب وظعون

How long will your gaze follow the course of

tears after caravans and departing litters?

وإلى م تنفث موقد الزفرات عن

جمر بأخبية الحشى مكمون

How long will you breathe out burning sighs from

embers hidden within the tents of your breast?

تخفي الأسى وغريب شانك في الأسى

باد يفسره غروب شؤون

You conceal your grief, yet strangely your grief

shows plainly, explained by the falling of tears.

ولقد بلوت الحادثات وكان لي

في الخطب صبرٌ لا يزال قريني

I have indeed endured the trials of events, and I had

in calamity a patience that remained my companion.

وتجلدي ما في كعوب قناته

لردى يريد الغمز ملمس لين

My fortitude has no soft joint in its shaft

for death, seeking to test it, to find yielding.

ورزين حلمي لا يطيش لمحنةٍ

جلت وإن قطع الزمان وتيني

My steady forbearance is not shaken by a trial,

however great, even if time severed my heart's artery.

وغزير دمعي لا يزال مصنوه

إلا لذل شامل في الدين

Nor is my abundant weeping ever poured forth

except for a humiliation encompassing the faith.

وخطوب آل محمد ضعفن من

أركان دين اللَه كل حصين

The calamities of Muhammad's family have weakened

every strong pillar of God's religion.

هم خيرة الباري ومهبط وحيه

حقاً وعيبة علمه المخزون

They are the Creator's chosen ones and the place of His revelation,

truly, and the treasury of His hidden knowledge.

هم نور حكمته وباب نجاته

أبداً وموضع سره المكنون

They are the light of His wisdom and the gate of His salvation,

always, and the place of His concealed secret.

أمناؤه في أرضه خلفاؤه

في خلقه أبناء خير أمين

They are His trustees on earth, His successors

among His creation, sons of the best of trusted men.

وهم الألى عين اليقين ولا هم

من كل هولٍ في المعاد يقيني

They are the ones who are certainty itself, and through them

I am safe from every terror on the Day of Return.

ما لي من الأعمال إلا حبهم

في النشأتين وحبهم يكفيني

I have no deeds but love for them

in both lives, and love for them is enough for me.

مهما أسأت وقد نشأت رثاءهم

بدر الولا لرثائهم يدعوني

However I have erred, I grew up lamenting them;

the full moon of devotion calls me to mourn them.

وإذا تقاعد منطقي عن مدحهم

نهضت جميع جوارحي تهجوني

And if my speech falls short of praising them,

all my limbs rise to reproach me.

أو مادرت تلك الجوارح شفها

رزء الأطايب من بني ياسين

Or do those limbs not know what has pierced them:

the loss of the noble ones among the sons of Yasin?

وحديث فاجعة الطفوف أذالها

دمعاً به انبجست عيون عيوني

The account of the tragedy of al-Tufuf has made them flow

with tears, by which the springs of my eyes burst forth.

إني متى مثلتها سعر الجوى

مني بأذكى من لظى سجين

Whenever I picture it, grief blazes

within me more fiercely than the flames of Sijjin.

ومتى أطف بألطف من ذاك العرى

جعلت أراجيف الأسى تعروني

And whenever I circle back to that most tender bond,

the tremors of sorrow come over me.

وذكرت ما لم أنسه ما حادث

ما زال يغري بالشمال يميني

I remember what I have never forgotten, the event

that still turns my right hand toward the left:

حيث ابن فاطمة هناك تحوطه

زمر الضلالة وهو كالمسجون

there the son of Fatima is surrounded

by bands of error, as though imprisoned.

وهم الألى قد عاهدواه وأوثقوا

عقداً لبيعته بكل يمين

They are the very ones who pledged themselves to him

and bound their allegiance with every oath,

حتى أناخ بهم بما يحويه ما

آل وأموال وخير بنين

until he encamped among them with all he possessed,

family, wealth, and the best of sons.

غدروا به والغدر ديدن كل ذي

إحن بكل دنيةٍ مفتون

They betrayed him; betrayal is the habit of everyone

filled with rancor and infatuated with every vile act.

ورموه لا عرفوا السداد بأسهم

من كف كفر عن قسي ضغون

They shot at him, knowing no right course, with arrows

from unbelieving hands and bows of spite.

ولديه من آساد غالبٍ أشبل

يخشى سطاها ليث كل عرين

At his side were lion cubs of Ghalib,

whose might the lion of every den would fear,

وأماثل شربوا بأقداح الولا

صافي المودة من عيون يقين

and noble men who drank from cups of devotion

pure affection drawn from springs of certainty.

سبقوا بجدهم الوجود وآدم

ما بين ماء في الوجود وطين

Through their forefather, they preceded existence, when Adam

was still between water and clay.

وهم الألى ذخر الإله لنصره

في كربلا من مبدء التكوين

They are the ones God reserved for His aid

at Karbala from the beginning of creation.

لا عيب فيهم غير أنهم لدى الـ

ـهيجاء لا يخشون ريب منون

They have no fault except that, in

battle, they fear no uncertainty of death.

وعديدهم نزر القليل وفي الوغى

كل يعد إذا عدا بمئين

Their number was very small, yet in war

each, when he charged, counted for hundreds.

والكل أن حمي الوطيس يرى به

قبض اللوا فرضاً على التعيين

And each, when the battle grew fierce, saw

holding the banner as his appointed duty.

ما رنة الأوتار في نغماتها

أشهى لديهم من صليل ظبين

The music of vibrating strings was no sweeter to them

than the clash of two sword blades.

كلا ولا ألحان معبد عندهم

في الروع أطرب من صهيل صفون

Nor, to them, were Ma'bad's melodies

more delightful in battle than the neighing of swift steeds.

ثاروا كما شاء الهدى وستنموا

صهوات قب أياطل وبطون

They rose as guidance willed and mounted

the backs of lean horses, flanks and bellies taut.

وعدوا لقصد لو جرت ريح الصبا

معهم به وقفت وقوف حرون

They raced toward their goal; had the east wind raced

beside them, it would have halted there like a stubborn mount.

وإذا الهجان جرت لقصد أدركت

قصباً يقصر عنه جري هجين

And when the fine steeds ran toward their goal, they won

a prize beyond the reach of a lesser horse.

حتى إذا ما غادروا مهج العدى

نهبا لكل مهند مسنون

Then, when they had left the enemy's lives

as spoil for every sharpened Indian blade,

وفد الردى يبغي قراه وكلهم

حب القرى بالنفس غير ضنين

death came as a guest seeking hospitality, and every one of them

was generous enough to offer his life as its feast.

لذاك قد سقطوا على وجه الثرى

ما بين مذبوح وبين طعين

Thus they fell upon the face of the earth,

some slaughtered and others pierced.

وشروا مفاخرهم بأنفس أنفس

ينحط عنها قدر كل ثمين

They bought their glory with precious lives

whose worth exceeds that of every costly thing.

طوبى لهم ربحوا وقد خسر الألى

رجعوا هناك بصفقة المغبون

Blessed are they: they gained, while those who

returned from there lost in a bargain of ruin.

وغدا عميد المكرمات عميدهم

من بعدهم لو كاله المخزون

The chief of noble deeds, their leader, became

bereft after them, though he held his grief within.

ظامي الفؤاد ولا معين له على

قومٍ حموا عنه ورود معين

Thirsty of heart, he had no helper against

people who barred him from reaching a spring.

يرنو ثغور البيد وهي فسيحةٌ

شحنت مراصدها بكل كمين

He scanned the openings of the desert, wide as they were,

but their lookout posts were filled with ambushers.

ويرى كراديس الضلال تراكمت

وكأنها قطع الجبال الجون

He saw the massed battalions of error,

as though they were dark mountain ranges.

ويكر في تلك الصفوف مجاهداً

كر الوصي أبيه في صفين

He charged those ranks in struggle,

as his father, the Successor, charged at Siffin.

ويعود نحو سرادق ضربت على

أزكى بنات للهدى وبنين

And he returned toward the tents pitched over

the purest daughters and sons of guidance,

وكرائم عبث الأسى بقلوبها

فغدت فواقد هدأة وسكون

noble women whose hearts grief had ravaged,

leaving them without rest or peace.

يسدي لها الوعظ الجميل وذاك لا

يجدي ذوات لواعج وشجون

He offered them gentle counsel, but it

could not help those consumed by anguish and sorrow.

ونوائب عن حمل أيسر نكبةٍ

منها تسيخ مناكب الراهون

Their misfortunes were such that even the lightest of them

would make the shoulders of the steadfast sink.

قسماً بثابت عزمه واليتي

بثبات عزمته أبر يمين

I swear by the constancy of his resolve, and by my devotion

to its firmness I make my truest oath:

لو شاء أقراه الردى مهج العدى

طراً لأضحت ثم طعم منون

Had he wished, he would have served death the enemy's lives,

all of them, as food for death.

أو شاء إفناء العوالم كلها

قسراً لأوحى للمنايا كوني

Or had he wished to annihilate all the worlds

by force, he would have said to death: ‘Be.’

أنى ومحتوم المنايا كامن

ملا بين كافٍ خطابه والنون

Yet how could he, when ordained deaths lay hidden,

filling the space between the kaf and nun of His command?

لكن لسر في الغيوب وحكمة

سبقت بغامض علمه المخزون

But there was a secret in the unseen and a wisdom

preceding it in His deep, hidden knowledge.

وخبا ضياء المسلمين ومحكم الذكـ

ـر المبين غدا بغير مبين

The Muslims' light went out, and the clear, firm

Remembrance was left without an interpreter.

وبنات خير المرسلين برزن من

دهش المصاب بعولة ورنين

And the daughters of the best of messengers emerged,

stunned by disaster, wailing and crying aloud.

من كل زاكية حصان الذيل ما

ألفت سوى التخدير والتحصين

Each was pure and modest, her hem guarded; she

had known only seclusion and protection.

ولصونها أيدي النبوة شيدت

من هيبة الباري المنيع حصون

To shelter her, the hands of prophethood had raised

impregnable walls from reverence for the Creator.

وأجل يوم راح مفخر هاشمٍ

فيه أجب الظهر والعرنين

It was a day when the pride of Hashim departed,

his back bent and his dignity humbled.

يوم به تلك الفواطم سيرت

أسرى تلف أباطحاً بحزون

A day when those women of Fatima's house were driven

as captives across plains and rugged hills,

من فوق غارب كل أعجف عاثر

في السير صعب القود غير أمون

atop the backs of gaunt, stumbling beasts,

hard to lead on the road and unsafe to ride.

وتقول للحامي تالحمى ومقالها

كدموعها من لؤلؤ مكنون

She says to the protector of the sanctuary, her words

like her tears, pearls from a hidden store:

عطفاً علي ولا أخالك أن أقل

عطفاً علي تغض طرفك دوني

‘Have compassion for me; I cannot imagine that, if I say

“Have compassion for me,” you would turn your gaze away.

أو لست تنظرني وقد هتك العدى

خدري وهدمت الطغاة حصوني

Do you not see me, when the enemy has torn away

my veil and the tyrants have demolished my defenses,

من بعد أن تركوا بنيك على الثرى

ما بين مذبوح وبين طعين

after they left your sons upon the earth,

some slaughtered and others pierced,

عارين منبوذين في كنف العرا

من غير تغسيل ولا تكفين

bare and cast aside in the open,

without washing or burial shrouds?’

تلك الرزايا قد أشبن مدامعي

بدم الفؤاد كم أشبن قروني

Those calamities have streaked my tears

with my heart's blood, as they have grayed my hair.

أيمس عيني الكرى وعلى الثرى

جسم الحسين أراه نصب عيوني

How could sleep touch my eyes while on the earth

lies Husayn's body, always before my eyes,

من غير دفن وهو أفضل ميتٍ

في قلب كل موحدٍ مدفون

without burial, though he is the noblest of the dead,

buried in the heart of every believer in one God?