لِعَلوةَ زارَ الزائرُ المتأوِّبُ

ومن دون مَسراها الصِّفاحِ فَكبْكَبُ

To Alewah came the repentant visitor,

Beyond its smooth rock plateau bubbled the spring.

تسدَّتْ إلينا بعد هَدو ودونَها

طويلُ الذُّرى من بطنِ نَخلَة أَغلب

After wandering lost, to us she was guided,

A tall palm's daughter from the womb of time.

فقلت لها أنَّى اهتديتِ ودونَنا

قِفارٌ تَرامى بالركائبِ سَبْسَبُ

I asked her, "How did you find us, when beyond us

Lie barren wastes where the mounted hordes roam?"

مخوف الرّدى قفرٌ كأنّ نَعامه

عَذارى عليهنَّ المِلاءُ المجوَّبُ

A dreadful emptiness where ostriches graze

Like veiled virgins covered in shifting sands.

إلى أهلِ بيتٍ أذهبَ الرجسَ عنهمُ

وصُفُّوا من الأَدناسِ طُرّاً وطُيِّبوا

To the household from whom impurity was removed

And whom were cleansed of all filth, made pure and fragrant,

إلى أهلِ بيتٍ ما لمن كان مؤمِناً

من النّاسِ عنهم في الولايةِ مَذهبُ

To the household no true believer can lack devotion,

Nor in guardianship can people disagree over them.

وكمْ مِن خَصيمٍ لامني في هَواهمُ

وعاذلةٍ هبّتْ بِلَيْلٍ تُؤنِّبُ

How many a critic berated me for loving them,

How many a complainer by night would blame me, saying

تقولُ ولم تقصِدْ وتعتِبُ ضَلَّةً

وآفةُ أخلاقِ النِّساءِ التعتُّبُ

Without intending harm, blaming me for straying,

Such faultfinding being the wont of womankind,

تركتَ امتداحَ المُفضِلين ذوي النَّدى

ومَن في ابتغاءِ الخير يَسعى ويَرغَبُ

You left praising the excellent, the virtuous,

And those striving for good whom you used to extol,

وفارقتَ جيراناً وأهلَ مَودّةِ

ومَن أنت منهم حينَ تُدعى وتُنْسَبُ

You left your neighbors and loving friends

Whom you are estranged from when called by name,

فأنتَ غريبٌ فيهمُ متباعدٌ

كأنّك مّما يَتَّقونَكَ أجربُ

So you are a stranger among them, kept apart,

As if they are lions you cower from in fear.

تَعٍيبُهمُ في دِينِهم وهمُ بما

تَدينُ به أَزرى عليكَ وأَعْيَبُ

You blame their faith while yours, they say,

Is more blamable and contemptible than theirs.

فقلتُ دَعيني لن أُحَبِّر مدحةً

لغيرهمِ ما حجَّ للهِ أَرْكُبُ

I said, "Leave me be! I will never again praise

Any but them, for as long as I make the pilgrimage."

أتنهَينَني عن حُبِّ آل محمدٍ

وحُبُّهمُ ممّا بهِ أتقرَّبُ

Will you forbid me from loving Muhammad's family

When loving them brings me nearer to God?

وحبّهمُ مثلُ الصلاة وإنّه

على الناسِ من بعضِ الصلاةِ لأوْجَبُ

Loving them is like praying, and to people

More binding than some forms of praying.