أثَار بِلَى دُورِ الأحِبَّةِ فِينَا
مِنَ الدَّاء مَا قَد كَانَ مِنهُ دَفِينَا
The dwellings of loved ones have stirred in us
Some latent malady that lay dormant within.
وأورَى تَبَارِيحَ الجَوَى فَزَوافِري
تُرَدِّدُ إِن قُلتُ انخَفِضَن رَقِينَا
The winds wail their laments, and if I say “Subside,”
They echo, “If only our stature could diminish!”
أّذالَ مُصُونُ الدَّمعِ صِبغَينِ عَندَماً
وَوَرساً وأجرَى في العُيونِ عُيُونَا
My tears now flow copiously, though once restrained,
Streaming in cascades through my eyes’ dark pools.
كَأنَّ دُمُوعَ العَينِ وَطفاءُ قَد مَرَى
قَوادِمَها مَرُّ الجَنُوبِ هتُونَا
As though my tears were showers drawn on by the breeze
Of the south wind, arriving sluggishly.
أَإِن لاحَ أطلاَلٌ بَلِينَ بِذِي النَّقَى
جُنِنتَ بِذِكرِ الظَّاعِنِينَ جُنُونَا
Do the ruins of a pure soul still appear to you
When you are crazed with yearning for the absent ones?
وقَد فَتَنَتكَ الدُّورُ يَومَ عَرفتَها
لَوائِحَ آىٍ كَالوُشُوم فُتُونَا
The dwellings had captivated you the day you knew them,
Like tattoos, pages of signs full of temptation.
فَأصبَحتَ حَيرَاناً مَشُوقُا
تُنادِى رُسُوماً قَد بَلِينَ سِنِينَا
Thus you were left perplexed, filled with longing,
Calling out to forms long worn by the years.
مَتَى شَجَنٌ مِن ذِكرِ سَاكِنَهَأ انقَضَى
يُخَلِّفُ أحشَاءَ العَمِيدِ شُجُونَا
When will a stirring lament for the dwellers
Leave behind in the heart of the noble one sorrows?
غَدت مَرتِعَ العِينِ الأوَابِدِ بَعدَمَا
عَهِدتَ بِها رُودٌ نَواعِمَ عِينَا
After you had known them as a meadow for the glance,
They became a wasteland for the desolate eye.
خرَائِدَ فِيهنَّ الرَّبَابُ كَلُؤ لُؤٍ
قَد اكتَنَّ في الأصدافِ مِنهُ وصِينَا
In them the maidens were like necklaces of pearls
That lodged in oyster shells and took refuge.
خَلِيلِىِّ هَل لِى مِن مُعِينٍ عَلَى البُكَا
أمُستَحسَنٌ أن لاَ تَكونَ مُعِيناً
My friend, will you aid me in my weeping
Or do you consider it fine not to give aid?
أعِرني شُئُوناً لا انقِضَاءَ لِدَمعِهَا
أعِركَ مَتَى مني استَعَرتَ شُئونا
Lend me cares that know no end to their tears—
I will lend them to you when I borrow cares from you.
فَإِنَّ التَّبَاكِي مِن شُؤونِ ذَوِي الهَوَى
ورُبَّ شُئؤنٍ قَد جَرَرنَ شُئُونَا
For shedding tears over the concerns of those in love
Often brings on many more concerns.
وإلاَّ فَدعني عَنكَ مَا كُنتَ حَاجِياً
عَلَيكَ رِضاً أن لاَتفي وتَخُونَا
Unless release me from what once bound you to me—
It pleases you not to keep faith or show loyalty.
ألَم تَكُ عَاشَرتَ الشَّرِيفَ الذي بِهِ
قَد أخَضَرَّ دَوحُ المَكرُمَاتِ غُصُونَا
Were you not the companion of the noble soul through whom
The orchards of bounty put forth verdant branches,
وشادَ عَلَى الدِّينِ القَوِيمِ رِعَايَةً
عَنِ البَدعِ المُستَنكَراتِ حُصُونَا
And who built strongholds, by God’s true religion,
Against abhorred heresies and innovations?
هُوَ النَّدبُ أفَّاهُ الضَّنِينُ بِعِرضِه
ولَم يَكُ بالدُّرِّ الثَّمِينِ ضَنِينَا
He is the one whose honor the slanderer’s mouth rent,
Yet he was no miser with treasures of worth.
قَمِينٌ بإِلقَاءِ المَقَالِيدِ نَحوَهُ
أُولُو الأمرِ ِإذ بالأمرِ كَانَ قَمِينَا
The rulers hastened to confer authority on him
When authority's maintenance was their duty.
نَمَتهُ إِلَى المَهدِىِّ سِيمَا هِدَايَةٍ
تُؤَ إزرُ حِلماً رَاسِياً ورُزُونَا
May God soon guide aright the Mahdi's steps toward him—
Steps followed by wisdom, composure, and calm.
اقَرَّبِهِ المَولَى عُيونَ أُولِى الهُدَى
وأقذَى بِهِ حِزبَ الضَّلاَلِ عُيونَا
May God soon grant success to the eyes of the rightly guided
And foil the party of misguidance and their eyes.
فَكَانَت ثُبَاتِ المُهتَدِينَ حَيَاتُها
بِهِ وثُباتِ المغتَوِينَ تَوِينَا
Thus the lives of those rightly guided were made stable by him
While the misguided were left wavering and frail.
على السُّنَّةِ البَيضَاءِ قَد عَضَّ لَم يَكُن
يُوَاصِلُ مَن في الدِّينِ أحدَثَ دِينَا
He held fast to the brilliant Sunna and did not
Befriend those who brought novelty to religion.
ولَم تُثنِهِ عَن نُصرَةِ الحَقِّ غُربَةٌ
ولا وَثَبَاتُ المُعتَدِينَ ثُيِينَا
He was not deterred from aiding the truth by estrangement
Or by the resolve of aggressors, impotent and vile.
ألاَ قُل لِمَن يَحجُوهُ فَارَقَ أهلَهُ
وأوطَانَهُ أو كَان قَارَفَ هُونَا
Say to the one who censures him, “He left his homeland,
His family, did what is disgraceful”—
أسَأتَ ظُنوناً بالشرِيفِ أيُرتَجَى
نَجَاحَ مُسِىءٍ بالشريف ظُنُونَا
“You have thought ill of the noble soul. Can it be hoped
That one who thinks ill of the noble will prosper?”
أتَى مَعشَراً بَهواهُ أبنَاءُ عَمِّهِ
فَصَادَفَ آبَاءً بِهِ وبَنِينَا
He came to a people who, out of desire for him, became
Fathers to him, though they were his cousins.
أتَى الحَسنَيينَ الأُلَى شُغِفُوا بِهِ
فَأصبَحَ مَحمِىَ الجَنَابِ مَكِينَا
He came to the two Hasans, who loved him dearly,
And so became the protected companion of the noble ones.
أتَى أهلَهُ حَتَّى حبي الكُتبَ فِيهمُ
وكَانَ لأربَابِ الصَّفَاءِ قَرِينَا
He came to his family until he made the love of books reign among them
And became a companion to the people of purity.
وقُل لِلذِي يُنشِى القَوَافي مُعِّرضاً
لَهُ مُخفِياً في صَفوِهُنَّ اُجُونَا
And say to one who spurns him though he strings verses:
“Sweat will pour if frowning lasts long on our brows.”
ألَم تَدرِ أنَّ الشِّعرَ مَسقَطُ رَأسِهِ
لَدَينَا وأنَّا بِالعُلُومِ حُلِينَا
Do you not know that poetry was his first cradle among us
And that we are adorned with all kinds of knowledge?”
وقُل لِلذِى جَارَاهُ وَيحَكَ فَاتَّئِد
سَتَعرَقُ إن طَالَ النَّجَاءُ جَبِينَا
And say to one who faulted and maligned him, “Be careful!
Prolonged safety from others’ blame tries one’s patience.”
تبقَى بِمَيدانِ السِّباقِ مُخَلَّفاً
كَمَا خَلّفَ الطِّرفُ السَّبُوحُ هَجِينَا
In the arena of rivalry he will be left behind
Like the distant Pleiades left behind the charging bull.
