يا عَينُ لا للغَضَا ولا الكُثُبِ

بُكَا الرَّزَايا سِوى بُكا الطّرَبِ

O eye, no more frowning or swelling,

Only cry for sorrows, not out of joy,

جُودِي وجِدِّي بملءِ جَفْنِكِ ثُ

مَّ احْتفِلي بالدُّموعِ وانْكسبي

Be generous, let your eyelids brim over,

Then celebrate with tears and profit.

يا عينُ في كَرْبُلاَ مَقَابِرُ قَدْ

تَرَكْنَ قَلبي مَقَابرَ الكُرَبِ

O eye, in Karbala are graves where

My heart has left its own graves of sorrow,

مَقابرٌ تحتَها مَنابِرُ مِنْ

عِلْمٍ وحِلْمٍ ومَنْظَرٍ عَجَبِ

Graves beneath which are pulpits of

Knowledge, forbearance and wondrous sight,

مِنَ البَهَاليلِ آلِ فاطمةٍ

أَهْلِ المعالي والسّادةِ النُّجُبِ

Of the House of Fatima, Allah's family,

The people of glory and noble lords,

كَمْ شَرِقَتْ مِنْهُمُ السُّيُوفُ وكَمْ

رُوِّيَتِ الأَرْضُ مِنْ دَمٍ سَرِبِ

How many swords were drawn by them and how

Much blood was shed on earth flowing freely,

نَفْسي فِداءٌ لَكُمْ ومَنْ لَكُمُ

نَفْسي وأُمِّي وأُسْرَتي وأَبي

My soul is yours to sacrifice for you,

My soul, my mother, my family and father,

لا تَبْعَدُوا يا بَني النّبِيِّ على

أَنْ قَد بَعُدْتُمْ والدُّهْرُ ذُو نُوَبِ

Do not be far though far you are, O sons

Of the Prophet, and time is full of turns.

يا نَفْسُ لا تَسْأَمِيْ ولا تَضيقِي

وَارْسِي على الخَطْبِ رَسْوَةَ الهُضُبِ

O soul, do not despair or feel distressed,

Pour on my grief water from hilltops,

صُوني شُعَاعَ الضَّمير واسْتَشْعِرِي

الصَّبْرَ وحُسْنَ العَزَاءِ واحْتَسِبي

Guard me, the gleam of conscience, and feel

Patience, graceful solace, and await reward.

فالخَلْقُ في الأرضِ يَعْجَلُونَ ومَوْ

لاكِ على تَوْأَدٍ ومُرْتَقَبِ

Men on earth are quick to murder and sudden

Death is expected, inevitable,

لابُدَّ أَنْ يُحْشَرَ القتيلُ وأَنْ

يُسْأَلَ ذُو قَتْلِهِ عَنِ السّبَبِ

The murdered will be assembled, and he

Who killed him will be asked about the cause.

فالوَيْلُ والنّارُ والثُّبُورُ لِمَنْ

قَدْ أَسْلَموهُ لِلْجَمْرِ واللّهَبِ

Woe and hellfire to whomever handed him over

To the burning flames and blaze.

يا صَفْوَةَ اللّهِ في خَلائقه

وأَكْرَمَ الأَعْجَمِينَ والعَربِ

O elite of Allah among all creatures,

And most generous of Arabs and non-Arabs,

أَنْتُمْ بُدُورُ الهُدَى وأَنْجُمُهُ

وَدَوّحَةُ المَكْرُماتِ والحَسَبِ

You are gleaming stars of guidance and its planets,

The center of glory and lineage and prestige,

وسَاسَةُ الحَوْضِ يَوْمَ لا نَهَلٌ

لِمُورِدِيكُمْ مَوارِدَ العَطَبِ

The dispensers of the Cistern on a day when no relatives

Can bring water to their kindred outcasts.

فَكّرْتُ فيكُمْ وفي المُصَابِ فَما انْ

فَكَ فُؤادي يَعُومُ في عَجَبِ

When I think of you and the misfortune, my heart

Is detached, floating in wonder.

ما زِلْتُمُ في الحياةِ بَيْنهُمُ

بَيْنَ قَتيلٍ وبَيْنَ مُسْتَلَبِ

You still live among them between

A murdered one and one dispossessed.

قَدْ كانَ في هَجْرِكُمْ رِضى بِكُمُ

وكَمْ رِضىً مُشْرَجٌ على غَضَبِ

There was consent in your absence,

And how much begrudging consent over wrath!

حَتَّى إذا أَوْدَعَ النّبِيُّ شَجاً

قَيْدَ لَهَاةِ القَصَاقِصِ الحَرِبِ

Until the Prophet confined a raving fool,

The prisoner of unsheathed swords in war,

مَع بَعِيدَيْنِ أَحْرَزَا نَسَباً

مَعْ بُعْدِ دارٍ عَنْ ذلكَ النَّسَبِ

With two far removed who had lineage

Though far removed from such lineage,

ما كانَ تَيْمٌ لهاشِمٍ بأَخٍ

ولا عَدِيٌّ لأحْمَدٍ بَأَبِ

Taym had no brother of Hashim

And Adi no father of Ahmad.

لكنْ حَديثا عَداوَةٍ وقِلىً

تَهَوَّرَا في غيابةِ الشُّقُبِ

But news of enmity and rancor rushed forth

In the blindness of night's darkness.

قاما بِدَعْوى في الظُّلْمِ غالبةٍ

وحُجّةٍ جَزْلَةٍ مِنَ الكَذِبِ

They rose with a false claim of injustice

And a terrible lie as proof.

مِنْ ثَمَّ أَوْصى بهِ نَبِيُّكُمُ

نَصَّاً فأَبْدَى عَداوةَ الكَلِبِ

So your prophet willed it and showed

Hostility like that of a dog,

ومِنْ هناكَ انْبَرَى الزَّمانُ لهمْ

بعدَ الْتِياطٍ بغارِبٍ جَشِبِ

And from then time turned against them

After being kind, with barren hills,

لا تَسْلُقوني بِحَدِّ أَلْسُنِكُمْ

ما أَرَبُ الظّالمينَ مِنْ أَرَبِي

Do not skin me with the blades of your tongues,

I do not graze with oppressors.

إِنّا إلى اللّهِ راجِعونَ على

سَهْوِ اللّيالي وغَفْلَةِ النُّوبِ

We belong to Allah and to Him we return

Due to forgetfulness of night and erring.

غَدَا عَلِيٌّ ورُبَّ مُنْقَلَبٍ

أَشْأَمَ قَدْ عادَ غيرَ مُنْقَلَبِ

Tomorrow Ali rose but never

To return, and morn seemed ominous.

فاغْتَرَّهُ السّيْفُ وهو خادِمُهُ

مَتَى يُهِبْ في الوَغَى بهِ يُجِبِ

Deceived by the sword he served.

When would it strike in battle obeying him?

أَوْدَى ولَوْ مَدَّ عَيْنَهُ أَسَدَ الغا

بِ لناجى السِّرْحَانَ في الهَرَبِ

It finished him off, and had it wished, it would

Have whispered to the curving blades to flee.

يا طُولَ حُزْني ولَوْعَتي وتَبا

رِيحي ويا حَسْرَتي ويا كُرَبي

O my lasting sorrow, agony, sighs,

And oh my regret and hardship!

لِهَوْلِ يَوْمٍ تَقَلّصَ العِلْمُ والدِّ

ينُ بِثَغْريهما عَنِ الشّنَبِ

For the horror of a day when knowledge and faith

Were diminished, from their cheeks the radiance gone.

ذَلِكَ يَوْمٌ لَمْ تَرْمِ جَائحَةٌ

بِمِثْلِهِ الْمُصْطَفَى ولَمْ تُصِبِ

That day no misfortune had ever

Struck the Chosen One or ever occurred,

يَوْمٌ أصابَ الضُّحَى بِظُلْمَتِهِ

وقَنّعَ الشّمْسَ مِنْ دُجَى الغُهَبِ

A day that darkened the morning with its gloom

And clothed the sun in the fog of dusk,

وغَادَرَ المُعْوِلاتِ مِنْ هاشمِ الخَ

يْرِ حَيارَى مَهْتُوكَةَ الحُجُبِ

And the House of the Best was left by

The battlements, confused, their veils torn.

تَمْرِي عُيُوناً على أَبِي حَسَنٍ

مَحْفُوفَةً بالكُلُومِ والنُّدَبِ

Eyes will roam over Abu Hasan's tomb

Lined with wounds and lamentations,

تَغْمُرُ رَبْعَ الهُمُومِ أَعْيُنُها

بالدَّمْعِ حُزْناً لِرَبْعِها الخَرِبِ

Drowning a quarter of sorrows with their tears,

Mourning its loss through their flowing grief,

تَئِنُّ والنّفْسُ تَسْتَديرُ بهَا

رَحى مِنَ الموتِ مُرَّةُ القطبِ

Moaning as the soul tosses about in them

A millstone of death, massive, firm.

لَهْفي لذاكَ الرُّواءِ أَمْ ذَلِكَ الرَّ

أْيِ وتِلْكَ الأَنْباءِ والخطبِ

My craving for that narrator, or that view,

And tidings and sermons!

يا سَيِّدَ الأَوْصِياءِ والعاليَ ال

حجّةِ والمُرْتَضَى وذَا الرُّتَب

O Master of Successors, supremely guided,

The desired and exalted one of rank,

إِنْ يَسْرِ جَيْشُ الهُمُومِ مِنْكَ إلى

شَمْسِ مِنىً والمَقَامِ والحُجُبِ

If the army of sorrows marches from you

To the sunlit plain, sanctuary and veil,

فَرُبّما تَقْعَصُ الكُمَاةَ بأَقْ

دامِكَ قَعْصاً يُجْثي على الرُّكَبِ

Then you may cripple the oppressors with your steps,

Crippling them with blows that shake the knees,

وَرُبَّ مُقْوَرَّةٍ مُلَمْلَمَةٍ

في عارِضٍ للحِمَامِ مُنْسَكِبِ

And many a skull split open

On cheeks, pigeons scattering.

فَلَلْتَ أَرْجاءَها وجَحْفَلَها

بِذِي صِقَالٍ كَوامِضِ الشُّهُبِ

You dyed its corners and smashed it,

With your Indian sword flashing meteors,

أَوْ أَسْمَرِ الصَّدْرِ أَصْفَرٍ أَزْرَقِ الرَّ

أْسِ وإِنْ كانَ أَحْمَرَ الحَلَبِ

Or the red chested, blond, blue headed one,

Even if he was red headed and mud spattered.

أَوْدَى عَلِيٌّ صَلّى على رُوحِهِ

اللّهُ صَلاةً طويلةَ الدَّأَبِ

Ali passed away, may Allah bless his soul

With long lasting prayers and habit.

وكُلُّ نَفْسٍ لحَيْنِها سَبَبٌ

يَسْرِي إِليها كَهَيْئَةِ اللّعِبِ

And each soul has its own reasons

That flow to it like children playing.

والنّاسُ بالغَيْبِ يَرْجُمُونَ وما

خِلْتُهُمُ يَرْجُمُونَ عَنْ كَثَبِ

People judge the unknown and I have not known them

To judge without zeal.

وفي غَدٍ فاعْلَمَنْ لِقَاؤُهُمُ

فإنّهم يَرْقُبُونَ فارْتَقِبِ

But tomorrow, know well their meeting,

For they watch, so you watch out.