من غال مجد قريش امس من غالا
وسام عز نزار الجود اذلالا
The glory of Quraish has vanished since he who sustained it passed away,
The honor and might of the generous have become humbled and brought low.
من فلَّ ابيض عضباً من بني مضر
فنال من مضر الحمراء ما نالا
He whose anger flashed white when the progeny of Mudar were wronged,
Attained from the ruddy-complexioned Mudar what none else attained.
حمَّال اثقال عبء المجد خفَّ به
خطب فعطل للعلياء اثقالا
Bearing the burdens of glory he walked with ease,
He sought and rendered the heights accessible to the exalted.
القى الجران على فهر فذعذها
ومرَّ يخلط بالاهوال اهوالا
He hurled his club at the mountain, crushing it,
He wove through tribulations, threading tribulation upon tribulation.
اناخ في هاشم بركا بكلكله
فهدَّ من هاشم البطحاء اجبالا
He reined his steed at Hashim, honoring them,
He leveled the plains around Hashim's dwellings into mountains.
ما بال طيبة غبَّ الطيب مفرقها
وركب مكة خوَّى كاسفاً بالا
What ails Taybah that its sweetness is scattered?
He rode Mekka-wards downcast and troubled.
ما إن تضعضع او مالت جوانبه
الا تضعضع جنب البيت او مالا
No sooner did its edges quiver or lean to one side,
Than the edifice of the Sacred House quivered or leaned to one side.
سما فوَّطد مجداً فالسما وهوى
فزلزل الارض حزنا فيه زلزالا
He aspired and firmly established glory, thus aspiring to the heavens,
The earth quaked with sorrow and tremored in an earthquake.
يا ليت شعريَ هل اطفي ذبالتها
من كان يسرجها بالفكر اشعالا
Would that I knew! Did he quench its burning embers
When he fueled it with reflective thoughts and fiery passions?
اودى الحمام بمن لو سلَّ مقوله
احال من مشكل او حلَّ اشكالا
Loss to the dove that bore his spoken word!
It solved the complex or untied a knotty tangle.
إنا قبرنا بذاك القبر ذا شطب
عضب الشبا واصمّ الكعب عسالا
We buried that tomb, marked and elevated,
The resting place of a raging lion with sharpened claws.
علكن منه نيوب الموت ذا لبد
ورداً يدلُّ علوق الناب رئبالا
Mayhap the fanged maw of death will spare him,
A flower that indicates to the mouths of lances the scent of musk.
قد غاض مفعم بحر فاض فيك جدىً
فآل بعدك يا بحر الجدى آلا
The abundant sea of excellence surged and overflowed from you,
After you O Ocean of Excellence, none can compare!
يا مخصب الشتوة الغبرا لسائله
حيّاً يمر على الاحياء سيالا
O You who revived the barren valley for its beseechers!
Passing by the living like a torrent flowing.
وممطر السرحة الغنَّا مفيئة
على الطريق تحيّ الركب محلالا
O You who rained on the pleasure-spot, making it verdant,
A shaded sanctuary, greeting travelers in the resting place.
اثكلت للشرع امّاً برَّة واباً
يا مثكل الشرع اعماماً واخوالا
You left the Law without a caring mother or righteous father,
O You who left the Law without paternal uncles or maternal kin!
من بعد فقدك اعيا العلم مقفله
يا فاتحاً لرتاج العلم اقفالا
After you were gone, the doors of knowledge closed,
O You who unlocked the bolts and doors of knowledge!
تسلّبت بعدك الدنيا غضارتها
فعُرِّيت كالفتاة الرود معطالا
The world was stripped of its splendor after you,
Bared like an unveiled maiden with her jewels removed.
لو كان في اجل مستدفعٌ اجلٌ
لقمت ادفع بالآجال انبالا
If appointed time could be driven back,
I would have averted impending time with ready substitutions.
إِن غاب خلَّف اسد الغاب مشبلة
والاسد تخلف في الغابات اشبالا
Though the lion of the thicket has passed, he left behind cubs,
While lions leave their cubs behind them in the thickets.
فحسبنا اليوم عمن قد مضى بدل
ان اعوز الدهر بالمفقود ابدالا
We now suffice - instead of one gone - with his replacement,
Lest time always disappoint me through loss and bereavement.
المحسين القول والفعل الجميل معا
والمرء يمدح اقوالا وافعالا
Those who combine beautiful words and deeds,
Are praised for their words and deeds.
ما اعرضت اوجه اللذات من جهة
الا ومن جهة اقبلن اقبالا
I did not spurn the pleasures from any direction,
Except that they retreated and approached from some other direction.
لم تبق حال على حال وإن زعموا
فسوف تلقى لحال بعدها حالا
No state remains unchanged though they claim otherwise,
For after every state comes yet another state.
مازال ترنو اليه العين شاخصة
حتى تمثَّل في المحراب تمثالا
My eyes persist in yearning towards him,
Until he appeared to me in a vision.
ثلجُ الفؤاد اذا الحرّان عارضه
ازاد جانحيته الوهل او جالا
The intense heat melts my heart whenever it afflicts me,
Increasing my confusion and disorientation.
هوّن عليك فلا الآلام مؤلمة
بعد الحسين ولا الآمال آمالا
Be gentle with yourself, neither sorrows nor hopes hurt
After al-Husayn; hopes are no longer hopes.
اجلُّ مثواه ان يسقى ببارقةٍ
او ان يبلَّ بغادي السحب ابلالا
Exalted is his resting place, whether watered by lightning,
Or nourished from the clouds pouring down heavy rains.
