هَلْ تُخبِرنْ سقاكَ الغيثُ يا طلَلُ

عن آلِ ميّةَ بالجرعَاء مَا فَعلوا

Can the rain clouds inform me, O hills of Layla,

About what the people of Mays did in Jurfah?

ساروا إلى جبل الرّيان يا بأبي

تلك الظعَائنُ والريانُ والجبَل

They went to Mount Rayyan, O my father!

Those oppressors, and Rayyan, and the mountain,

وأَهَالَها ظُعُناً أبقت لنا شجناً

وحاكمينَ لقد جاروا وما عدلوا

And its people they wronged, leaving us with lasting sorrow.

Those rulers were unjust and did not act with fairness,

ودّعتُهم ودُموعي حَشوُها حُرَقٌ

يوم النوى ودموعي ثرة همل

I bade them farewell while my tears were burning embers

The day of parting, and my tears copious torrents.

وقلت يا راكب ليلى هاكم كبدي

رهناً برد مطاياكم فما فعلوا

I said: "O rider of Layla, here is my liver,

Pledged against the return of your steeds." But what did they do?

كم ذا أقبّلُ أيْدي العيس منْ كلَفٍ

للظاعنين ومَاذا تنفعُ القُبَل

How often I kiss the hands of the persecuted out of agony,

For those who slander! Of what use are kisses?

يا نازحين ولا عَنْ رغبةٍ نزحوا

وقاتلينَ ولا يدرون مَنْ قتَلُوا

O you who migrate, though not out of desire you migrated,

And fight, though you know not whom you fight!

وكلّما زجروني لَجّ بي وَلَهي

وكلّما عَذَلُوا لم ينْفِع العَذَل

Whenever they rebuke me, I withdraw in bewilderment,

And whenever they blame, blame does not benefit.

قالوا أتعشقُ ليلى وهي نَاجِلَةٌ

فقلت كلُّ مليحٍ زانه النّحَل

They said: "Do you love Layla, though she is with child?"

I said: "Every beauty is made more beautiful by bees."

تا الله أكلُ بعدَ الظاعنين يدي

وابن الحسين لي المعتاضُ والبَدل

By God! After the slanderers, shall I ever eat my hands?

Al-Hussein's son is to me the substitute and replacement!

بسَّامةٌ وخطوبُ الدهرِ عَابسةٌ

مِطعَامةٌ وبكفَيْ حاتمٍ شَلَل

With adversities, while the days are frowning,

Afflicted, though in my palms a seal of distinction.

ترى الوفودَ على أبوابِه زُمراً

وللوُفود وفودٌ كلَّما نزلوا

Caravans throng his gates in droves,

And for every caravan, more descend.

لولاَ محمدُ كانَ الدِّينُ منطمسٌ

وفرقةُ العِلم قد ضاقت به الحيَل

Were it not for Muhammad, religion would be erased

And the community of knowledge would be at a loss.

أهدى به اللهُ كلَّ الخلق قاطبةً

والهدي منه بحبل اللهُ متصِل

Through him God guided all creation together,

And guidance through him is connected to God's cord.

لاَ ينكر الشرقُ والغربُ القصيّ لَهُ

فضلاً ولا مَنْ حواه السَّهْلُ والجبل

Neither East nor West rejects the Chosen One,

In merit, nor whom the plain and mountain surrounds.

قطبٌ له قبل الكونِ تقدمة

فما تقدمه كون ولا أزل

A pole whose precedence was before existence,

So no universe or eternity preceded him.

سِرٌّ تمخض علمُ الغيب عنه فمَا

من الأسرّة مَنْ منهم لَهُ مَثل

A secret that the knowledge of the unseen burst forth from, so

None of the concealers is for him a match.

محمدُ ابنُ الحسينِ البَرّ صَاحِبُهُ

محمدٌ صارم ما إنْ له فلَل

Muhammad son of Hussein the Righteous, his companion,

Muhammad, a sword that when unsheathed has no flaws.

بدران بالبدرِ من نورَيهما خلَلُ

معاً وبالشمس من نوريهمَا خَجَل

Two full moons, the moon is dimmed by their light,

And the sun feels shame at the brilliance of them both.

في كلّ بحرٍ عميقٍ من فضائلهم

فضلٌ عظيمٌ وجودٌ صوبُه هَطِل

In every deep sea of their virtues

There is glorious generosity, towards which clouds pour.

الجود والمجدُ فيهم والعَفافُ مَعاً

والحِلْمُ أجمعُه والعلمُ والعَمَل

Generosity, glory, chastity, forbearance, knowledge, and action,

Hope in their generosity was never unfulfilled for one who sought it,

مَا خابَ فيهم لراجي جودِهم أبداً

يوماً رجاءٌ ولا ظنٌّ ولا عَمَل

A day of hoping, guessing, or deeds.