نُعِدُّ المَشرَفِيَّةَ وَالعَوالي

وَتَقتُلُنا المَنونُ بِلا قِتالِ

We prepare the heights and summits

We forge the blade and sharpen the spear, / But Death strikes us down without a fight.

Yet death kills us without fighting

We tether swift steeds close at hand, / Yet they cannot save us from the night's assault.

وَنَرتَبِطُ السَوابِقَ مُقرَباتٍ

وَما يُنجينَ مِن خَبَبِ اللَيالي

We cling to past glories

Who has not loved the world of old? / But to true union there is no path.

But night's darkness cannot save us

Your share of a beloved in this life / Is but like a phantom visited in sleep.

وَمَن لَم يَعشَقِ الدُنيا قَديماً

وَلَكِن لا سَبيلَ إِلى الوِصالِ

He who did not love life once

Time cast its calamities at me / Until my heart was sheathed in arrows.

Cannot find his way to union

So now, when shafts strike my breast, / The blades shatter upon the blades.

نَصيبُكَ في حَياتِكَ مِن حَبيبٍ

نَصيبُكَ في مَنامِكَ مِن خَيالِ

In life you get but a sip of the beloved

Suffering grew light, and I ceased to care, / For I found no gain in grieving.

In dreams just a phantom of imagination

This is the first of all death-criers / To announce the first death in this majesty.

رَماني الدَهرُ بِالأَرزاءِ حَتّى

فُؤادي في غِشاءٍ مِن نِبالِ

Time pelted me with misfortunes until

As if Death had never pained a soul before, / Nor crossed the mind of any living thing.

My heart was wrapped in arrows' piercings

May the prayer of God our Creator be a balm / Upon the face shrouded in beauty.

فَصِرتُ إِذا أَصابَتني سِهامٌ

تَكَسَّرَتِ النِصالُ عَلى النِصالِ

So when spears strike me now

Buried in chastity before the dust claimed her, / In noble virtues before the grave.

They shatter against each other's points

For in the earth’s belly lies a form so new, / Whose memory is fresh, though the body fades.

وَهانَ فَما أُبالي بِالرَزايا

لِأَنّي ما اِنتَفَعتُ بِأَن أُبالي

Caring is so petty I do not care

No mortal is granted eternity; / The world itself turns toward decay.

Since caring never did me any good

It soothes the soul that you died a death / Which all who remain and all who passed would crave.

وَهَذا أَوَّلُ الناعينَ طُرّاً

لِأَوَّلِ مَيتَةٍ في ذا الجَلالِ

The first buried in this grave

You departed without seeing a hateful day / Where the spirit would find joy in its end.

As if death never mourned a soul

The canopy of glory was spread around you, / And the reign of Ali, your son, was absolute.

كَأَنَّ المَوتَ لَم يَفجَع بِنَفسٍ

وَلَم يَخطُر لِمَخلوقٍ بِبالِ

Or occurred to any being

May morning rains water your resting place, / Generous as the giving of your hand.

Our Creator's prayer is perfume

Let the rain drum upon the graves / Like the hooves of horses spotting their feed.

صَلاةُ اللَهِ خالِقِنا حَنوطٌ

عَلى الوَجهِ المُكَفَّنِ بِالجَمالِ

On the face veiled by beauty

I ask every glory about you now you are gone, / For I know no glory that is empty of you.

Over the buried ere dust covers him

The guest passes your grave and weeps, / His tears distracting him from his request.

عَلى المَدفونِ قَبلَ التُربِ صَوناً

وَقَبلَ اللَحدِ في كَرَمِ الخِلالِ

Or pit closes on his noble form

Nothing would stop you from granting his wish / If only you had the power to act.

In earth's womb he has a new self

By your life, have you forgotten? For my heart, / Though far from your land, forgets not.

فَإِنَّ لَهُ بِبَطنِ الأَرضِ شَخصاً

جَديداً ذِكرُناهُ وَهُوَ بالي

We recalled though he's unaware

Unwillingly you settled in a place / Far from the south wind and the breeze.

None lives on in the wilds

The scent of lavender is veiled from you, / And the dew of the gardens is denied.

وَما أَحَدٌ يُخَلَّدُ في البَرايا

بَلِ الدُنيا تَؤولُ إِلى زَوالِ

For the world tends toward decay

In a house where every dweller is a stranger, / Long abandoned, all ties severed.

It gladdens the soul that you died

Chaste as rainwater within the cloud, / Keeper of secrets, truthful in speech.

أَطابَ النَفسَ أَنَّكَ مُتَّ مَوتاً

تَمَنَّتهُ البَواقي وَالخَوالي

The survivors wished they could follow

The physician of the body tended her ills, / While her only son is the physician of glory.

You fell ere seeing the bitter day

If they named a sickness at the frontier, / He cured it with the tips of long spears.

وَزُلتِ وَلَم تَرى يَوماً كَريهاً

يُسَرُّ الروحُ فيهِ بِالزَوالِ

When the soul rejoices in death

She was not like other women, nor those / Whose graves are prepared from bridal chambers.

The hall of glory lies open around you

Nor one whose funeral is attended by merchants / Who bid farewell by dusting off their shoes.

رِواقُ العِزِّ حَولَكِ مُسبَطِرٌّ

وَمُلكُ عَلِيٍّ اِبنِكِ في كَمالِ

And your son Ali's reign thrives

Princes walked barefoot around her bier, / As if the jagged stones were softest down.

A rain like your palm's downpour

The secluded chambers revealed hidden beauties, / Who smeared soot where perfume once lay.

سَقى مَثواكَ غادٍ في الغَوادي

نَظيرُ نَوالِ كَفِّكِ في النَوالِ

Watered your tomb in the valley

Calamity struck them while they were unaware; / The tear of grief mixed with the tear of grace.

For its rider, swords in hand, like

If all women were like the one we have lost, / Then women would be preferred over men.

لِساحيهِ عَلى الأَجداثِ حَفشٌ

كَأَيدي الخَيلِ أَبصَرَتِ المَخالي

Horses' hooves glimpsing the bare plains

For the feminine gender is no defect to the Sun, / Nor is the masculine a glory to the Moon.

Of glory after you I ask each symbol

The most painful loss is of one we found / To be peerless even before she was gone.

أُسائِلُ عَنكِ بَعدَكِ كُلَّ مَجدٍ

وَما عَهدي بِمَجدٍ عَنكِ خالي

But know of no glory devoid of you

We bury one another, and generations tread / Upon the very skulls of those who led.

The wayfarer passes your grave and weeps

How many eyes, once kissed and adored, / Are now lined with grit and stone?

يَمُرُّ بِقَبرِكِ العافي فَيَبكي

وَيَشغَلُهُ البُكاءُ عَنِ السُؤالِ

His weeping stops him from asking

And one who sleeps, who never bowed to trouble, / Now worn away, who once worried for his frame.

What use in troubling you with worries

O Sayf al-Dawla, summon your patience now— / Though how could mountains bear what you endure?

وَما أَهداكِ لِلجَدوى عَلَيهِ

لَوَ أَنَّكِ تَقدِرينَ عَلى فَعالِ

If you could act from your stall

For you are the one who teaches men to endure, / And to wade through death when battle buckets pour.

In life, did you find peace? My heart

The states of Time may vary upon you, / Yet your state remains one in every plight.

بِعَيشِكِ هَل سَلَوتِ فَإِنَّ قَلبي

وَإِن جانَبتُ أَرضَكِ غَيرُ سالي

Though far from your land will not forget

May your seas never run dry, O bountiful one, / Even when drained by the needs of the world.

You came to hate a place

I saw you among those I deem as kings, / A straight line amidst the crooked and absurd.

نَزَلتِ عَلى الكَراهَةِ في مَكانٍ

بَعُدتِ عَنِ النُعامى وَالشَمالِ

Far from gazelles and north winds

If you surpass all men, though you are one of them, / Know that musk is but part of the deer's blood.

The scent of wild orchids is veiled from you

تُحَجَّبُ عَنكِ رائِحَةُ الخُزامى

وَتُمنَعُ مِنكِ أَنداءُ الطِلالِ

The echoes of hills cannot reach you

In a land where every inhabitant

بِدارٍ كُلُّ ساكِنِها غَريبٌ

طَويلُ الهَجرِ مُنبَتُّ الحِبالِ

Is a stranger, ropes stretched long

A steed that holds its secret like

حَصانٌ مِثلُ ماءِ المُزنِ فيهِ

كَتومُ السِرِّ صادِقَةُ المَقالِ

The mute water, honest in speech

Whose ailment one healer will name

يُعَلِّلُها نِطاسِيُّ الشَكايا

وَواحِدُها نِطاسِيُّ المَعالي

While another names its greatest traits

If they described a mouth lesion

إِذا وَصَفوا لَهُ داءً بِثَغرٍ

سَقاهُ أَسِنَّةَ الأَسلِ الطِوالِ

It would drink from snakes' long fangs

It is not like females or those

وَلَيسَت كَالإِناثِ وَلا اللَواتي

تُعَدُّ لَها القُبورُ مِنَ الحِجالِ

Whose graves are but enclosures

With merchants in the funeral train

وَلا مَن في جَنازَتِها تِجارٌ

يَكونُ وَداعُها نَفضَ النِعالِ

Bidding farewell by casting off shoes

Princes walked around you barefoot

مَشى الأُمَراءُ حَولَيها حُفاةً

كَأَنَّ المَروَ مِن زِفِّ الرِئالِ

As if treading on hot coals

And ladies revealed what was hidden

وَأَبرَزَتِ الخُدورُ مُخَبَّآتٍ

يَضَعنَ النَقسَ أَمكِنَةَ الغَوالي

Removing veils in their chambers

Affliction caught them unawares

أَتَتهُنَّ المُصيبَةُ غافِلاتٍ

فَدَمعُ الحُزنِ في دَمعِ الدَلالِ

Mourning's tears mixed with mascara's

If women were like the one we lost

وَلَو كانَ النِساءُ كَمَن فَقَدنا

لَفُضِّلَتِ النِساءُ عَلى الرِجالِ

They would surpass all men

Feminine name of sun is no disgrace

وَما التَأنيثُ لِاِسمِ الشَمسِ عَيبٌ

وَلا التَذكيرُ فَخرٌ لِلهِلالِ

Masculine moon no special honor

But you left the most bereft those

وَأَفجَعُ مَن فَقَدنا مَن وَجَدنا

قُبَيلَ الفَقدِ مَفقودَ المِثالِ

Who found you the epitome of grace

We bury each other while those left

يُدَفِّنُ بَعضُنا بَعضاً وَتَمشي

أَواخِرُنا عَلى هامِ الأَوالي

Walk upon the footsteps of the past

How many eyes gaze out over ruins

وَكَم عَينٍ مُقَبَّلَةِ النَواحي

كَحيلٌ بِالجَنادِلِ وَالرِمالِ

Blinded by darkness and shifting sands

That tearful one who never rose for trouble

وَمُغضٍ كانَ لا يُغدي لِخِطبٍ

وَبالٍ كانَ يُفكِرُ في الهُزالِ

Now ponders only loss and devastation

O pillar of the state, seek patience's aid

أَسَيفَ الدَولَةِ اِستَنجِد بِصَبرٍ

وَكَيفَ بِمِثلِ صَبرِكَ لِلجِبالِ

But who can match your patience, O mountain

You teach people to offer solace

فَأَنتَ تُعَلِّمُ الناسَ التَعَزّي

وَخَوضَ المَوتِ في الحَربِ السِجالِ

And face death's swordplay undismayed

Variable is time's every state

وَحالاتُ الزَمانِ عَلَيكَ شَتّى

وَحالُكَ واحِدٌ في كُلِّ حالِ

While yours is one in any fate

Your sea was never stirred, O stalwart one

فَلا غيضَت بِحارُكَ يا جَموماً

عَلى عَلَلِ الغَرائِبِ وَالدِخالِ

By oddities and things unforeseen

I saw you among those I see as kings

رَأَيتُكَ في الَّذينَ أَرى مُلوكاً

كَأَنَّكَ مُستَقيمٌ في مُحالِ

As if sound in the madhouse confined

If people lose their minds while you are sane

فَإِن تَفُقِ الأَنامَ وَأَنتَ مِنهُم

فَإِنَّ المِسكَ بَعضُ دَمِ الغَزالِ

Musk is but extract of the gazelle's blood