إلى اللّهِ نَشكو فادِحاتِ النّوائِبِ
فقد فجَعَتْنا في أجلِّ المَطالبِ
To God we complain of the calamities that afflict us,
For they have saddened us, seeking the most precious.
رمَتْنا برُزْءٍ لو رمَتْ فيه يَذبُلاً
لزُلزِلَ منه راسِخاتُ الجوانِبِ
They have assailed us with contempt, which if assailed by,
The firmly rooted mountains would shake and tremble.
فتبّاً لدهْرٍ لا تزالُ خُطوبُه
تُطالِبُ في أوتارِها كلَّ طالِبِ
Woe to a life whose calamities are unceasing,
Plucking each chord of longing within the seeker.
كأنّ الليالي فيهِ في بعضِها لهُمْ
قد اِتّصلَتْ أرحامُها بالنّواصِبِ
As if its nights amongst each other in part,
Are linked in kinship with those who sever ties.
فإنّا وإنْ ساءَتْ إلَيْنا صُروفُها
فقد حسّنَتْ أخلاقُنا بالتّجارِبِ
But even as its turns have brought us sorrow,
Our character has been refined through trials.
فيا لَيْتَها فدّتْ حُسَيْناً بما تَشا
منَ الوَفْدِ من ماشٍ إليهِ وراكِبِ
Would that it had ransomed Husayn with what was offered,
Of gifts from far and near to him, the chosen one.
لقد شَفعَتْ يومَ الصّفوفِ بمِثلِه
وثنّتْ بلَيثٍ من لُؤيِّ بنِ غالِبِ
On the day of the rows of battle, it mediated through his like,
And because of Laith it glorified the son of Ghalib.
هِزَبْرٌ تَرى بيضَ العَطايا بكفّهِ
وحُمرَ المَواضي بينَ حُمرِ المَخالِبِ
Swords in the hands of death are his eyes,
While its bows are arches above the brows.
صوارمُه في أوجُهِ الموتِ أعيُنٌ
وأقوُسُه منها مَكانَ الحَواجِبِ
A youth who was like scent on the hillside,
And beauty manifest among the high and noble.
فتىً كانَ كالتّوريدِ في وجنةِ العُلى
وكالعِقْدِ حُسناً في نُحورِ المَراتِبِ
After him the new moon of glory will not shine,
Nor will the Indian smile joyfully holding spears.
فلا اِنطَبَقَتْ عينُ العُلا بعدَ فَقدِه
ولا اِبتسَمَ الهِنديُّ في كفِّ ضارِبِ
Beloved he lives beneath the soil in a grave,
Would that it were a perfumed shrine instead.
عزيزٌ ثَوى تحتَ التُرابِ بحُفرةٍ
فيا لَيتَها محفورة في التّرائِبِ
Think not that life has departed from his body there,
Does not the life of the revered shine like lamps?
فلا تحسَبوهُ من دُجى القبرِ راهِباً
ألَيْسَ المُحيّا منهُ مصباحَ راهِبِ
May God water his dwelling with pardon and mercy,
And shield him on the day when defects are laid bare.
سَقى اللّهُ مَثواهُ بعَفْوٍ ورَحمةٍ
وأولاهُ سِتراً يومَ كَشْفِ المَعايبِ
Not poor is his grave to life that remains,
Within it has dawned an ocean delightful to partake.
وما فَقْرُ مَثواه الرّويِّ إلى الحَيا
وفيهِ انطَوى بحرٌ لذيذ المَشاربِ
In the biers of the palm-branches no need lies for his bier
Sufficient is what the bosoms of the balms contain.
وما في بَناتِ النّعشِ حاجةُ نعشِهِ
كفى ما حوَتْهُ من حِسانِ المَناقِبِ
Heaven and earth wept for him until their tears flowed,
With the tears of the clouds flowing abundantly.
نعَتْهُ السّما والأرضُ حتّى بكَتْ له
جُفونُ الغَوادي بالدّموعِ السّواكِبِ
In grief the bamboo cane has bowed its shoulders,
Yearning after him the wild deer and does.
ورقّ القَنا حُزناً عليهِ صُدوره
وحنّتْ إليهِ صاهِلاتُ السّلاهِبِ
Those afar tore their garments in anguish,
Beyond even the sincerity of kin by blood.
وشقّتْ عليهِ الأبعَدونَ جُيوبَها
منَ الوجدِ فضلاً عن قُلوبِ الأقارِبِ
Goodness and valor he fulfilled and righteousness,
While the ways of right conduct narrowed around us.
قضى فقضى المعروفُ والبأسُ والرّجا
وضاقَتْ علينا واسِعاتُ المَذاهِبِ
Over his loss my heart is no less wounded,
Than the heart of a wolf bereft of her cubs.
فليسَ عليه القلبُ من أُسْدِ قومِه
بأجزَعَ من خُمْصِ الذِّئابِ السّواغِبِ
So say to the seekers of glory to cease their quest,
For the disappointment of endeavor and the trials of misfortune.
فقُلْ لبَني الحاجاتِ كُفّوا عنِ السُّرى
فوا خَيبةَ المسعى وفَوْتَ المآرِبِ
I see the earth has obscured him from sight,
As if the shining moons and the gleaming constellations.
أرى الأرضَ حالَتْ دونَه فتكسّفَتْ
لمرآهُ أقمارُ الدُّجى والملاعِبِ
Have Muzn, the clouds' pasturing ground, stripped of his traits,
With the firm knots of its gatherings as shooting stars?
سنَبْكيهِ ما عِشنا وإنْ قلَّ دَمعُنا
أزَدْناهُ منّا بالقُلوبِ الذّوائِبِ
Or has his perfections been buried in the soil,
While its origin remains between the stars?
فلا سلِمَتْ نفْسٌ من الوَجدِ لم تَذُبْ
عليهِ ولا قلبٌ غَدا غيرَ واجِبِ
Without him, pleasure in verse has no delight for us
Even if we borrowed meanings from folds of the bosoms.
سلِ الأرضَ عنهُ هل تصدّى فِرِندُه
فعَهدي به نَصْلٌ صَقيلُ المَضارِبِ
When after him will days quench our flames,
Having immersed in the earth the vastness of gifts?
وهل أقْشَعَتْ مُزْنُ النّدى من بَنانِه
فعِلميَ فيها وهْيَ عشْرُ سَحائِبِ
And when will we seek repose from them,
When they have sunken us into most wretched troubles?
وهل دُفِنَتْ منهُ الشّمائِلُ في الثّرى
فمركزُها الأصليُّ بين الكواكِبِ
Noble, his rest after death has become,
As his morals spread open to the aspirations.
فما للثّنا من بعدِه بهجةٌ ولو
سرَقْنا المعاني من ثَنايا الكَواعِبِ
By his life's close, death seized him entirely,
Without seizing him when warriors' arms were gripped.
متى بعدَهُ الأيّامُ تُطفي أُوامَنا
وقد غوّرَتْ بالأرضِ بحرَ المَواهِبِ
His loss has made the night eternal for us,
With no dawn appearing after him that is not false.
وأنّى لنا منها نُحاولُ راحةً
وقد أوقعَتْنا في أشقِّ المَتاعِبِ
As if the plaits of darkness by his adversity,
For us are joined to forelocks by sorrows.
كريمٌ غدَتْ راحاتُه بعد موتِه
لعاداتِها مبسوطةً للرّغائِبِ
Were it not for God completing the light of guidance for us,
Through his father we would live in the darkness of deviations.
تمكّن منهُ الموتُ في قَبضِ روحِه
ولم يتمكّنْ عندَ قبضِ الرّواجِبِ
O father of generosity, piety and glory, O brother of bounty,
Brilliance of the highest traits, full moon of the brave.
أدامَ علينا فَقْدُه الليلَ سَرْمَداً
فلم نلْقَ فجراً بعدَهُ غيرَ كاذِبِ
Open handed in the land of the two gardens is his abode,
While his renown unto every seeker flows.
كأنّ قُرونَ الحالِقاتِ لرُزْئِه
لنا وصلَتْ عُمرَ الدُّجى بالذّوائِبِ
May God make his life last and extend it,
And suffice him in both abodes against evil ends.
فلو لم يُتِمِّ اللّهُ نورَ الهُدى لنا
بوالدِه عِشْنا بسُودِ الغَياهِبِ
May his eyes not witness in his loved ones,
Nor his ears hear the voice of the wailing mourner.
أبي الجُودِ والتّقوى عليّ أخي النّدى
ذُكاءِ المعالي بدرِ شُهبِ الكَتائِبِ
May his sons and their sons remain,
Rallying to him in victory from all sides.
جوادٌ بأرضِ الكَرخَتَيْنِ مُقامُه
ومعروفُه يَسري إلى كلِّ طالبِ
Lions, when the claws of their young are sharpened,
Hunting the lions of prey, cubs of lions.
عسى اللّهُ يُبقي عُمرَه ويمدُّه
ويَكفيهِ في الدّارَينِ سوءَ العَواقِبِ
Gardens watered by the Fatimis with their essence,
The most fragrant branches from the most fragrant roots.
ولا شهِدَتْ عيناهُ بينَ أحبّةٍ
ولا سمِعَتْ أُذْناهُ صوتَ النّوادِبِ
Wondrous progeny from a womb purified from filth,
Radiant moons, they came from luminous horizons.
ولا برِحَتْ أبناؤهُ وبَنوهُمُ
تحِفُّ به للنّصْرِ من كلِّ جانبِ
May their Lord protect them from all evil,
And deliver them the most noble of aspirations and wants.
أُسودٌ إذا شُدَّتْ ثعالِبُ لُدْنِهم
تَصيدُ أسودَ الصيدِ صيدُ الثّعالِبِ
رياضٌ سقَتْها الفاطميّاتُ درَّها
وأزْكى فروعٍ من أصولٍ أطايِبِ
سُلالاتُ أرحامٍ من الرِّجْسِ طُهِّرَتْ
مَيامينُ أنجابٌ أتَوْا من نَجائِبِ
وقاهُ وإيّاهُم من السّوءِ ربُّهم
وبلّغَهُم أسنى المُنى والمطالِبِ
