كتمَ الهوى فوشى النّحولُ بسرِّه

وصحا فحيّاهُ النسيمُ بخمرِهِ

He concealed his love, so his leanness betrayed his secret,

And the breeze revived him with its wine, so he woke up and greeted it,

وصغى إلى رجعِ الحمام بسجعِهِ

فأهاجَتِ البَلوى بلابِلُ صدرِهِ

And lent an ear to the cooing of the doves with their murmuring,

So cares stirred up the confusion in his chest,

وسقَتْهُ ممرَضَةُ الجُفونِ فقلبُه

صاحٍ يرقّصُهُ الخُفوقُ لسُكرِهِ

And the sickness of insomnia watered him, so his heart

Cried out as infatuation made it dance from intoxication,

ونسجْنَ ديباجَ السّقامِ لجسمِه

بيضُ الخُصورِ فسربَلَتْهُ بصُفْرِهِ

And the whiteness of consumption wove the brocade of disease on his body,

So it clothed him with its yellowness,

ووشَتْ له سُودُ العيونِ بهديها

وشيَ الحَمامِ فقمّصَتْهُ بحُمْرِهِ

And the blackness of his eyes adorned him with its kohl,

And the pigeons dyed him with their redness,

وحَلا له في الحبِّ خلعُ عِذارِه

فجَلا ظلامَ العدل نيّرُ عُذرِهِ

And passion clothed him in its revealing garb,

So it illuminated the darkness of propriety, exonerating his excuse,

ودنا الفِراقُ وكان يبخلُ قبلَهُ

بلُجَين مدمَعِه فجادَ بتِبرِهِ

And separation approached while he used to be stingy before it

With the pearls of his tears, so he poured out his dust,

وبَدا له برقُ العَقيق فظنّه

بيضَ الثّنايا وهْيَ لمعةُ تِبرِهِ

And the lightning of carnelian appeared to him, so he thought it

Was the whiteness of the breasts, while it was the glitter of his dust,

ورأى بها شِبهَ النجومِ فخالَها

قبَساتِ نارٍ وهْي أوجُهُ غُرِّهِ

And he saw in it a semblance of stars, so he imagined them

To be sparks of fire while they were the faces of his monkeys,

للَّه أيّامُ العقيقِ وحبّذا

أوقاتُ لذّاتٍ مضَتْ في عصرِهِ

By God, the days of carnelian and how excellent

Were its times of pleasures that passed in their era!

ثغرٌ يُجابُ صهيلُه بصهيلِه

ويُجيبُ باغِمَهُ الهزَبرُ بزأرِهِ

A mouth whose neighing is answered by the neighing of its stallion,

And its snarling lion answers the roar of its enemy,

تَحمي أسودُ الغاب خِشفَ كِناسِه

ويضُمُّ ريشُ النّبْلِ بيضةَ خِدرِهِ

The black stallions protect the fragility of their nests,

And the feathers of arrows gather the eggs of their fledglings,

لا فرقَ بين وصولِ طوقِ قَناتِه

للطّالبين وبينَ هالةِ بَدْرِهِ

There is no difference between the arrival of its ringdove’s necklace

To seekers and the halo of its full moon,

أقمارُه حملَتْ أهلّةَ بِيضِه

وشُموسُه حُرِسَتْ بأنجُم سُمرِهِ

Its moons carried the crescent of its eggs

And its suns were guarded by the stars of its brown ones.

حرمٌ مَنيعُ الحيّ قد كمن الرّدى

بجُفونِ شادِنه ونابِ هِزَبْرِهِ

A sacred precinct whose alive lions ambushed demise

With their watching eyelids and the fang of its lion,

هو ملعبُ البيضِ الحوالي فاِلتقِطْ

منه اللآلي واِنتشِقْ من عِطرهِ

It is the playground of eggs where hoopoes alight,

So pick from it motley pearls and inhale its fragrance,

إيّاكَ تقربُ ورْدَ منهلِ حيّه

فالموتُ ممزوجٌ بجرعةِ خُصْرهِ

Beware approaching the roses of its fountain,

For death is mixed in the draft of its cup,

تهَبُ الظُماةُ به لطالوت الرّدى

بحرَ النّجيع بغرفةٍ من نهرهِ

The oppressive ignorant attack it to take the water of perdition in a handful,

From its river for Goliath of devastation.

سلْ يا حَماكَ اللَّهُ عن خبَر الحِمى

نفَسَ الشِّمالِ فقد طَواهُ بنَشْرِهِ

Ask, may God protect you from harm, about the news of the sanctuary

From the breeze of the north for it has been covered by its scattering,

واِستَخبِر البَرْقَ الضحوكَ إذا اِنْبرى

شطرَ اللّوى عمّن حكاه بثغرِهِ

And ask the smiling lightning, when it flashes

Across the curves, about whom it told with its mouth.

يا حبّذا المتحمّلونَ وإنّهُم

سلَبوا فؤادَ الصّبِّ ملبَسَ صبرِهِ

O how excellent are those who endure adversity! Verily they

Robbed the passion of the infatuated of his patience garb.

لولا اِنتظامُ الدُرِّ بين شفاهِهم

ما جادَ ناظمُ عَبرَتي في نثرِهِ

Were it not for the stringing of pearls between their lips

My composer of elegy would not have been generous in its prose

وبمهجَتي الرَّكْبُ المعرَّضُ للحِمى

وبُدورُ تِمٍّ في أكلّةِ سِفرِهِ

With my imagination, the caravan exposed to the sanctuary

And the full moons during the journey of its travel,

جعلوا عليَّ بقاءَ روحي منّةً

أوَ ما رآها ركبُهمْ في إثرِهِ

They made my remaining alive a favour upon me

Or else their caravan did not see it behind them,

كيفَ البَقاءُ وفي غفائِر بيضِهم

ساروا عن المُضنى بألْيَلِ عُمرهِ

How to remain patient while the black of their beauty spots marched on,

Taking away the prisoner of my lifetime at night?

لا تطلبنّ القلبَ بعد رحيلهم

منّي فقد ذهبَ الأسيرُ بأسْرهِ

Do not seek from me the heart after their departure,

For the captive has left with his captivity.

قالوا الفِراقُ غداً فلاح لناظري

صُوَرُ المَنايا في سُحيّرِ فَجرِهِ

They said farewell tomorrow, so the visions of demise smiled

For my onlooker at the dawn of its separation.

يا ليتَ يوم البينِ من قبلِ النّوى

لم تسمحِ الدُنيا بمولِدِ شهرِهِ

Oh, would that the day of separation before the intention

The world did not allow the birth of its month!

يوماً علينا بالكآبةِ والأسى

شهدَتْ جَوارحُنا بموقفِ حَشرِهِ

A day upon us of gloom and sorrow

Our limbs witnessed at the stance of its resurrection.

كيف السُّلوُّ وليس صبرُ أخي الهَوى

إلّا كحظِّ أخي النُهى في دهرِهِ

How can I be consoled while the patience of my brother of passion

Is only like the fortune of my abstinent brother in his time?

فإلى مَ أرجو الدّهرَ يُنجزُ بالوَفا

وعدي فتعرِضُ لي مكايِدُ غَدرِهِ

To whom shall I hope that fate will fulfil its promise of loyalty to me

While its treacheries lie in ambush for me?

لا شيءَ أوهى من مواعِدِه سوى

دعوى شريكِ أبي الحُسين بفخرِهِ

Nothing is weaker than its promises except

The claim of the pride of Abu Al-Hussein in his pride.

ملكٌ إذا حدَثُ الزّمان لنا قَضى

أمضى مُضارعَهُ بصيغةِ أمرِهِ

A king, if time tells about us, would decide

More resolutely than its equal in his command.

فرعٌ إلى نحوِ العُلا يسمو به

أصلٌ رَسا بين النبيّ وصهرِهِ

A branch rising to the heights carried by

A root anchored between the Prophet and his son-in-law.

نورٌ إذا ما بالوصيّ قرَنتَه

أيقَنْتَ أنّ ظُهورَه من ظهرِهِ

A light, when you associate it with the successor,

You will know its emergence is from his back.

حرٌّ لو اِنتظَمَتْ مفاخِرُ هاشمٍ

بقِلادةٍ لرأيتَها في نحرِهِ

Free, if the glories of Hashim

Were threaded on a necklace, you would see it around his neck.

لا يُدركنَّ مديحَهُ لسِنٌ ولو

نظمَ الكواكبِ في قلائِدِ شِعرِهِ

His praise cannot be attained by an age, even if

It strung the stars into necklaces of poetry.

للّه بينَ بيانهِ وبنانِه

كنزٌ أفادَ السائِلينَ بدُرّهِ

For God, between his eloquence and composition

Is a treasure that benefited the questioners with its pearls.

لو كان للبحرِ الخضَمِّ سماحُه

لم يخزُنِ الدُرَّ اليتيمَ بقَعرِهِ

If the deep sea had his generosity

It would not hoard the orphaned pearl in its depths.

سمحٌ لو اِنّ النيّراتِ جواهرٌ

قذفَتْ بها للوَفدِ لجّةُ بحرِهِ

Generous, if the rivers were jewels

Their turbulence would cast them to the delegations.

يعطي ويحتقر النّوالَ وإنْ سَما

فيرى الثُريّا في أصاغِرِ صِرِّهِ

He gives and disdains gifts, so he sees the rich

In the least of his young ones.

خطب العُلا فتطلّقَتْ أموالُه

منه وزوّجَه النّوالُ ببِكرهِ

Supremacy courted him, so his wealth

Divorced from him and fortune married him to its virgin.

تاللَّهِ ما سيفُ الرّدى بيدِ القَضا

يوماً بأفتَكَ من نَداهُ بوَفرِهِ

By God, the sword of fate guided by destiny

Is not more deadly than his right hand with its blade.

لو تلمِسُ الصّخرَ الأصمّ يَمينُه

لتفجّرَتْ بالعَذْبِ أعيُنُ صخرِهِ

If his right hand touches the deaf rock

Fountains of fresh water would spout from its rocks.

قتلَتْ مهابتُه العدوَّ مخافةً

فكفَتْ صوارِمَهُ أسنّةُ ذُعرِهِ

His awe killed the enemy in fear

So his swords sheathed their blades in their terror.

بطلٌ إذا في الضّربِ ألهبَ مارِقاً

خِلْتَ الكواكبَ من تَطايُر جَمرهِ

A hero, if in striking he ignites the flint

You would think the stars scattered from the sparks of his flint.

فسلاحُ ليلِ الحتْفِ مِخلَبُ سيفِه

وجَناحُ طيرِ النُّجْحِ رايةُ نصرِهِ

The claw of his sword is the death of night,

And the wing of success is the banner of his victory.

بحرٌ إذا خاضَتْهُ أفكارُ الوَرى

غرِقَتْ به قبلَ البلوغُ لعِبْرِهِ

A sea - if the thoughts of mankind plunged into it

They would drown in it before reaching its lesson.

فطِنٌ يكادُ الليلُ يُشرِقُ كالضُحى

لو أنّ فكرَتَه تمرُّ بفِكرِهِ

A genius - the night almost shines like the morning

If his idea passed through his mind.

آيُ الفَصاحةِ إن يخُطَّ يَراعُهُ

لم تَبدُ أنجمُها بظُلمةِ حِبرِهِ

The miracles of eloquence - if he wrote

Its stars would not appear in the darkness of his ink.

ترك المواكبَ كالكواكِبِ فاِهتدى

فيهنّ مَنْ يَسْري لمَشرِقِ يُسْرِهِ

He abandoned entourages like the stars, so

Those who walk to the east of his ease are guided by them.

غيثٌ يكادُ التِّبرُ ينبُتُ بالرُبى

كالنورِ لو وُسِمَتْ بلؤلؤِ قَطْرِهِ

A rain whose dust nearly sprouts plants

As if it were lighted with the pearls of its drops.

لو أنّ للأعناقِ منها ألسُناً

نطَقَتْ بأفواهِ الجُيوبِ بشُكرِهِ

If the camel necks had tongues from it

They would speak with the mouths of their humps in gratitude.

لم يغشَ وجهَ الأفْقِ حتّى ينطوي

كلَفُ الدُجى لو حاز رونَق بِشرِهِ

The morning horizon was not overcast until

The burden of darkness donned the finery of his good tidings.

سامٍ يمُدُّ إلى العُلا باعاً طوتْ

مجرى الدّراري السبْعِ خُطوةُ بِشرهِ

Exalted, he reached to the heights stretching

The seven rivers in a single stride of his exaltation.

من آلِ حيدرَةَ الأُلى اِزدانَ العُلا

فيهم كما اِزْدانَ الرّبيعُ بزَهرِهِ

From the Ahl al-Bayt, the most supreme, supremacy adorned them

As spring adorned itself with its flowers.

غُرٌّ إذا منهم تولّدَ كوكَبٌ

حسدَتْ شُموسُ الأفْقِ مفخَرَ ظِئْرِهِ

A cave, if a star descended from them

The suns of the horizon would envy the pride of its womb.

قفرٌ لوَ اِنّهُمُ جلَوْا أحسابَهم

في اللّيل لاشتبَهَتْ بأضوإِ زَهرِهِ

A desert, if they revealed their lineages in the night

It would resemble the bright full moons with the blossoms of its flowers.

من كلِّ أبلَجَ في ذُيولِ قِماطِه

علقَ العُلا ونَشا السّماحُ بحِجْرِهِ

From all the most generous, on the fringes of his cloak,

He suspended supremacy and benevolence sprouted from his lap.

لم يبكِ وهْوَ على حَشيّةِ مهدِه

إلّا لحُبِّ ركوبِ صهوَة مُهرِهِ

He did not cry when he was in the cradle of his cradle

Except for love of riding the saddle of his pony.

للَّه دَرُّك يا عليُّ ففضلُهُم

بك فُصِّلَتْ آياتُ مُحكَمِ ذِكرِهِ

For God's sake, their superiority

Clarified the unambiguous verses of His mention through you.

اللّهُ حَسبُك كيف سِرْتَ إلى العُلا

ما بينَ أنيابِ الحِمامِ وظُفْرِهِ

God suffices you - how you reached the heights

Between the fangs of the doves and their claws!

لولاكَ قُدْسُ المجدِ أصبحَ طورُه

دكّاً يموجُ وخرَّ موسى قدْرِهِ

Were it not for you, the sanctity of glory would have become

Ruins surging and Moses' pot would have collapsed.

قامت بنجدتِه سيوفُك فاِغْتدَتْ

بالنّصرِ تبسِمُ كالثّغورِ بثغرِهِ

Your swords rose to its help, so it smiled

Victoriously with the lips of its breaches.

جرّدْتَها فرجَمْتَ شيطانِ العِدا

بنُجومِها ودحَرْتَ ماردَ شرِّهِ

You unsheathed them, so you pelted the devil of enemies

With their stars and repelled the demon of its evil.

قُضُبٌ إذا رأتِ الأسودُ فرِنْدَها

شهِدَتْ مَناياها بأيدي ذرِّهِ

Spears - when the lions saw their blades -

Witnessed their deaths at the hands of their scattering.

مولايَ سمعاً من رَقيقِك مِدحةً

هي بنتُ فكرتِه ودُميةُ قَصْرِهِ

My master - may you hear from your benign servant a eulogy

Which is the daughter of his thought and the doll of his palace,

بِكرٌ يحجِّبُها الجَمالُ وإنْ بدَتْ

ويصونُها خفرُ الدّلالِ بسَتْرِهِ

A virgin whom beauty veils even when she appears

And the guards of coquetry protect with their screens,

لو كان تخطِبُها النُجومُ لبَدرِها

حاشاكَ لم تُعْطِ القَبولَ لمَهْرِهِ

If the stars asked for her hand, for her full moon -

You are far above, you would not consent to their dowry,

فاِستجلِها عذراءَ هذّبَ لفظَها

طبعٌ أرقُّ من النّسيمِ بمرّهِ

So make her gentle, she refined her diction

A nature more delicate than the breeze in its passing,

وليَهْنِكَ الشّهرُ المباركُ صومُه

وجزاكَ ربُّك عنه أفضلَ أجرِهِ

And may the blessed month gladden you with its fast

And may your Lord reward you for it with the most generous compensation,

شهرٌ لوَ اِنّ من الوَرى أوقاتُه

عُدّتْ لرُحْتَ وأنت ليلَةُ قَدْرِهِ

A month - if the times of people were counted as its times

You would be delighted while you are the night of its predestination,

واِسْعَدْ بعِيدٍ أنت فينا مِثلُه

واِفْطُرْ قُلوبَ المعتَدين بفِطرِهِ

And have a happy feast day, you are its like among us

And break the hearts of the aggressors with its breakfast.