هَلْ لِذِي الْبُعْدِ مِنْ تَدَانٍ يَدُومُ

لاَ تَدَانٍ وَدَاعُهُ التَّسْلِيمُ

Is there any lasting closeness for this vast distance?

There is no closeness whose farewell is mere submission.

فَعَسَى يَنْعَشُ الْفُؤَادُ وَيَسْلُو

أَمْ يَمُوتُ وَحَبْلُهُ مَفْصُومُ

Perhaps the heart will be revived and find solace,

Or it will die, its tether completely severed.

حَسْبُنَا اللهُ مَا لَنَا كُلَّ حِينٍ

يَنْعَقُ الْبَيْنُ بَيْنَنَا وَيَحُومُ

God is sufficient for us; why is it that at every moment

The raven of separation croaks between us and hovers?

حَسْبِيَ اللهُ كَمْ يُقَسِّمُ قَلْبِي

نَاظِرٌ فَاتِرٌ وَوَجْهٌ قَسِيمُ

God is my sufficiency! How much my heart is torn apart

By a languid gaze and a beautiful face!

صَاحِبِي صَاحَ بِي الْبِعَادُ وَأَمْسَتْ

بِي مَطَايَاهُ تَرْتَمِي لاَ تَرِيمُ

My friend, the distance has cried out to me, and its mounts

Have spent the night tossing me about, never staying still.

قَدْ أَلِفْتُ النَّوَى وَإِنْ عِشْتُ شَيْئاً

فَسَأَصْبُو إِلَى النَّوَى وَأَهِيمُ

I have grown so accustomed to absence, that if I live any longer,

I will yearn for this absence and wander in passion.

كُلَّمَا امْتَدَّ بُعْدُنَا وَتَنَاءَى

طَابَ بُعْدُ الْمُقَامِ وَالتَّخْيِيمُ

Whenever our distance extends and grows farther,

The distant dwelling and the encampment become sweet.

وَبُعَيْدَ الظَّمَا يَلَذُّ شَرَابٌ

وَبِإِثْرِ الْهَجِيرِ يَهْوَى نَسِيمُ

For right after thirst, a drink is most delicious,

And following the intense heat, a breeze is deeply desired.

لاَ تَسَلْ عَنْ حَشَاي مَاذَا يُعَانِي

إِنَّ رَبِّي بِأَمْرِهِ لَعَلِيمُ

Do not ask about my innermost heart and what it suffers,

Indeed, my Lord is fully aware of its condition.

قَرْطَسَتْهُ سِهَامُ وَجْدٍ وَعَضَّتْ

هُ أَفَاعِي الْهُمُومِ فَهْوَ سَلِيمُ

The arrows of passion have struck its core, and bit-

-ten it have the vipers of sorrow, leaving it deeply wounded.

سَأَنُثُّ حَدِيثَ وَجْدِي وَبَثِّي

لِسَرِيٍّ إِذْ لاَ خَلِيلَ حَمِيمُ

I will broadcast the tale of my passion and my grief

To a nobleman, since there is no intimate friend around.

لِإِمَامٍ حَوَى الْمَفَاخِرَ طُرَّاَ

مَا حَوَى مِثْلَهَا سِوَاهُ أَرِيمُ

To an Imam who has encompassed all glories entirely,

Such as no other seeker has ever encompassed.

لِهِلاَلِ الْهُدَى سَعِيدِ الْمَعَالِي

مَنْ بِهِ سَعِدَ الْبَيَانُ الْوَسِيمُ

To the crescent of guidance, the felicitous one of high virtues,

The one through whom eloquent expression has been made fortunate.

وَبِهِ انْزَاحَ عَنْ صَبَاحِ مَعَانِي

هِ دُجَى الشُّبُهَاتِ فَهْوَ قَوِيمُ

And through him, from the bright morning of his mean-

-ings, the gloom of doubts is dispelled, making it upright.

يَا إِمَامَ الزَّمَانِ أَنْتَ لَعَمْرِي

قَمَرٌ وَالزَّمَانُ لَيْلٌ بَهِيمُ

O Imam of the age, you are, by my life,

A radiant moon, while the age is a pitch-black night.

بِسَنَاكَ اهْتَدَى الْغَبِيُّ لِفَهْمٍ

ضَلَّ عَنْ مِثْلِهِ الذَّكِيُّ الْفَهِيمُ

By your brilliance, the dull-witted is guided to an understanding

That the brilliant and perceptive had completely missed.

وَبِلَفْظِكُمْ وَهْوَ نَثْرُ لَآلٍ

فَاخَرَ الدَّرْسُ وَازْدَهَى التَّعْلِيمُ

And with your words, which are like scattered pearls,

The lesson boasts, and education flourishes.

مَا رَأَيْنَا وَلاَ سَمِعْنَا كَلاَماً

يُنْعِشُ الْفِكْرَ قَبْلَهُ وَيَسِيمُ

We have never seen nor heard any speech

That so revives the mind and gives it pasture to freely graze.

قَدْ لَبِسْتُمْ مِنَ السِّيَادَةِ بُرْداً

طَرَّزَاهُ الْجَلاَلُ وَالتَّعْظِيمُ

You have worn a majestic cloak of sovereignty,

Beautifully embroidered by majesty and veneration.

إِذْ تَسَنَّمَتْ فِي رِعَانِ الْمَعَالِي

وَسِوَاكَ عَنِ الْمَعَالِي نَئِيمُ

As you have scaled the highest summits of honors,

While others sleep away, oblivious to such heights.

دُمْتَ فِي رِفْعَةٍ وَدَهْرُكَ طَلْقٌ

وَعَلَيْكَ مِنَ الْعُلاَ تَسْهِيمُ

May you remain elevated, your era unclouded and cheerful,

And may a grand share of greatness be perpetually yours.

وَإِلَيْكُمْ حَدِيقَةٌ حَاكَهَا الْفِكْ

رُ وَصَابَ عَلَيْهَا وُدٌّ صَمِيمُ

And to you is offered a garden, woven by the intel-

-lect, upon which a pure, genuine affection has poured down.

أَثْمَرَتْ يَانِعَ الْبَدِيعِ بِأَفْنَا

نِ الْبَيَانِ فَضَاعَ مِنْهَا شَمِيمُ

It has yielded the ripe fruits of wondrous rhetoric on the branch-

-es of eloquence, diffusing from them a sweet fragrance.