أَضرَّ بِمُقلَتي السَهَر الطَويلُ

وَقَرح جِفنَها الدَمع الهَمول

My eyelids were wounded by prolonged sleeplessness,

And my tears caused them relentless sores.

تَقيكَ السوءَ نَفسي قَد رَثى لي ال

عَدوُّ وَقَد تَوجَع لي العَذول

To spare you evil, my soul did mourn for me;

Even the enemy felt compassion for me.

وَرقَّ لِيَ السِقام فَكادَ يَبقى

عَلَيَّ وَكادَ يَرحَمُني النُحول

Illness made me frail; I was nearly

Claimed by the wasting disease.

وَقَد أَصبَحَت تَأمُرُني بِصَبر

وَصَبري عَنكَ أَمرٌ مُستَحيل

Now you command me to be patient,

But patience from you is impossible.

يُطالِبُني بِكَ القَلب العَليل

كَأَني بِالشِفاءِ لَهُ كَفيل

My ailing heart implores me for you,

As if healing it were my duty.

وَيُحسن عِندَهُ فيكَ اِفتِضاحي

وَيَقج عِندَهُ الصَبر الجَميلُ

To it, my disgrace because of you seems good,

And fine patience seems contemptible to it.

تَمَنى أَن يَراكَ بِلا رَقيب

وَلَيسَ إِلى أَمانيهِ وُصول

It yearns to see you without a chaperone,

But its wishes cannot come true.

فَقُلتُ لَهُ وَقَد ذابَ التِياعاً

وَلَيسَ إِلى تَسليهِ سَبيل

I said, as it melted in languor –

There’s no way to console it.

وَقَد مَلَّ الحَياة وَمَلَّ مِني

عَدمتك أَيُّها القَلب المَلول

Life wearied me, as did your absence,

O sorrowful heart!

أَيابأ بي أَيُحسِنُ مِنكَ هَجري

وَلي قَلبٌ لِغَيرِكَ لا يَميلُ

Does it become me to abandon you,

When I've a heart that won't incline to another?

لِأَن حالَت بِكَ الأَيّام عَني

فَإِني عَن وِدادَك لا أَحولُ

For time has turned you away from me,

Yet I'll never abandon affection for you.

وَإِن زالَ اللِقاءُ فَلا لِقاءٌ

فَإِنَ الشَوق باقٍ لا يَزولُ

Though we may cease to meet, desire remains,

Enduring, not vanishing.

لَقَد طالَ البُعاد فَلَيتَ شِعري

أَيقصر بَعدَ هَذا أَم يَطولُ

Indeed, separation has dragged on. I wonder -

Will it shorten after this, or grow longer?

وَأَضيع مَن أَضاعَ الدَهر صَب

شَجيٌّ الفُهُ أَلف مُطَوَل

And I lose whoever time ruins with grief -

A passionate man with a thousand loves.

وَدَهرٌ لا يَجود عَلى مُحب

عَفيف بِاللُقا دَهر بَخيل

An ungenerous time is no friend to a pure lover -

A miserly time, tightfisted.

أَيست مِن اللُقا فَاِرتحت لَكن

بِقَلبي مِن تذكرهِ نَصول

I may have given up meeting you, but

In my heart, remembering you kindles passions.

سَأَصبر لِلزَمان وَإِن تَجافى

فَإِن الحُر لِلبَلوى حَمول

I'll be patient with fate, though it spurns me,

For the noble spirit bears tribulation.

يُطيل مفندي عَذلي وَلَومي

وَقَلبي لَيسَ يَعقل ما يَقول

You blame and rebuke me at length,

While my heart cannot grasp what you say.

وَقَد صَدع الهَوى مِرآة قَلبي

وَأَصدأ وَجهَها الهَم الدَخيل

Passion has cracked the mirror of my heart,

And sorrow, the intruder, has tarnished its face.

وَلَكن قَد جَلا عَنها صَداها

بِصيقل لُطفِهِ المَولى الجَليل

But its sheen was restored by the burnishing

Of the grace of the Majestic Patron.

بِشعر فيهِ لِلروح اِرتِياح

أَجادَ فُنونَهُ فِكرٌ صَقيل

With poetry that delights the soul -

Skilled artistry honed its genres -

كَما حَملت إِلى صَب عَليل

سَلاماً مِن أَحبتِهِ قُبول

Like the greetings it conveyed to a sick lover

Were graciously accepted -

كَأَن بِلَفظِهِ راحاً شَمولاً

يَحث كُؤوسَها ساق عَجول

As if its words were a healing draft

That racing couriers hurried along -

حَكى أَدب الإِمام لَنا فَكادَت

مَعانيهِ لِرقَتِها تَسيل

It described the Imam's manners to us, till

His meanings almost overflowed from tenderness.

إِمام في العُلوم بِلا نَديد

وَفي الأَفضال لَيسَ لَهُ مَثيل

A peerless Imam in the sciences,

Unique in merit.

جَواد بِاللهى وَالفَضل يَهدي

جَواهر نَظمِهِ فيما يُنيل

Openhanded in divine law and virtue,

His gems of verse grant what we seek.

يَسيل عَلى الوَرى فَضلاً وَجوداً

فَتَمسك أَن تجاريهُ السُيول

He pours on people bounty and generosity,

Gushing like flash floods.

يَحل بِكُل علم مُشكِلات

تَحامَت أَن تحاولها الفُحول

He tackles the perplexities besetting every branch of knowledge,

Too profound for seasoned experts.

شَأى أَقرانُهُ في كُل علم

هَمام باعُهُ فيهِ طَويل

His peers in each discipline

Sold it their lifelong dedication.

يُخفف عَلى قُلوب الناس ظَرفاً

وَلَكن حُلمُهُ أَبَداً ثَقيل

Though grave, his patience always tempers

The joke he plays on people.

تَرى في وَجهِهِ نوراً وَبَشراً

عَلى ما فيهِ مِن كَرَم دَليل

You see in his face a radiance, a glad tiding

Of the generosity his manner displays.

وَإِن أَحمى هَجير الهَم خَطب

فَجانَبهُ لَنا ظلٌّ ظَليل

When cares kindle the blaze of concern,

His company is for us a shady shelter.

وَرَأفتهُ لَنا غَوث مُغيث

وَيُمناهُ لَنا غَيث هَطول

His compassion is saving help for us,

أَيا ابن السابِقين إِلى المَعالي

فَهُم في ذُروة العليا حُلول

His support, a pouring rain.

O scion of forebears who raced to the heights Where the noble dwell, lofty and sublime!

وَمِن لَهمُ السَخاء توارثوهُ

وَلِلعافين ساحتهم مقيل

Munificence was their legacy to inherit;

Their domain was asylum for the secure.

وَمَن شَهِدَت لَهُم بِالفَضل لَما

أَقاموها الدَلائل وَالنُقول

When evidence attested their merit,

Proofs and accounts confirmed it.

أَرى أَوصاف قَدرك فَوقَ وَصفي

فَأَمسى واجِماً ماذا أَقول

I see your qualities above my power to describe,

And so I fall silent, lost for words.

أَجيبك عَن قَواف رائِعات

وَما بِالآل عَن ماءٍ بَديل

How can I match towering edifices?

For from water, what alternative springs?

عَسى مَدحي وَإِن قصرت فيهِ

يُصادِفهُ التَجاوز وَالقُبول

Maybe my stunted praise, though inadequate,

Will meet with acceptance and approval,

لِأَن مَع المَحبة كُل شَيء

حَقير إِن فَكرت لَهُ جَزيل

For love makes everything, however paltry,

Seem abundant, if pondered well.

وَصدق محبَتي لَكَ لَيسَ يَخفى

إِذ ما شَكَ في ودي جَهول

My truthful love for you is not hidden,

Since no doubter conceals his doubts.

فَدُم ما دامَت الأَفلاك شَمساً

لِأُفق المَجد لَيسَ لَها أَفول

So - the sun long as celestial spheres endure -

May glory's horizon know no setting!