أَمانِيُّ نَفسٍ ما تُناخُ رِكابُها

وَغَيبَةُ حَظٍّ لا يُرَجّى إِيابُها

The hopes of my soul do not alight their steeds,

And the absence of fortune is not hoped for its return,

وَوَفدُ هُمومٍ ما أَقَمتُ بِبَلدَةٍ

وَهُنَّ مَعي إِلّا وَضاقَت رِحابُها

And the delegation of worries that I did not reside in any abode,

And they are with me, except that its expanses narrowed,

وَآمالُ دَهرٍ إِن حَسِبتُ نَجاحَها

تَراجَعَ مَنقوصاً عَلَيَّ حِسابُها

And the hopes of fate - if I thought of their success -

Their account turned deficient upon me,

أَهُمُّ وَتَثني بِالمَقاديرِ هِمَّتي

وَلا يَنتَهي دَأبُ اللَيالي وَدابُها

I worry and fold my aspirations due to fate’s decrees,

And the night’s endeavor does not cease nor its creeping,

فَيا مُهجَةً يَفنى غَليلاً ذَمارُها

وَيا لِمَّةً يَمضي ضَياعاً شَبَبُها

So goodbye to an era whose ailment perishes,

And goodbye to a nation whose youth is lost,

وَعِندي إِلى العَلياءِ طُرقٌ كَثيرَةٌ

لَوِ اِنجابَ مِن هَذي الخُطوبِ ضَبابُها

And I have many paths to ascend,

If the clouds of these calamities clear,

عِنادٌ مِنَ الأَيّامِ عَكسُ مَطالِبي

إِذا كانَ يوطيني النَجاحَ اِقتِرابُها

Fate’s defiance opposes my quests,

When success comes near me, its distance grows,

وَحَظِّيَ مِنها صابُها دونَ شَهدِها

فَلَو كانَ عِندي شَهدُها ثُمَّ صابُها

My share of it is the drizzle without the downpour,

If only I had its downpour then the drizzle,

تَميلُ بِأَطماعِ الرِجالِ بُروقُها

وَتوكى عَلى غِشِّ الأَنامِ عِيابُها

Its lightning bolts lean towards men’s greed,

And it entrusts to the people’s deceit its disappearance,

وَلَكِنَّها الدُنيا الَّتي لا مَجيئُها

عَلى المَرءِ مَأمونٌ فَيَخشى ذَهابُها

Yet it is the life whose coming to a person

Is not secured, so he fears its departure,

تَفوهُ إِلَينا بِالخُطوبِ فِجاجُها

وَتَجري إِلَينا بِالرَزايا شِعابُها

It snarls calamities at us with its howling,

And tribulations flow towards us through its valleys,

أَلا أَبلِغا عَنّي المُوَفَّقَ قَولَةً

وَظَنِّيَ أَنَّ الطولَ مِنهُ جَوابُها

Will you not convey from me to the supported ruler a saying,

And I expect a long response from him,

أَتَرضى بِأَن أَرمي إِلَيكَ بِهِمَّتي

فَأَحجُبَ عَن لُقيا عُلىً أَنتَ بابُها

Would you accept that I aim my determination at you,

So you veil the reaching of heights that you are its door,

وَأَظما إِلى دَرِّ الأَماني فَتَنثَني

بِأَخلافِها عَنّي وَمِنكَ مَصابُها

And I suppress into the abode of hopes so it turns me away

With its successors from me while the attainment is from you,

وَلَيسَ مِنَ الإِنصافِ أَن حَلَّقَت بِكُم

قَوادِمُ عِزٍّ طاحَ في الجَوِّ قابُها

And it is not just that the arrivals of honor circled you

While its clouds fell in the air and its rain poured,

وَأَصبَحتُ مَحصوصَ الجَناحِ مُهَضَّماً

عَلَيَّ غَواشي ذِلَّةٍ وَثِيابُها

And I became clipped of wing, humbled,

Upon me the mantles of disgrace and its clothes,

تَعُدُّ الأَعادي لي مَرامي قِذافِها

وَتَنبَحُني أَنّى مَرَرتُ كِلابُها

The enemies count me as target for their pelting,

And their dogs bark at me wherever I passed,

مُقامِيَ في أَسرِ الخُطوبِ تُهَزُّ لي

قَواضِبُها مَطرورَةً وَحِرابُها

My stance in the shackles of tribulations -

Its ships toss me while its swords stab me,

لَقَد كُنتُ أَرجو أَن تَكونوا ذَرائِعي

إِلى غَيرِكُم حَيثُ العُلى وَاِكتِسابُها

I used to hope that you would be my means

To others where there is highness and its attainment,

فَهَذي المَعالي الآنَ طَوعى لِأَمرِكُم

وَفي يَدِكُم أَرسانُها وَرِقابُها

So these heights are now obedient to your command,

And in your hands are its reins and necks,

إِذا لَم أُرِد في عِزِّكُم طَلَبَ العُلى

فَفي عِزِّ مَن يُجدي عَلَيَّ طِلابُها

If I do not want in your glory to seek highness,

Then whose glory benefits me in its pursuit?

وَلَولاكُمُ ما كُنتُ إِلّا بِباحَةٍ

مِنَ العِزِّ مَضروباً عَلَيَّ قِبابُها

And were it not for you I would not be except in a courtyard

Of honor, its dome collapsed upon me,

أَجوبُ بِلادَ اللَهِ أَو أَبلُغَ الَّتي

يَسوءُ الأَعادي أَن يَعُبَّ عُبابُها

I roam God’s lands or reach those

Whose enemies dislike that its knights travel,

وَكانَ مُقامي أَن أَقَمتُ بِبَلدَةٍ

مَقامَ الضَواري الغُلبِ يُحذَرُ غابُها

And my stance was - whenever I resided in an abode -

The stance of outcasts, fearing the absence of its forest,

وَإِنّي لَتَرّاكُ المَطالِبِ إِن نَأى

بِها قَدَرٌ أَو لُطَّ دوني حِجابُها

And I surely see the quests - if fate distanced

Or a veil fell between me and it -

وَأَعزِلُ مِن دونِ الَّتي لا أَنالُها

نَوازِعَ نَفسي أَو تَذِلَّ صِعابُها

And I refrain from what I cannot attain,

The dissuasions of my soul or its difficulties weaken,

وَأَقرَبُ ما بَيني وَبَينَكَ حُرمَةً

تَداني نُفوسٍ وُدُّها وَحِبابُها

And the closest between me and you in sanctity

Is the intimacy of souls, their love and yearning,

شَواجِرُ أَرحامٍ إِذا ما وَصَلتَها

فَعِندَ أَميرِ المُؤمِنينَ ثَوابُها

Branches of kinship - if connected -

Then with the Prince of Believers is its reward,

وَما بَعدَ ذا مِن آصِراتٍ إِذا اِنتَهَت

يَكونُ إِلى آلِ النَبيِّ اِنتِسابُها

And after this from lineages - if they end -

Is the association to the Prophet’s family,

وَهَل تُطلَبُ العَلياءُ إِلّا لِأَن يُرى

وَليٌّ يُرَجّيها وَضِدٌّ يَهابُها

And is highness sought except so it appears

A loyal ally whose aid is hoped and a foe who is feared?

فَجَرِّد لِأَمري عَزمَةً مِنكَ صَدقَةً

كَمَطرورَةِ الغَربَينِ يَمضي ذُبابُها

So prepare for my matter a sincere determination,

Like the pouring rain whose drizzle flows,

وَلا تَترُكَنّي قاعِداً أَرقُبُ المُنى

وَأَرعى بُروقاً لا يَجودُ سَحابُها

And do not leave me sitting hoping for favor

And watching for lightning whose clouds do not rain,

وَغَيرُكِ يَقري النازِلينَ بِبابِهِ

عَداتٍ كَأَرضِ القاعِ يَجري سَرابُها

While others feed the visitors at his door

Provisions like a mirage’s land where its illusion flows,

بِكَفَّيكَ عَقدُ المَكرُماتِ وَحَلُّها

وَعِندَكَ إِشراقُ العُلى وَغِيابُها

In your hands is the knot of honors and its solutions,

And with you is the rise of ascendance and its setting,

وَعِندي لَكَ الغُرُّ الَّتي لا نِظامُها

يَهي أَبَداً أَو لا يَبوخُ شِهابُها

And I have for you the love that has no system,

Its ardor never calms or its flame is not extinguished,

وَعِندِيَ لِلأَعداءِ فيكَ أَوابِدٌ

لُعابُ الأَفاعي القاتِلاتِ لُعابُها

And I have for the enemies in you ruins

Like the lethal vipers’ venom is their venom.