تُمسي الرِياحُ بِها وَقَد لَغِبَت
أَو كُلِّ صادِقَةٍ عَلى الفَترِ
The winds make it rustle, now that it is uninhabited,
Or like every truthful woman during a time of separation.
كُنّا نُنادي اللَهَ نَسأَلَهُ
في الصُبحِ وَالأَسحارِ وَالعَصرِ
We used to call upon God, beseeching Him
In the mornings, at night, and at noon,
أَن لا يُميتَكَ أَو تَكونَ لَنا
أَنتَ الإِمامَ وَوالِيَ الأَمرِ
That He not take your life or that you be for us
The imam and the guardian of authority.
فَأَجابَ دَعوَتَنا وَأَنقَذَنا
بِخِلافَةِ المَهدِيِّ مِن ضِرِّ
So He answered our prayers and rescued us
With the caliphate of al-Mahdi from harm.
يا اِبنَ الخَلائِفِ لَم نَجِد أَحَداً
يَبقى لِحَزِّ نَوائِبِ الدَهرِ
O son of caliphs, we have found no one
Who remains for the anguish of the blows of fate,
إِلّا الرَواسي وَهيَ كائِنَةٌ
كَالعُهنِ وَهيَ سَريعَةُ المَرِّ
Except the pillars, which exist
Like tent poles, quickly decaying.
فَقَدِ اِبتُليتَ بِما زَعَمتَ لَنا
إِن أَنتَ كُنتَ لَنا عَلى أَمرِ
So you have been tested with what you claimed for us,
If indeed you were for us in command.
كَم فيكَ إِن مَلَكَت يَداكَ لَنا
يَوماً نَواصينا مِنَ النَذرِ
How much in you, if your hands controlled for us
One day our bequests from vows,
مِن حَجِّ حافِيَةٍ وَصائِمَةٍ
سَنَتَينِ أُمِّ أُفَيرَخٍ زُعرِ
Of performing hajj barefoot and fasting
For two years for Umm Ufayrakh in hardship,
لَم يَبقَ مِنهُم غَيرُ أَلسِنَةٍ
وَأُعَيظَمٍ وَحَواصِلٍ حُمرِ
Of them remains nothing but tongues
And burnt palms and red legs,
وَيُجَمِّرونَ بِغَيرِ أَعطِيَةٍ
في البَرِّ مَن بَعَثوا وَفي البَحرِ
And they moan without compensation
On land, wherever they were sent, and at sea,
وَيُكَلِّفونَ أَباعِراً ذَهَبَت
جِيَفاً بَلينَ تَقادُمَ العَصرِ
And they task the incapable, whose
Corpses have wasted away with the passage of time,
حَتّى غَبَطنا كُلَّ مُحتَمَلٍ
يُمشى بِأَعظُمِهِ إِلى القَبرِ
Until we envy every sufferer
Who walks with his greatest to the grave.
وَتَمَنَّتِ الأَحياءُ أَنَّهُمُ
تَحتَ التُرابِ وَجيءَ بِالحَشرِ
And the living wish that they
Were under the soil and the resurrection came.
وَالراقِصاتِ بِكُلِّ مُبتَهَلٍ
مِن فَجِّ كُلِّ عَمايِقٍ غُبرِ
And the dancing girls for every supplicant
From the crevasse of every deep ravine.
ما قُلتُ إِلّا الحَقَّ تَعرِفُهُ
في القَولِ مُرتَجِلاً وَفي الشِعرِ
I have only spoken the truth which you recognize
In poetry, improvised and composed.
