لِلَّهِ دَرُّكَ كُنتَ مِن رَجُلِ
لَو أَمهَلَتكَ غَوائِلُ الأَجَلِ
God be praised! You were a remarkable man,
Had fate let you live, despite life's trials.
خُلُقٌ كَأَنفاسِ الرِياضِ إِذا
أَسحَرنَ غِبَّ العارِضِ الهَطِلِ
A character like gentle morning breezes
Scenting light rain on dawn's dripping hills.
وَشَمائِلٌ لَو أَنَّها مُزِجَت
بِطَبائِعِ الأَيّامِ لَم تَحُلِ
And qualities - had they but mingled
With the nature of days, no ill could come.
جَمُّ المَحامِدِ غَيرُ مُتَّهَمٍ
جَمُّ التَواضُعِ غَيرُ مُبتَذَلِ
Praiseworthy in full - no blame attaches.
Humble in full - no affectation there.
يا دَولَةَ الأَخلاقِ رافِلَةً
مِن قاسِمٍ في أَبهَجِ الحُلَلِ
O pillar of sublime traits! Profuse
Garment of Qasim in most splendid robes!
كَيفَ اِنطَوَيتِ بِهِ عَلى عَجَلٍ
أَكَذا تَكونُ مَصارِعُ الدُوَلِ
How swiftly you went - no chance to choose,
Thus kingdoms' fates are overturned and change.
يا طالِعاً لِلشَرقِ لَجَّ بِهِ
نَحسُ النُحوسِ فَقَرَّ في زُحَلِ
O rising in the east! 111 luck clung to you,
Misfortune compounded your dire event.
هَلّا وَصَلتَ سُراكَ مُنتَقِلاً
عَلَّ السُعودِ تَكونُ في النُقَلِ
Why did you not join your kin migrating?
The Glory's welcome would greet your advent.
ما لي أَرى الأَجداثَ حالِيَةً
وَأَرى رُبوعَ النيلِ في عَطَلِ
Why do I see the Nile lands inactive
While bounty floods the fields in cessation?
فَإِذا الكِنانَةُ أَطلَعَت رَجُلاً
طاحَ القَضاءُ بِذَلِكَ الرَجُلِ
When Fate allowed a man of high station,
Destiny felled him in that disposition.
أَوَ كُلَّما أَرسَلتُ مَرثِيَةً
مِن أَدمُعي في إِثرِ مُرتَحِلِ
Or whenever I sent an elegy
Weeping after one departed,
هاجَت بِيَ الأُخرى دَفينَ أَسىً
فَوَصَلتُ بَينَ مَدامِعِ المُقَلِ
Another stirred in me, buried grief,
And I joined tears shed in consolation.
إِن خانَني فيما فَجِعتُ بِهِ
شِعري فَهَذا الدَمعُ يَشفَعُ لي
If, in my sorrow, my poetry fails me,
Then these tears will intercede for me.
وَلَقَد أَقولُ وَما يُطاوِلُني
عِندَ البَديهَةِ قَولُ مُرتَجِلِ
And indeed I say what comes to my tongue -
With spontaneity the amateur's speech.
يا مُرسِلَ الأَمثالِ يَضرِبُها
قَد عَزَّ بَعدَكَ مُرسِلُ المَثَلِ
O you who spoke wisdom in analogy!
None can replace you, maker of examples.
يا رائِشَ الآراءِ صائِبَةً
يَرمي بِهِنَّ مَقاتِلَ الخَطَلِ
O you whose opinions hit their mark!
To whom the archers' errors were laughable.
لِلَّهِ آراءٌ شَأَوتَ بِها
في الخالِدينَ نَوابِغَ الأُوَلِ
God! Your insights by which you ennobled
The earliest sages of brilliant minds.
قَد كُنتَ أَشقانا بِنا وَكَذا
يَشقى الأَبِيُّ بِصُحبَةِ الوَكَلِ
You grieved us as children grieve their father -
The noble sire pained by his boy's defection.
لَهفي عَلَيكَ قَضَيتَ مُرتَجِلاً
لَم تَشكُ لَم تَستَوصِ لَم تَقُلِ
I bum for you - you departed suddenly,
Asked no advice, sent no instructions, said no farewells.
غَلَّ القَضاءُ يَدَ القَضاءِ فَذا
يَبكي عَلَيكَ وَذاكَ في جَذَلِ
Fate bound the hands of Fate - one weeps for you,
One helpless, though you lie in fetters still.
شَغَلَتكَ عَن دُنياكَ أَربَعَةٌ
وَالمَرءُ مِن دُنياهُ في شُغُلِ
Four preoccupied you away from your world,
Though man's appointed lot is preoccupation.
حَقٌّ تُناصِرُهُ وَمَفخَرَةٌ
تَمشي إِلَيها غَيرَ مُنتَحِلِ
A truth you championed, a pride you sought,
Facts of knowledge you pursued - no pretensions.
وَحَقائِقٌ لِلعِلمِ تَنشُدُها
ما لِلحَكيمِ بِهِنَّ مِن قِبَلِ
A virtue others wearied of attaining
Whose reach exceeded theirs, whom they did not befriend.
وَفَضيلَةٌ أَعيَت سِواكَ فَلَم
تَمدُد إِلَيهِ يَداً وَلَم يَصِلِ
If an opinion came to you in private
Such things happen even to messengers.
إِن رَيتَ رَأياً في الحِجابِ وَلَم
تُعصَم فَتِلكَ مَراتِبُ الرُسُلِ
Judgement belongs to time, it is the arbiter
Of what you saw - so sleep now, do not inquire!
الحُكمُ لِلأَيّامِ مَرجِعُهُ
فيما رَأَيتَ فَنَم وَلا تَسَلِ
Thus the wise leave off their opinions,
Abandoning them to time's patient ripening.
وَكَذا طُهاةُ الرَأيِ تَترُكُهُ
لِلدَهرِ يُنضِجُهُ عَلى مَهَلِ
When you were right you were the best of men,
Administering the cure in the seat of pain.
فَإِذا أَصَبتَ فَأَنتَ خَيرُ فَتىً
وَضَعَ الدَواءَ مَواضِعَ العِلَلِ
Sufficient for you is your noble reputation
And the deeds you left in your mortal life.
أَولا فَحَسبُكَ ما شَرُفتَ بِهِ
وَتَرَكتَ في دُنياكَ مِن عَمَلِ
Alas for a house I passed by
Desolate, where roads converged in days gone by!
واهاً عَلى دارٍ مَرَرتُ بِها
قَفراً وَكانَت مُلتَقى السُبُلِ
There I squandered everything precious
And called to mind halts where ruins lie.
أَرخَصتُ فيها كُلَّ غالِيَةٍ
وَذَكَرتُ فيها وَقفَةَ الطَلَلِ
I asked about Qasim - it was stubbornly silent,
Refusing answer - I left confused.
ساءَلتُها عَن قاسِمٍ فَأَبَت
رَدَّ الجَوابِ فَرُحتُ في خَبَلِ
Stumbling, weakness overcame me,
Sighing like a camel surfeited.
مُتَعَثِّراً يَنتابُني وَهَنٌ
مُتَرَنِّحاً كَالشارِبِ الثَمِلِ
Remembering the day I took the Imam's side,
The day I stood with that hero.
مُتَذَكِّراً يَومَ الإِمامِ بِهِ
يَومَ اِنتَوَيتُ بِذَلِكَ البَطَلِ
The day I sought reward, hoping
To lie beneath the dust, a relic of hope!
يَومَ اِحتَسَبتُ وَكُنتُ ذا أَمَلٍ
تَحتَ التُرابِ بَقِيَّةَ الأَمَلِ
Dweller, join your beloved friends who left
With resolve, daring, action.
جاوِر أَحِبَّتَكَ الأُلى ذَهَبوا
بِالعَزمِ وَالإِقدامِ وَالعَمَلِ
Recall to them the land's need
For their guidance in events of magnitude.
وَاِذكُر لَهُم حاجَ البِلادِ إِلى
تِلكَ النُهى في الحادِثِ الجَلَلِ
Say to the Imam, when you meet
In the Gardens of Paradise, in noblest lodging:
قُل لِلإِمامِ إِذا اِلتَقَيتَ بِهِ
في الجَنَّتَينِ بِأَكرَمِ النُزُلِ
"Truth has become the target
Of riders upon the steeds of chance."
إِنَّ الحَقيقَةَ أَصبَحَت هَدَفاً
لِلراكِبينَ مَراكِبَ الزَلَلِ
God! There are traces of you
That eternal time proclaimed will never pass.
لِلَّهِ آثارٌ لَكُم خَلَدَت
صاحَ الزَوالُ بِها فَلَم تَزُلِ
God! There were days for you
Whose intimate knowledge lengthened, did not end.
لِلَّهِ أَيّامٌ لَكَم دَرَجَت
طالَت عَوارِفُها وَلَم تَطُلِ
Blessed shade! Would that it had lasted!
Or that a shade not shifted had been found!
نِعمَ الظِلالِ لَوَ اِنَّها بَقِيَت
أَو أَنَّ ظِلّاً غَيرُ مُنتَقِلِ
