إِذا سفك الدماء لديك حلاّ
فسفك دمي لطرفك من أجلا
If blood is shed, you have a solution,
So shed my blood for your sake.
ومن عجب تاجّجُ نارَ قلبي
وقد بوأته الحب المحلا
And how strange is the raging fire of my heart,
When love has settled into it.
وما عرف الغرام طريق قلبي
ولكن ذلك الغربيب دلاّ
And love did not know the way to my heart,
But that longing showed the way.
فيا صبري لهجرك ما أقلا
ويا وجدي لحبك ما أجلا
Oh my patience, how little there is for your separation!
Oh my passion, how great for your love!
لقد كذب الأُلى قالوا بأن الم
حب إذا نأى شهراً تسلّى
The dreams have lied when they said that pain
Of love goes away after a month.
فلا والله ما صدقوا وإن الن
وى في القلب قد كتبت سيصلى
No, by God, they did not speak truthfully, for yearning
In the heart is destined to last.
فيا كبدي من الهجران ذوبي
ويا جفني بالدمع استهلا
Oh my liver, melt from the pain of separation!
Oh my eyelids, flow with tears!
فما وجدت كوجدي أُم خشف
تغيب في مراتعه فضلاّ
For I have not found a passion like mine –
A mother gazelle absent from her fawns.
فظلت بعده ترنو بموق
شواخص تبترى علواً وسفلا
She remained after him yearning for the lofty
Hilltops, exalted and low.
وإن سنحت ظباء الدوّ ظنّت
طلاها بين ربربها مُطّلا
And if gazelles of sand approach, she thinks
Him to be among them, watching.
فيكلفها الشجا ظفرا اليها
فتعتسف الفلا تبغيه جهلا
So she exerts herself seeking him in vain,
Not finding him in her ignorance.
فلما فاتها لقياه أنّت
لحرقة ما تحس أنين ثكلى
When she loses hope of seeing him, she sighs
With a burning unlike any bereaved woman.
أُنين صدى لأقوام وهام
نجيع دمَائهم بالسيف طلا
A sigh echoing people whose blood
Was spilled by the sword the next morning.
يناجيه القران غداة أخلت
سيوف محمدٍ أعداه قتلا
The Quran consoling him when the swords
Of Muhammad’s enemies slew him.
أميرَ المؤمنين ومن توالت
على الدنيا المسرةُ مذتولّى
The Commander of the Faithful, when fortune
Turned away from the world after him.
إِمام للائمة أجمعيهم
تولى حين والده تولّى
The Imam of all the Imams together,
He assumed leadership when his father did.
واخشعهم إذا صلى فؤاداً
واشجعهم إذا ما السيف صلا
The humblest of them in spirit when praying
The bravest when the sword struck.
لوالده الخلافة ثم لما
دعا فله الخلافة بعد خلا
He assumed his father’s rule, then when
He was called, leadership was his.
وقد وهبَ الإِله له نجيباً
تجلّى كالنها إِذا تجلّى
And God granted him a noble son
Who shone like a star when it shines.
على بن محمد يحكى كمالاً
علي بن محمد قولاً وفعلا
‘Ali son of Muhammad is told to be perfection
In word and deed, Ali son of Muhammad.
فبورك منسلاً ملك البرايا
وبورك بعده المنصور نسلا
Blessings on him who ruled kingdoms
And blessings on al-Mansur after him.
سيملا الأرض عدلاً مثل ماقد
ملاها جده وأبوه عدلا
He will fill the earth with justice like his
Grandfather and father filled it.
وتركز حيثُ خيمتِ العوالي
ويملا برّها خْيلاً ورجلا
And he will reside where lofty tents are pitched,
Filling the land with horses and men.
فليس له ولا لأبيه شكلٌ
ولا لأبيه ذاك الطهرُ قبلا
He and his father have no equal,
Just as his father the pure had none before.
فما العيدُ الحقيقة غير أنّا
نراهُ على المنابرِ مُستقلا
For what is the feast, in truth, but that we
See him independent on the pulpits?
يساقطُ لؤلؤاً في الوعظ يَملا
قلوب الخلق خوفاً حين يملا
He scatters pearls in preaching, filling
The hearts with fear when he fills them.
قلوبهم بوعظك خافقاتٌ
وأدمعهم هواملُ في المصلّى
Their hearts palpitate from your preaching,
And their tears flow copiously in the place of prayer.
ويبرز بعد ذاك على وقاحٍ
مطهمة تفوت الريح كهلا
Then he emerges to a insolent one
Riding a mare faster than the wind when it is old,
تَقطع شكلها في الصل ظفراً
فما تلقى لها في الجَرد شَكلا
Its figure cutting through the cavalry with claws -
No shape among the horses can match it.
كأَن أديمها الفضي لما
تلمَّع صفرة بالتّبر يُطلي
As if its silver skin were ornamented
With a yellow dye of saffron.
وان يوشى العنان لها تجدها
أخفَّ من الوجيف يداً ورجلاً
And if you give it rein, you find it
Lighter of hand and foot than a carcass.
فيركبها الإِمام ضحىً فيبدو
كشمسِ الأفق في الفلك المعلّى
The Imam rides it at dawn, appearing
Like the sun on the highest horizon.
حواليه الجيوش على المذاكي
تجوب الخير لا وعراً وسهلا
Armies around him race the best steeds,
Crossing flat land and steep.
وقد نُشرت له الأعلامُ حتى
نراه بها هنالك مستظلا
Flags are unfurled for him until
We see him shaded by them there.
وللكوسات في الآذان وحي
نشبهه بصوت الرعد مثلا
The kettledrums in the calls to prayer -
We liken them to the voice of thunder.
ويرجعُ في المواكب ذا خشوعٍ
إلى قصر من العيّوق أَعلى
He returns in procession solemnly
To a palace of lofty pillars.
فسلَم خالقي أبداً عليه
سَلاماً لا يفارقِه وصلّى
May my Creator eternally greet him
With a greeting that never leaves him.
