أحَقّاً طَربتَ إلَى الرّبْرَبِ

ومُذْ شَطَّت الدارُ لَمْ تَطْرَب

Did you really rejoice at tambourines,

While the house crumbled, you did not rejoice?

رُوَيْدَكَ أعْرض عنكَ الشبابُ

وحسْبُك بالعارِضِ الأشْيَب

Restrain yourself, youth has turned away from you,

It is enough for you to have white hair as a companion.

فَكَيْفَ تَعِنُّ لِعينِ المَها

وتُشرِقُ لِلْمُشْرقِ الأشْنَب

So how can you desire the eye of the alluring one,

And the shining one with prominent teeth please you?

وَإنّ الغَرامَ عَلَى كَبْرةٍ

لإحْدى الكَبائِرِ فَاسْتَعْتِب

Indeed infatuation in old age,

Is one of the major sins, so seek forgiveness.

أبَعْدَ نُضوبِ مِياه الصِّبا

وَتَصْويح يانِعِه المُخْصِب

After the water of youth has dried up,

And its lush greenery has withered,

تحِنُّ إلى مَلْعَبٍ للظّباء

بِكُثْبانِ رامَةَ أو غُرَّب

You yearn for the playground of gazelles,

Among the sand dunes of Ramah or Ghurrab.

فهَلا إلى مَلْعبٍ لِلأسودِ

نَعمت بِمَنظرِهِ المُعْجب

Why not head to the playground of lions,

Delighted by its awe-inspiring view.

يُقَامُ الجِهَادُ بِهَا والجِلادُ

لِكلِّ فَتىً مِدْرَهٍ مِحْرَب

Jihad and execution are carried out in it,

For every sharp-witted heroic young man.

وَيَضْرَى عَلى الفَتْكِ بِالضّارِيات

وإن غَالَبَ القِرْنَ لَمْ يُغْلَب

He takes pride in attacking the vicious,

And if he overcomes the spearpoint he is not overcome.

تَرَاهُ مُبيداً لأهلِ الصليب

بِفَلّ خمسهمُ الأصْلَب

You see him annihilating the people of the cross,

With the sharp edge of his five-fingered sword.

ضَوار ضَوارِبُ أظفارِهَا

تُعِيرُ الظُّبَى رقّةَ المَضْرب

The claws of its lionesses,

Mock the gentleness of the deer's hoof.

فَمِنْ أَسَدٍ شَرِسٍ مُحْنَقٍ

ومِنْ نَمِرٍ حَردٍ مُغْضَب

It has ferocious lions, angry and roaring,

And snarling, hissing leopards.

أثِيرَتْ حَفَائِظُهَا فانْبَرَت

تَسَابَقُ في شأوِها الأرْحَب

Their instincts have been aroused, so they charge forth,

Racing in their vast plain.

تُصِيم المَسَامِعَ مِنْ زَأْرها

عَوادِيَ كالضُّمَّر الشزُّب

Their roars deafen the ears,

Like howling hyenas in the valleys.

وَتَنْبُو العُيون لإقْدَامِها

مُذربةَ النابِ والمِخْلَب

Eyes avert out of fear of their attack,

Brandishing fangs and claws.

لُيُوثٌ إِذا ذمَرَتْ صَمّمَت

وإن لَغَبَ الذّمْرُ لم تُغْلَب

They are lionesses, when they snarl they become resolute,

And if snarling is scarce, they are not subdued.

كَواشِرُ عَنْ مُرْهفاتٍ حَدادٍ

متى تصْدَعِ الشملَ لم يُشعَب

Biting at grievous, cutting blades,

If the bond is severed, it will not be mended.

نُيوب نَبَتْن مِن النّائِبات

وأزْرَينَ بالصارِمِ المُقْضِب

Fangs sprouted from she-lions,

And forearms with the slaughtering sword.

تَنُوء ثِقالاً ولَكِنّها

أخَفُّ وُثوباً من الجُنْدُب

Their tread is heavy but they

Are lighter garbed than the locust.

كأنّ لَها مَأرَباً في السّماء

فَتَسْمُو لِتَظْفَرَ بِالمَأرَب

As if for them there is a battlefield in the sky,

So they ascend to gain the high ground.

ومُقْتحِمٍ غَمرات الرّدى

إذَا ما ادّعى الناسُ لم يكذِب

And a raider of the pitfalls of destruction,

If people claim, he will not deny.

يُلاعِبُها حَيْثُ جَدّ الحِمامُ

فتفْزَعُ مِنْهُ إلى مَهْرَب

He toys with them when battle is heated,

So they flee from him in panic.

يَكُرُّ عَلَيْهَا وَلا جُنَّةٌ

سوى كُرَةٍ سهْلَة المَجْذب

He pounces on them and no shield

Except leaping nimbly aside.

يُدَحْرِجُها ماشِياً ثِنْيَها

عَلى حَذرٍ مِشْيَة الأنكب

He knocks them down slowly bending them,

Treading carefully like a lynx.

عَجِبتُ لَها أحجَمَتْ رَهْبَةً

وأقْدَمَ بأساً وَلَم يرْهَب

I was amazed that she hesitated in fear,

And he advanced in might but did not dread.

وَقَتْهُ الأَواقي علَى أنّهُ

تَسَنّمَهَا صّعْبَة المَرْكَب

The eagles of death watched him

From their vantage point thinking he had mounted it with difficulty.

وَثاوٍ بِمَطْبَقَةٍ فَوْقَه

مَتَى تَطْفُ هامَتُهُ تَرْسُب

And the bowstrings of the mighty archer tensed around him,

So he bubbled in the blink of an eye into a drinking trough.

يُهَجْهِجُ بالليثِ كَيما يَهيج

ويأوِي إِلى الكَهفِ كالثّعلب

And they slithered there with their tails,

Fleeing the slaughter like a scorpion.

كذلكَ حتّى هوَتْ نَحوَهَا

عُقابُ المنيّة مِنْ مَرْقَب

So what fortresses have been turned

Into hedgehogs by the shooting arrows!

وعَاجَتْ عَلَيْهَا قَواسِي القِسِيّ

فَعَبّتْ مِن الْحَيْن في مَشْرَب

And what great feats, if enumerated,

Would exhaust the verbose orator.

وشَالَتْ هُنَاكَ بِأذْنَابِها

لِيَاذاً من العقرِ كالعَقْرب

Wondrous strange things dazzled minds,

Brought together under the king of the Maghreb.

فَيا لِقَساوِرَ قد صُيّرَتْ

قَنَافِذَ بالأَسْهُمِ الصُّيَّب

If the mind is generous it will not go astray,

And if the poem is brief it will not sin.

ويَا لمَآثِرَ لَوْ عُدِّدَتْ

لأَعيَتْ عَلى المُسهِب المُطنِب

A guiding imam whose light is penetrating,

And the blossom of stars has no holes.

غَرَائِبُ شَتّى بهرْن العقول

جُمِعْنَ لَدَى مَلِك المَغرِب

On the doctrines of Imam Ar-Ridha,

He bases his principles and doctrinal schools.

فَإنْ جَوّدَ الفكرُ لم يُغربِ

وإنْ قصّر الشعر لم يُذنب

He calls people to his cause,

Pleasing God and the Prophet.

إمَامُ هُدىً نُورُه ثَاقِبٌ

وَزهْرُ الكَواكبِ لمْ تثقُب

Supporter of guidance, he guided views

To it, gaining a share without aiming.

عَلى مَذْهبٍ للإمَامِ الرّضى

تَقَيله وَعلى مَشْعَب

Alone, he humbled himself in his glory,

His position is the zenith of the celestial sphere.

يُهيبُ لِدَعْوَتِهِ بالأنَامِ

فَيُرْضي الإلَه ويُرْضي النّبي

He has the nobility of the family, above kings,

And the perfume of the bride and ancestry.

ظَهيرُ الهِدايةِ أهدَى الظهور

إلَيْهَا نَصيباً وَلَمْ يَنْصب

Abu Al-Hasan Al-Murtadha raised him

To the most pure, good gathering.

وَحِيداً تَواضَعَ في عزّة

وَمَوْطِنُه هامَةُ الكَوْكَب

And he attained his happiness from his father

Muhammad, the eminent chosen one.

لَهُ شرَفُ البيتِ دونَ الملوك

وطيبُ الأرُومَة والمَنْسَب

He fulfilled the rights of the exalted,

With efforts on the most difficult path.

نَمَاهُ أبو حَفْصٍ المُرْتَضى

إلى المَحْتِد الأطْهَر الأطْيَب

His brilliant virtues are too lofty

To be undermined by fickle time.

وأحْرَزَ سُؤْدَدَهُ عَنْ أبِي

مُحَمّدٍ السّيّد المُنْجب

He assumed its emirate which gained,

Through his position, the noblest position.

وَفَى لِلْعُلَى بِحُقُوقِ العُلى

نُهوضاً على المَرْكبِ الأصْعَب

And through it he called to a cause that tore apart,

With its lights, the veils of the unseen.

وَجَلّتْ مَنَاقِبُهُ الزُّهْرُ أنْ

تُقَوّضَ بالحُولِ القُلَّب

With a long reach, determined and aspiring,

Yet a comforting neighbor, loved and pleasing.

تَقَلّدَهَا إمْرَةً أحْرَزَتْ

بِمَنْصِبهِ شَرَفَ المنْصِب

He ascended loftily and drew near lowly,

So glad tidings to you of the farthest yet nearest!

وَقَام بِهَا دَعْوَةً مَزَّقَتْ

بِأنْوَارهَا حُجُبَ الْغيهَب

I have not seen the sun of morning before him,

Or a deep, surging sea at sunset.

بَعيدُ المَدى بِالقَنا مُحْتَمٍ

قريبُ النّدى بالتقى مُحتَب

نَأى راقِياً وَدَنَا قارياً

فبُشرَاك بالأبعَد الأقرَب

ولَم أرَ شَمس الضُّحى قَبلَه

وَبَحراً وطَوْداً عَلى مَغْرِب