ظلموك يا جدي ولست ظلوما

لمتى وحقك لم يزل مهضوما

They wronged you, my grandfather, though you were not wrongful

How long has your right remained usurped?

رفع الدعاوي واستبد ضلالة

ذاك الزمان وجر عنك هموما

They raised false claims and strayed into error

That time dragged in sorrows for you

عدوا جرائمه عليك وبرأوا

ساحاتهم منها فبت ملوما

They counted his crimes against you and exonerated

Their domains from them, so you remained blamed

نطقوا بما شاءوا وما شاء الهوى

وعليك كان بما قضوا محكوما

They said what they wished and what desire fancied

And upon you was whatever they decreed binding

ماذا يفيدك والمؤرخ ناقل

عنهم وإن كانوا إليك خصوما

What good does it do you for the historian to transmit

From them though they were adversaries to you?

قالوا بأنك جامع للمال لا

تلوي على شيء ولست رحيما

They said you amassed wealth without

Being turnable about anything, and were not merciful

قالوا على الإصلاح لست بسائل

وربضت في كنف الفساد مقيما

They said you do not ask about reform and you settled

In the bosom of corruption, resident

قالوا بأنك في وعودك مخلف

راجيك فيهم لم يزل محروما

They said your promises you breach,

Your hopeful in them has not ceased deprived

شفتاك تبسم والكف تصيد ما

جلبته سطوتكم ولست كريما

Your lips smile yet your palm hunts what

Their tyranny has brought, and you are not generous

أطلقت معتسفا يدا استبدادكم

في الساكنين من الشقاء جحيما

You unleashed your despotism’s self-willed hand

In the inhabitants, a hell of misery

أثقلت كاهلهم ونجلك مطلق ال

أيدي فبات الزرع منه هشيما

You burdened their shoulders while your unfettered son

Slept, so the crops through him were devastated

ورتعت في اليت الحسيني مانعا

عنهم سواك لتحكم الإقليما

And you pastured in the Husseini precinct, preventing

Other than you to govern the region

وحكمت نحو الأربعين فكانت ال

أيام نحسا في البلاد وشوما

And you ruled close to forty years, and they were

Inauspicious days in the country, ill-omened

ووقفت قصدا في سبيل حماتها

زمنا لأنك تبغض التنظيما

And you intentionally stood in the path of its protections

A time, for you hate organization

وإلى فرنسا بالخصوص عداوة

لك ما رأوا للود منك نسيما

And to France in particular is enmity

For you, no breeze of affection did you show it

هذي مناقبك التي أبقيتها

لبنيك قلبا داميا مكلوما

These are your virtues which you left

To your sons, a pained, afflicted heart

خمسون عاما قد مضت والحق في

غيبات جبّه لم يكن معلوما

Fifty years have passed with the truth in

Absence, its identity not known

حتى تقمّصت الحفيد وجئتهم

متمثّلا في شخصه مرسوما

Until the grandson assumed your role and came to them

Embodying your character, well-drawn

هذا أوان القسط والقسطاط في ال

دنيا استمع للصوت فيك رخيما

This is the time for equity and the equitable one in the

World, listen to the faint call within you

سيريك من آيات عدله حاكم

يجري الحوادث كيف شاء قديما

I will show you signs of His justice, a Ruler

Who makes events occur however He wished from old

بالوقت أمره موكل واليوم قد

وفاك حقك فارأ المنظوما

Entrusted to His command is the time, and today He

Has fulfilled your right, so behold what is constructed

هبّت عليك رياح نصر سقتها

تذروه زرعا في عداك هشيما

Blown upon you are winds of victory which I have watered

A crop in your enemies, devastated

حججي اليك دقيقة تحتاج لل

إمعان يكبرها البصير نجوما

My arguments to you are subtle, needing

Contemplation - the discerning amplifies them as stars

قد كنت وحدك بالليالي عالما

مذ كنت في وسط الرجال زعيما

You used to be alone at night, knowing

Since you were amid the men, leader

جلدا تصارع في البلاد بلاءها

مستسلما لقضائه تسليما

With fortitude you battled your country’s afflictions

Resigned to His decree, acquiescent

قد كنت فيهم كالزمان مؤدبا

تمشي الهوينا لا ترى التهويما

You used to be among them as time is well-mannered

You walk surely, you do not see confusion

والكل يشهد في السياسة أنك ال

رجل الدها فيها تعد عظيما

And all testify in politics that you are the

Most knowledgeable man in it, counted great

لو كنت خائنهم لبعت بلادهم

مذ كنت تحمل في يديك رقيما

If you had betrayed them, you’d have sold their lands

Since you held power over it in your hand

فوضت في باريس تفعل ما تشا

ممن غدا لرسوله مخدوما

You entrusted in Paris to do as you pleased

Who tomorrow became subservient to its envoy

ما كان مالك في الحظوظ موزعا

لكن خزينة دولة مركوما

Your possession was not for luck distributed

But the treasury of the state, accumulated

أعددته للحادثات ذخيرة

ورضيت كونك بالأذى موسوما

You prepared it for eventualities, a reserve

And were content that you were, with harm, marked

كم كنت دورا في السياسة لاعبا

بين القناصل عارفيك حكيما

How many times did you cleverly maneuver in politics

Among the consuls who knew you as wise

بعت المصوغ مجهزا عند الضرو

رة جيش رستم ساقه مأموما

You sold the jewelry, preparing when necessary

Rustam’s army, which he led, brought

شهد العدو بأنك القوام في الث

لث الأخير بحقّه لتقوم

The enemy testified you were the pillar in the

Last third, by its right you stand

لو لم يقلها أشهد اللّه على

ذاك القيام لك الدجى ونجوما

If he had not said it, I swear by God to

That standing - for you belong the darkness and stars

شهد العدو بأنك الهش البشو

ش ويا له خلقا لديك كريما

The enemy testified you were good-natured and gentle

And excellent in manners he found you

شهد العدو بعفة تنفي علي

ك المعصيات ولم تكن معصوما

The enemy testified to your chastity, negating from you

Sins though you were not infallible

لم يدر منطقك البذاء ولا درى

فمك الرحيق ولا اصطحبت نديما

Your logic did not know vileness, nor did

Your mouth know cordiality, nor did you take a cup-companion

هب ملت للحدثان مالت قبلك ال

كبرا فلاسفة ترى التنجيما

When the innovations inclined, those great philosophers

Before you inclined, who believe in astrology

ما كان يظهر منك فهو نقيضها

إذ بات رايك في الأمور سليما

What appeared from you was its opposite,

For your view in matters remained sound

كنت الشديد الاعتقاد حقيقة

إن كان ذنبا فلتكن مذؤوما

You were staunch in belief, truly

If it was a sin, then let it remain blamed

شه العدو بقوة الإيمان في

ذاك الفؤاد وكان فيه صميما

The enemy testified to the strength of faith in

That heart, and it contained a core

لو لم تقم تلك القباب كشاهد

عدك اليك لأنكر المعلوما

If those domes did not stand as witness

To you, then the known would be doubted

دلّت على الإخلاص في أعماله

للصالحين أقامها تعظيما

They indicated sincerity in his acts

For the righteous, erecting them reverently

كم زودته شيوخها بدعائها

والفضل منه لم يكن معدوما

How much has he endowed its sheikhs with his prayers

And the grace from him was not absent

من كان يؤمن بالإله يحبّه

فذروا منافقهم يراه غريما

Who believes in God loves Him

So ignore their hypocrisy - they see him an enemy

قد قيل يوم العزل في رمضان قد

أشبهت في تقييدك المرجوما

It has been said the day of dismissal in Ramadan

Resembled your being stoned in your shackling

ما كان أكبرها وكيف يسغيها

شيخ أفاض من الكتاب علوما

What was greatest of them? How can an elder who overflowed

From the Book with knowledge approve it?

خطّت فكانت في صحيفة عمره

خطأ مبينا واضحا معلوما

It was written, so it was in the page of his life

A clear, evident, known error

لو لم يخف الاعتقاد لما ازدرى

بتقاك قائلها يعد أثيما

If faith was not scorned, its sayer would not

Be counted a sinner, unchaste

لكن اذا بانت اليك وجوههم

تتلو على الطرفين أية سيما

But when their faces appear to you

Reciting on both sides a mark of infamy

يال الزمان خيانة في يوم عز

لك لا تقدر لو وجدت عليما

Oh time, betrayal on a day of your glory

They cannot assess even if they found a learned one

عرضت حمايتها القناصل نصرة

للحق لكن قد رأوك حليما

The consuls offered their protection, supporting

The truth, but they saw you forbearing

قلت البلاد بلاده والمال عا

رية وبت على الوفاء كظيما

You said the country is his country and the money innocence

And you remained upon loyalty, concealing

لو رمت احداث القلاقل عندها

لجعلت سيدك الأمير خديما

If you had unleashed the disturbances then

You’d have made your master the prince your servant

وافاك من بيزمرك يحمل خطه

أحد الخواص كفى به تفخيما

And there reached you from Bismarck his letter

Borne by one of the elite, sufficient in its veneration

يرجو مقابل ذاك بنزرت الي

أكبرت إعطاها وكنت رحيما

Asking in exchange for that, Bizerte

To cede it, and you were compassionate

فأجبته للترك حق لا لنا

فيها فعاد كلاكما محروما

So you answered him to leave the right to it, not ours in it

So he returned deprived, both of you

علما بأنك في البراءة راتع

والرزق كان بأمره مقسوما

Knowing you are in innocence residing

And rizq was by His command apportioned

تنوي التمحّض للعبادة حيث قد

عدموا ولست بموجد معدوما

You intend to devote yourself purely to worship, for

They are gone and you cannot revive the non-existent

هدموا بناءك بالمعاول في السيا

سة فاغتدت تلك الصروح رسوما

They demolished your edifice with picks in

Politics, so those bastions became mere traces

يا جد كنت لكنز سرك طلسما

ففتحت بعدك بابه المختوما

Oh grandfather, you were the talisman to your secret treasure

So after you its sealed door was opened

كانت براءتكم قبيل براءتي

لغوا وإن يك خطها مرقوما

Your innocence was prior to my innocence

They nullified, though its script was transcribed

لكنها رجعت إليك صحيحة

لا خدش من بين السطور مشيما

But it returned to you correct,

No blemish between its lines, pure

يا قوم ذنب أبي هو استقلالكم

مذ كان قطركمو له محكوما

Oh people, my father’s sin is your independence

When your region for him was subjugated

كان المخافظ عن كيان بلادكم

ضحى حياته ظالما مظلوما

He safeguarded your country’s existence

Sacrificing his life, unjustly wronged

يرجو بأن تبقى البلاد لأهلها

أبدا يرد من الجيوش هجوما

Hoping the country would remain for its people

Forever, repelling from it the troops’ onslaughts

والدهر يأبى والمقدر كائن

حتى سقوه على الدفاع سموما

But fate refuses and the destined is occurring

Until they poured upon him poisons of defense

إذ كاد يظفر بالمنى لولا القضا

ألقى بسيفه بينهم مثلوما

When he was about to attain his purpose, if not for fate

Casting down his sword among them, broken

ندم الأمير ولات حين ندامة

مذ حطمته يد الشقا تحطيما

The amir and his family regretted when regret

Profiteth naught, especially his dismissal, and generally

حضر الجنازة يوم دفنه قائلا

أني رممت وزارتي ترميما

He attended the funeral the day of his burial, saying

I have restored my ministry, rebuilt

يجري الدموع ولن يفيد عويله

وخز الضمير غدا إليه أليما

Tears flow but their wailing will not benefit

And the stabbing of conscience became painful to him

وكذاك خير الدين أصبح نادما

إذ لم يكن حر الضمير لئيما

And so Khair al-Din became regretful

For he was not of unburdened conscience, ignoble

نقل ابن عياد ندامة صهره

هذا وكلمه بها تكليما

Ibn Ayad conveyed the regret of his in-law

This, and he addressed him with it, rebuking

مذ قال أكبر غلطة عمت بها

البلوى خصوصا عزله وعموما

Since he said: “The greatest mistake which engulfed

Affliction, specifically his dismissal, and generally

إقرار من ظلموه شاهد حقه

قل فليكم حقا به مجزوما

A recognition from those who wronged him, a witness of his right

Say: So let him be decisively right

هذي هي الحجج التي أدلي بها

أتمتمها لبروره تتميما

These are the arguments I have presented

I have completed dictating them, appended

كانت كمثل الشمس تحت سحابة

فأزحت عنها بالقريض غيوما

They were like the sun beneath a cloud

So I uncovered them in poetry, clouds dispersed

حفظت له الدعوى فقمت برفعها

أعلي البناء مدعما تدعيما

I have preserved the case for him, so I rose to advocate it

At the highest building, buttressed, supported

وتركت للمنثور تفريدي له

سفرا يحوم به الهدى تحويما

And I left to prose my ode to him

A composition which correctness encircles, orbits

هذا التقي الذاكر القوام في الليل

المعظم ربه تعظيما

This is the devout, the vigilant one by night

Who magnifies his Lord, revering

هذا التقي المظلوم ما بين الورى

من صيروه بظلمهم مشتوما

This is the devout one, wrongfully oppressed between man

Whom by their oppression they have defamed

ما كان يعرف للعبادة غيره

مذ كان هذا الساقسي فطيما

None but he was known for worship

When this Saqsi was abstemious

ما قدس الصلبان يوما واحدا

فيهم ولا ضما ولا تقنيما

He never sanctified the crucifixes a single day among them

Nor embraced or kissed them

حملوه طفلا في الأسارى سنه

خمس فان لصدرهم مضموما

They carried him as a child captive in years

Five - so let their breasts be narrowed

وافى لتونس فاصطفاه سميه

فرأى الجلال يحفّه تكريما

He came to Tunis, so Smiha chose him

And he saw majesty enveloping him, honoring him

أم المشير تراه ضو وحيدها

ورأى العناية منه والتقديما

Umm al-Mushir sees him alone, her solace

And he saw care and precedence from him

ما زال يرقى في الدنو مراتبا

حتى تزوج أخته كلثوما

He continued rising in ranks

Until he married his sister Kalthoum

ما غادر البيت الحسيني لحظة

حبا وعظما في القبور رميما

He never left the Husseini house a moment

Out of love and respect for the dwellers of graves, caring for them

منهم وفيهم شأنه ذو رفعة

كل يعظم كفه الملثوما

From them and among them was his status

All revere his concealed hand

ملأ الفخار الصدر أوسمة له

شرفت فكانت فوقه مشموما

He filled his chest with medals of honor for him

Which ennobled him, placed atop him

هذي شرائطها لدي شهيدة

بقيت وقد ذهب العصير كروما

Remaining though the era passed, as ruins

The historian Perim dwelled confused, wallowing

ظل المؤرخ بيرم عشواء تخ

بط في الظلال وحطه تسويما

In shadows, and obscured him, defamed him

His sullied conscience, which did not know honesty and prohibition, dictated to him

أملى عليه ضميره الدنس الذي

لم يعرف التحليل والتحريما

He mentioned the opposite to delude the reader that

He is truthful - the liar of little shame lied

ذكر النقيض ليوهم القاري بأن

ه صادق كذب السفيه زنيما

Allah made him utter them, so the pen of truth flowed with them

Clear, comprehensible

الله انطقه بها فجرى بها

قلم الحقيقة واضحا مفهوما

He attacked my grandfather, so the Lord of Justice heated for him

A punishment, incumbent, inescapable

قد نال من جدي فقيظني له

رب العدالة ناقما ملزوما

I stripped him, despite his death, as a criminal

I punished him and his nation, enflamed

جردت منه برغم موته مجرما

عاقبته وأمته محموما

My grandfather used to banish the likes of him

After Sulaymi if he saw the insane

قد كان جدي مبعدا أمثاله

بعد السلمي متى رأى المجذوما

I presented his lines to him, so the prophet

Of poetry recited about him his metered verse

عرضت عليه سطوره فتلا نبي

الشعر عنه بيته المنظوما

“If you are dispraised by a deficient one

Then it is testimony for me, and I am not worthless”

وإذا اتتك مذمتي من ناقص

فهي الشهادة لي ولست ذميما

Mentioning them is a lesson by which afterwards

Whatever is bent in thought is straightened

ذكراها عظة يقوم بعدها

ما اعوج من فكر الورى تقويما

For the historian Faisal’s word was not conclusive

Giving to himself alone the judgment

إذ لم يكن قول المؤرخ فيصلا

يعطي لنفسه وحده التحكيما

How many a right has been lost with its traces

Vanishing, passed between them, prohibited

كم ضاع حق و اختفت آثاره

متلاشيا ما بينهم مصروما

Strange are the people who studied history but did not

Perceive what was certainly plucked from you

عجبا لقوم درسوا التاريخ لم

تفطن لما قد كان منك مروما

The secret of politics is not divulged in its time

And therefore the grandfather in it was silent

سر السياسة لا يذاع زمانها

ولذاك كان الجد فيه كتوما

Until time uncovered its veil

Escaping the unknown, no longer imagined

حتى إذا كشف الزمان ستارها

برح الخفاء فلم يعد موهوما