أراعك ما راعني من ردى — Sharif Al Murtaza

أَراعكَ ما راعَني مِن رَدى

وجدتُ له مثلَ حزّ المُدى

Did the death that appalled me appall you?

I felt it like the slash of knives.

وَهَل في حِسابك أنّي كَرَعْتُ

برُزءِ الإمامِ كؤوس الشّجا

And did you reckon that I had drunk deep

of cups of grief at the Imam's loss?

كأنّي وقد قيل لي إنّه

أتاه الرَّدى في يَمينِ الرّدى

It was as though I, when told that he

had met death, were in Death's right hand.

فَقُل لِلأَكارمِ مِن هاشمٍ

ومن حلّ من غالبٍ في الثَّرى

So say to the noblest of Hashim,

and those of Ghalib who lie in the earth:

رِدوها المَريرة طولَ الحياةِ

وكم واردٍ كَدِراً وما اِنروى

Come to that bitter draught all your lives;

how many have come to murky water, yet never quenched their thirst!

وشقّوا القلوبَ مَكانَ الجُيوبِ

وجُزّوا مكانَ الشّعورِ الطُّلى

Rend your hearts instead of your collars,

and shear your necks instead of your hair;

وحلّوا الحُبا فعلى رُزْئِهِ

كِرامُ الملائكِ حلّوا الحُبا

and loosen your knee-bands, for at his loss

the noble angels loosened their knee-bands.

ولِمْ لا وما كتبوا زلّةً

عليه وأيُّ اِمرئٍ ما هَفا

And why not? They recorded no lapse

against him—yet what person has never erred?

فيا ليتَ باكيَهُ ما بكاهُ

ويا ليت ناعيَهُ ما نعى

Would that his mourner had not wept for him,

and would that his death-announcer had announced no death!

ويا لَيتنِي ذقتُ عنه الحِمامَ

ويا لَيتَني كنتُ عنه الفِدا

And would that I had tasted death in his stead,

and would that I had been his ransom!

هوَ المَوتُ يَستلبُ الصالحينَ

وَيَأخذُ مِن بَيننا مَن يَشا

It is death that snatches away the righteous

and takes from among us whomever it wills.

فَكَم دافَعوه فَفات الدفاعُ

وَكَم قَد رَقَوْه فَأَعيا الرُّقى

How often they resisted it, but resistance failed;

and how often they chanted charms over him, yet the charms were powerless.

مَضى وهوَ صِفْرٌ منَ الموبقاتِ

نقيَّ الإزارِ خفيفَ الرِّدا

He passed away, free of ruinous sins,

his loincloth pure, his mantle light.

إِذا رابَهُ الأَمرُ لَم يأتِهِ

وإن خَبُثَ الزَّادُ والَى الطَّوى

When a matter made him doubtful, he would not undertake it;

and when provisions were tainted, he persisted in hunger.

تعزَّ إِمامَ الوَرى وَالّذي

بِه نَقتَدي عَن إِمامِ الوَرى

Take comfort, Imam of mankind, you whom

we follow, for the loss of the Imam of mankind.

وَخَلِّ الأَسى فَالمَحلُّ الّذي

جَثَمتَ بِهِ لَيسَ فيهِ أَسى

And leave sorrow; the station where

you have settled holds no sorrow.

فَإِمّا مَضى جَبلٌ وَاِنقَضى

فَمِنكَ لَنا جَبلٌ قَد رَسَا

For if a mountain has passed away and is no more,

in you we have a mountain firmly rooted.

وَإِمّا فُجِعنا بِبَدرِ التمامِ

فَقَد بَقيت مِنك شمسُ الضُحى

And if we have been bereaved of the full moon,

in you the morning sun remains.

وَإِن فاتَنا مِنهُ لَيثُ العَرين

فَقَد حاطَنا مِنكَ لَيثُ الشَّرى

And if in him we lost the lion of the lair,

in you the lion of al-Shara has guarded us.

وَأَعجَبُ ما نالَنا أَنَّنا

حُرِمنا المنى وَبَلَغنا المنى

And strangest of all that befell us is that we

were denied our wishes, yet attained our wishes.

لَنا حَزَنٌ في محلِّ السرورِ

وَكَم ضَحِكٍ في خِلالِ البُكا

We have sorrow in the very place of joy,

and much laughter amid weeping.

فَجَفْنٌ لَنا سالِمٌ مِن قَذىً

وآخرُ مُمتَلِئٌ مِن قَذى

So one of our eyelids is free of grit,

while another is filled with grit.

فَيا صارِماً أَغمدته يدٌ

لَنا بَعدكَ الصارِمُ المُنتضى

O keen sword that a hand has sheathed,

after you, we still have the drawn sword.

ويا رُكُناً ذَعْذَعته الخطوبُ

لَنا بَعدَ فَقدِكَ رُكنٌ ثوى

And O pillar shattered by calamities,

after losing you, we have a pillar that abides.

وَيا خالِداً في جِنانِ النّعيمِ

لَنا خالدٌ في جِنانِ الدُّنا

And O immortal in the gardens of bliss,

we have an immortal in the gardens of this world.

فَقوموا اِنظروا أَيّ ماضٍ مَضى

وَقوموا اِنظُروا أيّ آتٍ أتى

Rise and see who it is that has departed,

and rise and see who it is that has arrived.

فَإِنْ كانَ قادرُنا قَد مضى

فَقائِمُنا بَعدَهُ ما مَضى

For if our Qadir has indeed passed away,

our Qa'im after him has not passed away.

ولَمّا دُوينا بِفَقدِ الإمامِ

عَجِلتَ إلينا فكنت الدَّوا

And when the Imam's loss left us stricken,

you hastened to us and became the cure.

رَضيناكَ مالكَنا فَاِرضنا

فَما نَبتَغي مِنكَ غَيرَ الرِّضا

We are content with you as our ruler; be content with us,

for we seek from you nothing but approval.

وَلَمّا حَضرناكَ عندَ البِياعِ

عَرَفنا بِهَديك طُرقَ الهُدى

And when we attended you at the pledging of allegiance,

your conduct showed us the paths of guidance.

فَقابَلتَنا بوَقارِ المَشيبِ

كَمالاً وَسِنُّك سِنُّ الفَتى

You met us with the dignity of gray hair,

in all its fullness, though your years were those of youth.

وَجِئناكَ تَتلو عَلَينا العزاءَ

فَعزَّيتَنا بِجَميلِ العزا

And we came to you as you recited consolation to us,

and you consoled us with beautiful solace.

وَذادَتْ مَواعِظُك البالغاتُ

أَخامِصَنا عَن طَريقِ الهَوى

And your powerful admonitions drove

the arches of our feet away from the path of desire.

وَعَلَّمتَنا كَيفَ نَرضى إِذا

رَضي اللَّه أَمراً بِذاكَ القَضا

And you taught us how to be content—when

God has approved a matter—with that decree.

فَشَمّرْ لَنا أَيُّهاذا الإمامُ

وَكُن لِلوَرى بَعدَ فَقرٍ غِنى

So gird yourself for us, O Imam,

and be wealth for mankind after poverty.

وَنَحِّ عَنِ الخَلقِ بَغيَ البُغاةِ

وَعُطَّ عَنِ الدّينِ ثوبَ الدُّجى

And remove the oppressors' tyranny from creation,

and tear from the faith the robe of darkness.

فَقَد هَزَّك القَومُ قَبلَ الضِّرابِ

فَما صادَفوكَ كَليلَ الشَّبا

For the people brandished you before the clash,

and did not find you blunt of edge.

وَأَعلَمَهم طولُ تَجريبِهم

بِأَنَّكَ أَولاهمُ بِالعُلى

And their long testing taught them

that you are the worthiest among them of eminence,

وَأَنّك أَضرَبُهم بِالسّيوف

وَأَنَّك أَطعنُهم بالقنا

and that you strike hardest among them with swords,

and that you thrust hardest among them with spears,

وَأَنّكَ أَضرَبُهم في الرّجا

ل عِرْقاً وأطولُ منهم بنا

and that among men you are the deepest

rooted in lineage, and taller than they in stature;

وَأَنّك وَالحَربُ تُغلى لها ال

مَراجلُ أوسعُ منهم خُطَا

and that, when war has its

cauldrons set boiling, your strides are broader than theirs;

وَأَنّك أَجوَدُهم بالنُّضارِ

وَأَنَّكَ أَبذَلُهم لِلنّدى

and that you are the most generous of them with gold,

and that you are the most lavish of them in bounty.

سَقى اللَّهُ قَبراً دَفنَّا بِهِ

جَميعَ العَفافِ وَكُلَّ التُّقى

May God water a grave in which we buried

all chastity and all piety.

وَجادَ عَلَيهِ قُطارُ الصّلاةِ

فَأَغناهُ عَن قَطَرات الحَيا

And may showers of prayer pour down upon it,

sparing it the need for drops of rain.

ومَيْتٌ له جُدُدٌ ما بَلين

مآثرُهُ لا يَمَسُّ البِلى

And a dead man with fresh, unworn

noble deeds is untouched by decay.

وَإِنْ غابَ مِن بَعدِ طولِ المَدى

فَإِنَّك أَطوَلُ مِنهُ بقا

And though he has vanished after a long span,

you will endure longer than he.