نأت بعد ما بان العزاء سعاد — Tamim Al Fatimi

نأتْ بعد ما بان العزاءُ سُعادُ

فحشوَ جفونِ المُقْلَتين سُهَادُ

Suʿad went far away after solace had departed;

And sleeplessness fills the lids of both eyes.

فليت فؤادي للظعائن مَرْبَعٌ

وليت دموعي للخليط مَزاد

Would that my heart were a spring abode for the women in litters,

And would that my tears were waterskins for the company.

نأوا بعد ما ألقتْ مكايِدها النوى

وقرَّت بهم دار وصحَّ ودادُ

They departed after separation had laid down its snares,

And a home had held them secure, and affection proved true.

وقد تؤمنَ الأحداث من حيثُ تُتَّقَى

ويبعدُ نُجْح الأمر حين يراد

One may be safe from calamities where they are feared,

And success recedes just when it is desired.

أعاذِلَ لي عن فُسْحة الصبر مَذْهَبٌ

وللَّهْو غيري مأْلَفٌ ومَصَاد

O reprover, my path leads away from patience's spacious realm;

And pleasure has someone else for its haunt and hunting ground.

ثوت لِيَ أسْلافٌ كرام بِكَرْبلاَ

هُمُ لثُغُور المسلمين سِدَاد

Noble forebears of mine lie at Karbala;

They are bulwarks for the Muslims' frontiers.

أصابتهمُ من عبد شمس عداوةٌ

وعاجَلَهم بالناكثِين حَصَاد

Hostility from ʿAbd Shams struck them,

And a reaping overtook them through the oath-breakers.

فكيف يلذُّ العيشُ عفوا وقد سطا

وجارَ على آل النبيّ زِياد

How can life be sweet, untroubled, when he has attacked

And wronged the Prophet's family—Ziyad?

وقتَّلهمْ بغيا عُبَيدٌ وكادهم

يزيدُ بأنواع الشقاء فبادوا

And ʿUbayd slaughtered them unjustly, while against them plotted

Yazid, with every kind of torment, and they perished.

بثاراتِ بدرٍ طالبَوهم ومكَّةٍ

وكادهُمُ والحقُّ ليس يُكاد

They pursued them to avenge Badr and Mecca,

And he schemed against them, though truth cannot be outwitted.

فحُكِّمت الأسيافُ فيهم وسُلِّطت

عليهم رِماح للنفاق حِدَاد

So swords were made their judges, and let loose

Upon them were hypocrisy's sharp spears.

فكم كُرْبةٍ في كربلاءَ شديدةٍ

دهاهُمْ بها للناكثِين كِياد

How many a grievous anguish in Karbala

The oath-breakers' scheming brought upon them there!

تحكَّم فيهم كلُّ أنْوَكَ جاهلٍ

ويُغْزَون عَزْواً ليس فيه مَحَاد

Every ignorant fool held sway over them,

And they are targeted by assaults from which there is no escape,

كأنهمُ ارتدَّوا ارتدادَ أُمَيَّةٍ

وحادوا كما حادت ثمود وعاد

As though they had apostatized as Umayya apostatized,

And strayed as Thamud and ʿAd strayed.

ألم تُعظِموا يا قوم رهطَ نبِّيكم

أما لكُمُ يوم النُّشُور مَعاد

Did you not revere, O people, your Prophet's kin?

Have you no return on the Day of Resurrection?

تداس بأقدام العصاة جُسومُهم

وتدرسُهم جُرْدٌ هناك جِياد

Their bodies are trampled by the feet of the disobedient,

And sleek, noble steeds trample them there.

تَضِيمُهمُ بالقتل أمَّةُ جَدّهم

سَفَاهاً وعن ماء الفرات تُذَادُ

Their grandfather's community wrongs them by slaughter,

In folly, while they are driven from the Euphrates' water.

فماتوا عِطاشاً صابرين على الوغَى

ولم يَجْبُنُوا بل جالدَوا فأجادوا

So they died thirsty, steadfast amid battle;

They did not lose courage, but fought and excelled.

ولم يقبلوا حكم الدعِيّ لأنهم

تسامَوا وسادُوا في المهود وقادوا

They would not accept the bastard's judgment, for they

Rose high, were masters in their cradles, and led.

ولكنهم ماتوا كِراماَ أعِزَّةً

وعاش بهم قبل الممات عِباد

But they died noble and honored,

And through them, before their death, people had lived.

وكم بأعالي كربلا من حفائر

بها جُثَثُ الأبرار ليس تعاد

How many graves lie on Karbala's heights,

Holding the bodies of the righteous, unvisited!

بها من بني الزهراء كلّ سَمْيدَع

جوادٍ إذا أعيا الأنامَ جوادُ

There lies, of al-Zahra's sons, every noble lord,

Generous when humankind can find no generous man.

معفَّرة في ذلك الترب منهمُ

وجوهٌ بها كان النجاح يفاد

Dust-covered in that soil are their

Faces, through which success was once gained.

فلهفي على قتل الحسين ومسلمٍ

وخِزيٌ لمن عاداهما وبِعاد

Alas for the killing of al-Husayn and Muslim!

And shame and banishment upon whoever opposed them both!

ولهفي على زيدٍ وبَثّاً مردَّداً

إذا حان من بَثّ الكئيب نفاد

And alas for Zayd, and a lament renewed

Whenever the sorrowing man's lament draws to an end.

ألا كبِدٌ تفنَى عليهمْ صَبَابة

فيَقْطُرَ حُزْناً أو يذوبَ فؤاد

Is there no liver to waste away in longing for them,

And drip with sorrow, or a heart to melt?

ألا مُقْلَة تَهْمِي ألا أذُنٌ تعي

أكُلُّ قلوب العالمين جَمَاد

Is there no eye to stream with tears, no ear to heed?

Are all the hearts of humankind lifeless matter?

تُقاد دماء المارقين ولا أرى

دماءَ بني بنت النبيّ تقاد

The renegades' blood is avenged, yet I do not see

The blood of the Prophet's daughter's sons avenged.

أليس همُ الهادون والعِتْرة التي

بها أنجابَ شِرْكٌ واضمحل فساد

Are they not the guides, the kindred through whom

Polytheism was dispelled and corruption vanished?

تُساق على الإرغام قَسْرا نِساؤهم

سبايا إلى أرض الشآم تقادُ

Their women are driven on under compulsion, by force,

Led as captives to the land of al-Sham.

يُسَقن إلى دار اللعِين صواغِرا

كما سِيق في عَصِف الرياح جراد

They are driven, abased, to the accursed one's house,

As locusts are driven in the raging winds.

كأنهمُ فَيْءُ النصارى وإنهمْ

لأَكَرمُ مَن قد عزَّ منه قِياد

As though they were booty taken from Christians, although they

Are surely the noblest of those whose reins are hard to master.

يعِزُّ على الزهراء ذِلَّةُ زينب

وقتلُ حسين والقلوبُ شِداد

Zaynab's humiliation weighs grievously upon al-Zahra,

And Husayn's killing, while hearts remain hard,

وَقَرْع يزيد بالقضيب لِسنِّه

لقد مَجَسَوا أهلُ الشآم وهادوا

And Yazid's rapping al-Husayn's tooth with a rod.

Indeed, al-Sham's people have become Magians and Jews.

قتلتم بني الإيمان والوحِي والهُدَى

متى صحَّ منكمْ في الإله مُرَاد

You killed the sons of faith, revelation, and guidance;

When was any intent of yours toward God sincere?

ولَمْ تقتلوهم بل قتلتم هداكُمُ

بهمْ ونقصتم عند ذاك وزادوا

You did not kill them, but killed your guidance

Through them; you diminished then, while they grew.

أمَيَّةُ ما زلتم لأبناء هاشِمٍ

عِدىً فاملئوا طُرقَ النفاق وعادوا

Umayya, you have always been to Hashim's sons

Enemies; fill the paths of hypocrisy and persist in enmity!

إلى كم وقد لاحت براهينُ فضلهمْ

عليكم نِفار منكُم وعِناد

How long, though the proofs of their excellence have appeared,

Will you recoil and stubbornly resist their superiority over you?

متى قطُّ أضحى عبد شمس كهاشمٍ

لقد قلَّ إنصاف وطال شِراد

When ever did ʿAbd Shams become like Hashim?

Fairness has indeed grown scarce, and waywardness has lasted long.

متى وُزِنت صُمُّ الحجار بجوهر

متى شارفت شُمَّ الجبال وِهاد

When were solid stones weighed against a jewel?

When did lowlands ever rival lofty mountains?

متى بعث الرحمنُ منكم كجدّهم

نبيّاً علت للحقّ منه زناد

When did the All-Merciful raise up from you, like their grandfather,

A prophet from whom truth's sparks rose high?

متى كان يوماً صخرُكم كعَليّهم

إذا عُدّ إيمان وعُدّ جهاد

When was your Sakhr ever like their ʿAli,

When faith was reckoned, and striving in God's cause reckoned?

متى أصبحت هِند كفاطمةَ الرضا

متى قيس بالصبح المنير سواد

When was Hind like Fatima, the well-pleasing?

When was darkness measured against the radiant dawn?

أآلَ رسول الله سُؤتمْ وكِدْتمُ

ستحيا عليكم ذِلَّةٌ وكساد

Did you harm and scheme against the family of God's Messenger?

Disgrace and decline will endure upon you.

أليس رسول الله فيهم خصيمَكم

إذا اشتدّ إبعادٌ وأَرمَلَ زادُ

Is not God's Messenger your adversary on their behalf,

When banishment grows harsh and provisions fail?

بكمْ أم بهمْ جاء القُرآنُ مبشّراً

بكمْ أم بهمْ دين الآله يشاد

Was it through you or through them that the Quran came with glad tidings?

Is God's religion raised high through you or through them?

سأبكيكم يا سادتي بمدامع

غزارٍ وحزن ليس عنه رقاد

I shall weep for you, my masters, with tears

Abundant, and a grief that allows no sleep.

وإن لم أعاد عبدَ شمس عليكُم

فلا أتَّسعت بي ما حييت بلادُ

And if I do not oppose ʿAbd Shams on your behalf,

May no land make room for me as long as I live.

وأطلبهمْ حتى يروحوا وما لهم

على الأرض من طول القرار مِهاد

And I shall pursue them until they depart, having no

Resting place on earth for any lasting stay.

سقى حُفَرا وارتكُمُ وحَوَتْكُمُ

من المستهلاَّت العذابِ عِهاد

May the graves that concealed and enclosed you be watered

By recurring showers from sweet, pouring clouds.