1. هبّ عليَّ بالملامِ والعَذَلْ

    وقالَ كمْ تَذكرُ بالشعرِ الأُوَلْ

    He assailed me with blame and reproach,

    and said, 'How often you mention the men of old in verse!

  2. كُفَّ عن الشرِّ فقلتُ لا تقلْ

    ولا تخلْ أكُفُّ عن خيرِ العملْ

    Cease from evil!' I said, 'Do not say that,

    nor suppose I shall cease from the best of deeds.'

  3. إنّي أحبُّ حَيدراً مناصحاً

    لمن قَفا مواثباً لِمن نَكَلْ

    Indeed, I love Haydar, sincere in counsel

    to those who follow, assailing those who draw back.

  4. أحبُّ من آمن بالله ولم

    يشرك به طُرفةَ عينٍ في الأزَلْ

    I love him who believed in God and did not

    ascribe partners to Him, even for an eye's blink, in eternity past.

  5. ومن غَدا نفس الرسولِ المصطفى

    صلّى عليه اللهُ عندَ المُبتهلْ

    And him who became the very self of the chosen Messenger—

    may God bless him when the supplicant prays—

  6. وثانيّ النبيِّ في يومِ الكِسا

    إذ طهَّر اللهُ بهِ من اشتَمَلْ

    and the Prophet's second on the Day of the Cloak,

    when God purified through it those who wrapped themselves in it.

  7. وقالَ خلّفت لكم كتابهُ

    وعِترَتي وكلُّ هذين ثِقَلْ

    And he said, 'I have left you His Book

    and my kin; each of these two is a weighty trust.

  8. فليتَ شعري كيف تَخلفونني

    في ذا وذا إذا أردت المُرْتَحَلْ

    So would that I knew how you will succeed me

    regarding this and that, when I intend to depart.'

  9. وجاء من مكّةَ والحجيجُ قد

    صاحبَهُ من كلِّ سَهلٍ وجَبَلْ

    And he came from Mecca, and the pilgrims had

    accompanied him from every plain and mountain.

  10. حتى إذا صار بخُمِّ جاءَه

    جبريلُ بالتبليغِ فيهم فنَزَلْ

    Until, when he reached Khumm, there came to him

    Gabriel, with the charge to proclaim it among them; so he alighted.

  11. وقمّ ذاك الدوحَ فاستوى على

    رَحْلٍ ونادى بعليٍّ فارتحلْ

    And he swept beneath those great trees, then took his place upon

    a saddle, and called for Ali, who mounted.

  12. وقال هنا فيكمُْ خَليفتي

    ومن عليه في الأمورِ المتَّكَلْ

    And he said, 'Here among you is my successor,

    and the one on whom reliance rests in affairs.

  13. نحن كهاتين وأوما بإصبعٍ

    من كفِّهِ عن إصبعٍ لم تَنْفَصِلْ

    We are like these two'—and he gestured with a finger

    of his hand, unseparated from another finger.

  14. لا تبتغوا بالطهرِ عنه بَدَلاً

    فليس فيكم لعليٍّ من بَدَلْ

    'Do not seek a substitute for him, the pure one,

    for there is no substitute for Ali among you.'

  15. ثم أدارَ كفَّه لِكفِّه

    يرفعُها منه إلى أعلى مَحلّ

    Then he turned his palm toward the other's palm,

    raising it from him to the highest point.

  16. فقال بايعوا له وسلِّموا الأ

    مرَ إليه واسلَموا من الزَلَلْ

    So he said, 'Pledge allegiance to him, and yield the

    authority to him, and be safe from error.

  17. ألستُ مولاكم فذا مولىً لكم

    واللهُ شاهدٌ بذا عزّ وجَلّ

    Am I not your master? Then this one is your master,

    and God is witness to this—mighty and exalted is He.

  18. يا ربِّ والِ من يوالي حَيدراً

    وعادِ مَن عاداه واخذُلْ من خَذَلْ

    O my Lord, befriend whoever befriends Haydar,

    and oppose whoever opposes him, and forsake whoever forsakes him.

  19. يا شاهدي بلّغتُ ما أنزلَهُ

    إليَّ جبريلُ وعنه لم أحُلْ

    O my Witness, I have conveyed what was sent down

    to me by Gabriel, and from it I have not swerved.'

  20. فبايَعوا وهنَّئوا وبَخْبَخوا

    والصدرُ مطويٌّ له على دَغَلْ

    So they pledged allegiance, offered congratulations, and cried, 'Bravo!'

    while the breast was folded over treachery toward him.

  21. فقلْ لمن يَنقَمُ منه ما رأى

    وقلْ لمن يعدلُ عنه لِمْ عَدَلْ

    So say to whoever resents what he saw of him,

    and ask whoever turns away from him why he turned away.