1. يا عَينُ لا للغَضَا ولا الكُثُبِ

    بُكَا الرَّزَايا سِوى بُكا الطّرَبِ

    O eye, weep not for the ghada trees or the dunes;

    weeping for calamities is unlike weeping for rapture.

  2. جُودِي وجِدِّي بملءِ جَفْنِكِ ثُ

    مَّ احْتفِلي بالدُّموعِ وانْكسبي

    Pour freely, strive to fill your eyelid, then

    lavish tears and pour yourself out.

  3. يا عينُ في كَرْبُلاَ مَقَابِرُ قَدْ

    تَرَكْنَ قَلبي مَقَابرَ الكُرَبِ

    O eye, in Karbala are graves that have

    made my heart a graveyard of sorrows.

  4. مَقابرٌ تحتَها مَنابِرُ مِنْ

    عِلْمٍ وحِلْمٍ ومَنْظَرٍ عَجَبِ

    Graves beneath which lie pulpits of

    learning and forbearance, and a wondrous presence—

  5. مِنَ البَهَاليلِ آلِ فاطمةٍ

    أَهْلِ المعالي والسّادةِ النُّجُبِ

    among the noble chiefs, the family of Fatimah,

    people of lofty honors, and noble-born lords.

  6. كَمْ شَرِقَتْ مِنْهُمُ السُّيُوفُ وكَمْ

    رُوِّيَتِ الأَرْضُ مِنْ دَمٍ سَرِبِ

    How often the swords choked on their blood, and how often

    the earth was drenched with streaming blood.

  7. نَفْسي فِداءٌ لَكُمْ ومَنْ لَكُمُ

    نَفْسي وأُمِّي وأُسْرَتي وأَبي

    My soul is a ransom for you and for those who are yours—

    my soul, my mother, my family, and my father.

  8. لا تَبْعَدُوا يا بَني النّبِيِّ على

    أَنْ قَد بَعُدْتُمْ والدُّهْرُ ذُو نُوَبِ

    May you not be far, O sons of the Prophet, although

    you have gone far away; Time is full of calamities.

  9. يا نَفْسُ لا تَسْأَمِيْ ولا تَضيقِي

    وَارْسِي على الخَطْبِ رَسْوَةَ الهُضُبِ

    O soul, do not grow weary or lose heart;

    stand firm against calamity with the firmness of high hills.

  10. صُوني شُعَاعَ الضَّمير واسْتَشْعِرِي

    الصَّبْرَ وحُسْنَ العَزَاءِ واحْتَسِبي

    Guard your heart's radiance, and clothe yourself in

    patience and gracious consolation, seeking divine reward.

  11. فالخَلْقُ في الأرضِ يَعْجَلُونَ ومَوْ

    لاكِ على تَوْأَدٍ ومُرْتَقَبِ

    For creatures on earth are hasty, while your Lord

    acts with deliberation and watchfulness.

  12. لابُدَّ أَنْ يُحْشَرَ القتيلُ وأَنْ

    يُسْأَلَ ذُو قَتْلِهِ عَنِ السّبَبِ

    The slain must be gathered for judgment, and

    the one who killed him be questioned about the reason.

  13. فالوَيْلُ والنّارُ والثُّبُورُ لِمَنْ

    قَدْ أَسْلَموهُ لِلْجَمْرِ واللّهَبِ

    So woe, fire, and perdition to those

    who handed him over to embers and flame.

  14. يا صَفْوَةَ اللّهِ في خَلائقه

    وأَكْرَمَ الأَعْجَمِينَ والعَربِ

    O God's chosen among His creatures,

    and noblest of non-Arabs and Arabs,

  15. أَنْتُمْ بُدُورُ الهُدَى وأَنْجُمُهُ

    وَدَوّحَةُ المَكْرُماتِ والحَسَبِ

    you are guidance's full moons and its stars,

    and the spreading tree of noble deeds and lineage,

  16. وسَاسَةُ الحَوْضِ يَوْمَ لا نَهَلٌ

    لِمُورِدِيكُمْ مَوارِدَ العَطَبِ

    and keepers of the Pool, on the day there is no draught

    for those who led you to the watering places of destruction.

  17. فَكّرْتُ فيكُمْ وفي المُصَابِ فَما انْ

    فَكَ فُؤادي يَعُومُ في عَجَبِ

    I thought of you and the calamity, and never

    has my heart ceased to swim in wonder.

  18. ما زِلْتُمُ في الحياةِ بَيْنهُمُ

    بَيْنَ قَتيلٍ وبَيْنَ مُسْتَلَبِ

    Throughout your lives among them, you were

    either slain or dispossessed.

  19. قَدْ كانَ في هَجْرِكُمْ رِضى بِكُمُ

    وكَمْ رِضىً مُشْرَجٌ على غَضَبِ

    There was satisfaction with you even in shunning you;

    and how often satisfaction is laced over anger.

  20. حَتَّى إذا أَوْدَعَ النّبِيُّ شَجاً

    قَيْدَ لَهَاةِ القَصَاقِصِ الحَرِبِ

    Until, when the Prophet lodged a choking bone

    within reach of the mighty, enraged lion's uvula,

  21. مَع بَعِيدَيْنِ أَحْرَزَا نَسَباً

    مَعْ بُعْدِ دارٍ عَنْ ذلكَ النَّسَبِ

    with two distant men who secured kinship,

    despite a household far removed from that lineage.

  22. ما كانَ تَيْمٌ لهاشِمٍ بأَخٍ

    ولا عَدِيٌّ لأحْمَدٍ بَأَبِ

    Taym was no brother to Hashim,

    nor was Adi a father to Ahmad;

  23. لكنْ حَديثا عَداوَةٍ وقِلىً

    تَهَوَّرَا في غيابةِ الشُّقُبِ

    but two men newly steeped in enmity and hatred

    plunged into the dark depths of the clefts.

  24. قاما بِدَعْوى في الظُّلْمِ غالبةٍ

    وحُجّةٍ جَزْلَةٍ مِنَ الكَذِبِ

    They rose with a claim triumphant in injustice,

    and a weighty argument made of lies.

  25. مِنْ ثَمَّ أَوْصى بهِ نَبِيُّكُمُ

    نَصَّاً فأَبْدَى عَداوةَ الكَلِبِ

    Hence your Prophet gave instructions concerning him

    explicitly, exposing the hostility of the rabid one.

  26. ومِنْ هناكَ انْبَرَى الزَّمانُ لهمْ

    بعدَ الْتِياطٍ بغارِبٍ جَشِبِ

    And from there Time came forth against them,

    after clinging to a rugged crest.

  27. لا تَسْلُقوني بِحَدِّ أَلْسُنِكُمْ

    ما أَرَبُ الظّالمينَ مِنْ أَرَبِي

    Do not lash me with your tongues' sharp edges;

    the wrongdoers' aim is no part of mine.

  28. إِنّا إلى اللّهِ راجِعونَ على

    سَهْوِ اللّيالي وغَفْلَةِ النُّوبِ

    Truly, to God we return, despite

    the nights' heedlessness and calamities' neglect.

  29. غَدَا عَلِيٌّ ورُبَّ مُنْقَلَبٍ

    أَشْأَمَ قَدْ عادَ غيرَ مُنْقَلَبِ

    Ali went forth; and many a return

    of evil omen has become no return at all.

  30. فاغْتَرَّهُ السّيْفُ وهو خادِمُهُ

    مَتَى يُهِبْ في الوَغَى بهِ يُجِبِ

    Then the sword caught him unawares, though it was his servant:

    whenever he called to it in battle, it answered.

  31. أَوْدَى ولَوْ مَدَّ عَيْنَهُ أَسَدَ الغا

    بِ لناجى السِّرْحَانَ في الهَرَبِ

    He perished; had he cast his gaze upon the forest's lion,

    it would have whispered to the wolf in flight.

  32. يا طُولَ حُزْني ولَوْعَتي وتَبا

    رِيحي ويا حَسْرَتي ويا كُرَبي

    O how long my sorrow, my burning anguish, and my torments!

    O my heartbreak, O my sorrows!

  33. لِهَوْلِ يَوْمٍ تَقَلّصَ العِلْمُ والدِّ

    ينُ بِثَغْريهما عَنِ الشّنَبِ

    For the horror of a day when learning and religion recoiled,

    their mouths drawn back from their teeth's cool sweetness.

  34. ذَلِكَ يَوْمٌ لَمْ تَرْمِ جَائحَةٌ

    بِمِثْلِهِ الْمُصْطَفَى ولَمْ تُصِبِ

    That was a day—no calamity had ever hurled

    its like at the Chosen One, nor struck him so.

  35. يَوْمٌ أصابَ الضُّحَى بِظُلْمَتِهِ

    وقَنّعَ الشّمْسَ مِنْ دُجَى الغُهَبِ

    A day that struck the forenoon with its darkness,

    and veiled the sun in pitch-black gloom.

  36. وغَادَرَ المُعْوِلاتِ مِنْ هاشمِ الخَ

    يْرِ حَيارَى مَهْتُوكَةَ الحُجُبِ

    And left the wailing women of Hashim the Good

    bewildered, their veils torn away,

  37. تَمْرِي عُيُوناً على أَبِي حَسَنٍ

    مَحْفُوفَةً بالكُلُومِ والنُّدَبِ

    drawing tears from eyes over Abu Hasan,

    ringed with wounds and scars.

  38. تَغْمُرُ رَبْعَ الهُمُومِ أَعْيُنُها

    بالدَّمْعِ حُزْناً لِرَبْعِها الخَرِبِ

    Their eyes flood the abode of sorrows

    with tears, mourning their ruined dwelling.

  39. تَئِنُّ والنّفْسُ تَسْتَديرُ بهَا

    رَحى مِنَ الموتِ مُرَّةُ القطبِ

    They moan, while around the soul there turns

    a millstone of death with a bitter axle.

  40. لَهْفي لذاكَ الرُّواءِ أَمْ ذَلِكَ الرَّ

    أْيِ وتِلْكَ الأَنْباءِ والخطبِ

    Alas for that handsome presence—or that judgment,

    and those tidings and sermons!

  41. يا سَيِّدَ الأَوْصِياءِ والعاليَ ال

    حجّةِ والمُرْتَضَى وذَا الرُّتَب

    O master of the legatees, exalted in

    proof, al-Murtada, possessor of ranks,

  42. إِنْ يَسْرِ جَيْشُ الهُمُومِ مِنْكَ إلى

    شَمْسِ مِنىً والمَقَامِ والحُجُبِ

    if an army of sorrows marches from you to

    the sun of Mina, the Station, and the veils,

  43. فَرُبّما تَقْعَصُ الكُمَاةَ بأَقْ

    دامِكَ قَعْصاً يُجْثي على الرُّكَبِ

    how often you struck armored champions dead with your

    feet, a killing stroke that brought them to their knees!

  44. وَرُبَّ مُقْوَرَّةٍ مُلَمْلَمَةٍ

    في عارِضٍ للحِمَامِ مُنْسَكِبِ

    And many a rounded, close-packed host,

    amid a cloud pouring out death,

  45. فَلَلْتَ أَرْجاءَها وجَحْفَلَها

    بِذِي صِقَالٍ كَوامِضِ الشُّهُبِ

    you shattered its flanks and its mighty army

    with a polished blade like the flash of meteors,

  46. أَوْ أَسْمَرِ الصَّدْرِ أَصْفَرٍ أَزْرَقِ الرَّ

    أْسِ وإِنْ كانَ أَحْمَرَ الحَلَبِ

    or a brown-breasted, yellow spear with a blue

    head, though the milk it drew was red.

  47. أَوْدَى عَلِيٌّ صَلّى على رُوحِهِ

    اللّهُ صَلاةً طويلةَ الدَّأَبِ

    Ali has perished; may his soul be blessed

    by God with long, unceasing blessings.

  48. وكُلُّ نَفْسٍ لحَيْنِها سَبَبٌ

    يَسْرِي إِليها كَهَيْئَةِ اللّعِبِ

    And every soul has a cause of its death

    that steals toward it in the guise of play.

  49. والنّاسُ بالغَيْبِ يَرْجُمُونَ وما

    خِلْتُهُمُ يَرْجُمُونَ عَنْ كَثَبِ

    People hurl guesses at the unseen, and I never

    thought they hurled them from close at hand.

  50. وفي غَدٍ فاعْلَمَنْ لِقَاؤُهُمُ

    فإنّهم يَرْقُبُونَ فارْتَقِبِ

    And tomorrow, know it well, comes the meeting with them;

    for they watch and wait, so watch and wait.