1. سَقى الغيثُ يومَ النّوى تُرْبَهُ

    فقدْ كان يومَ النّدى تِرْبَهُ

    May the rain water his grave's soil on the day of parting,

    for, on the day of bounty, he was its peer.

  2. وكان حُساماً لحَرْبِ العِدَى

    ففلَّتْ أكُفُّ الرّدَى غرْبَهُ

    And he was a keen sword for battle against the foes,

    but the hands of death blunted his edge.

  3. وكان غَماماً يُحيّي الوجودَ

    ويُحْيي فقدْ منعَتْ سَكْبَهُ

    And he was a cloud that greeted all existence

    and gave it life; yet they withheld his downpour.

  4. وكان سماءً لنورِ الهُدَى

    فقدْ قلَبَتْ للثّرى قُطْبَهُ

    And he was a sky for the light of guidance,

    yet they overturned his pole into the dust.

  5. وكان أماناً لمنْ أمَّهُ

    فَما بالها رَوَّعَتْ سِرْبَهُ

    And he was safety for whoever sought him;

    why, then, did they terrify his flock?

  6. وكان لقُصّادِهِ موْرِداً

    فأمْسى وقد كدّرَتْ شِرْبَهُ

    And he was a watering-place for those who sought him;

    then he reached evening, his share of water muddied.

  7. وكان لدولةِ مَولى المُلوكِ

    مُعِزّاً تودُّ العُلَى قُرْبَهُ

    And he was, for the realm of the lord of kings,

    a giver of honor; the heights longed for his nearness.

  8. وكان تهابُ العِدَى بطْشَهُ

    فما للّيالي أتَتْ حربَهُ

    And his foes would dread his crushing might;

    why, then, did the nights wage war on him?

  9. رَسا علَماً للهُدَى والنّدى

    فأضحى وقد زَلْزلَتْ شِعْبَهُ

    He stood firm, a mountain of guidance and bounty;

    then he reached morning, his ravine shaken.

  10. هَوى نجْمُهُ من سَماءِ العُلَى

    مُنيراً فكان الثّرى غرْبَهُ

    His star fell from the heaven of glory,

    shining; the dust became its setting-place.

  11. فلوْ أنصَفَ الأفْقُ منْ بعْدِما

    هَوى لمْ يَبتْ مُطْلِعاً شهبَهُ

    Had the horizon been just, after

    that fall it would not have spent the night raising its bright stars.

  12. ولوْ أنصفَ الغيثُ حَيّا حِمَى

    فتىً لم يزَل مُرْسِلاً سُحْبَهُ

    And had the rain been just, it would have saluted the haven

    of a youth who never ceased sending forth his clouds.

  13. فَيا لضريحٍ ثوَى عندَهُ

    غَداة أناخَ به رَكْبَهُ

    Oh, what a tomb, beside which he came to rest,

    on the morning he made his caravan kneel there!

  14. هو القبْرُ ضُمِّنَ مَنْ لم يزَلْ

    منَ القصرِ لا يرْتَضي رحْبَهُ

    It is the grave, enclosing one who never

    found the palace's breadth sufficient.

  15. أبَعْدَ عليٍّ تَرى الدّهْرَ قدْ

    زَها مُظْهِراً في الوَرى عُجْبَهُ

    After Ali, do you see Time

    grown proud, flaunting its conceit among mankind?

  16. وفَى للّيالي فخانَتْ عُلاهُ

    وأعْتَبَها فارتَضَتْ عتْبَهُ

    He kept faith with the nights, but they betrayed his lofty rank;

    he appeased them, yet they welcomed his reproach.

  17. فسَلْ بالحِمى عنْ عليٍّ وقدْ

    حَماها لِما اعْتَمدَتْ سَلْبَهُ

    Ask in the sanctuary about Ali, who had

    defended it—why did they seek to despoil him?

  18. وجاءَتْ بكُل أبيِّ القِيادِ

    فذلّلَ من عزْمِهِ صَعْبَهُ

    And they brought all that resisted the reins;

    he tamed its unruliness through his resolve.

  19. وأبْرأَها إذ شكَتْ مُعْضِلاً

    من الخَطْبِ والتَمسَتْ طِبَّهُ

    And he healed them when they complained of an intractable

    calamity and sought his remedy.

  20. هوَ المُلْكُ قد نوّمَتْ جَفْنَهُ

    هوَ العزُّ قد قلّبَتْ قلْبَهُ

    He was kingship; they lulled his eyelid to sleep.

    He was glory; they overturned his heart.

  21. فهذي الإمارَةُ تُبْدي النّحيبَ

    عليْهِ غَداةَ قضَى نحبَهُ

    So this emirate gives voice to its sobbing

    for him, on the morning he met his death:

  22. فمِن أعْيُنٍ فقدَتْ حُسْنَهُ

    ومِن أضْلُعٍ ضُمِّنَتْ حُبَّهُ

    from eyes bereft of his beauty,

    and from ribs that held love for him.

  23. أصِنْوَ الإمامِ الهُمامِ الذي

    إذا عنّ أمْرٌ كَفَى خطْبَهُ

    O brother of the valiant imam, who,

    whenever a matter arose, was equal to its crisis—

  24. لقد نهَبَتْكَ يدُ الموْتِ منْ

    حِمَى مَن تَهابُ العِدَى نهْبَهُ

    the hand of death has indeed plundered you from

    the sanctuary of one whose plundering the foes dread.

  25. فَما اعْتَمَدَ الصّبْر من بعْدِها

    سوى ليُطيعَ بهِ ربَّهُ

    So, after that, he embraced patience only

    to obey his Lord through it.

  26. سَقاك من الغيْثِ ما قدْ حَكى

    ثناؤكَ زَهْرَ الرُبَى غِبَّهُ

    May you be watered by the rain after which

    praise of you has resembled the flowers of the hills.

  27. فكمْ موْرِدٍ لمْ تزلْ في الجهادِ

    تَعافُ علَى ظمأٍ شُرْبَهُ

    How many a watering-place, in jihad, you kept

    refusing to drink from, despite your thirst,

  28. إلى أن تُبلّغَ دينَ الهُدَى

    لدى المُلْتَقى في العِدَى إرْبَهُ

    until you brought the faith of guidance

    to its goal against the foes at the clash of battle!

  29. لكَ اللهُ كمْ ذا تلقّيْتَهُمْ

    فأيّدْتَ في حرْبِهِمْ حِزْبَهُ

    God be with you! How often you faced them,

    and strengthened His party in war against them!

  30. سَلوا جبَلَ الفتْحِ عن فتْحِهِ

    وقد أمّل المعتَدي غَصْبَهُ

    Ask Mount al-Fath about its conquest,

    when the aggressor had hoped to seize it.

  31. سَلوا في شُقورَةَ أهلَ الجِهادِ

    وقد سَلّ في بابِها عَضْبَهُ

    Ask the warriors of jihad in Shaqura,

    when he drew his keen sword at its gate.

  32. قضَى اللهُ أن نالَ أقصى العُلى

    وها هُوَ ذا قدْ قضَى نحبَهُ

    God decreed that he attain the utmost heights of glory,

    and now, behold, he has met his death,

  33. ليُسْكِنَهُ جنّةً أُزْلِفَتْ

    وأنزَلَ في وصْفِها كُتْبَهُ

    to lodge him in a Garden brought near;

    and He sent down His scriptures describing it.

  34. فكمْ رَحَماتٍ حمتْ لَحْدَهُ

    وكم حسناتٍ محَتْ ذنْبَهُ

    How many mercies have guarded his burial niche,

    and how many good deeds have erased his sin!