صوبت وصعدت النظرا

في الدار فلم أعرف أثرا

I lowered and raised my gaze

in the dwelling, but recognized no trace.

طلل عاف رسم خافٍ

أمسى للحادث مؤتمرا

An effaced ruin, an obscured outline,

now obedient to calamity.

لا غرو إذا عفيت فلقد

أمست لصروف الدهر قرى

No wonder if it was effaced, for indeed

it became a feast for time's vicissitudes,

ومضيف رياح أربعةٍ

تمتاز صعيداً أو مدرا

and a lodging for the four winds,

which sift earth or clods.

أهدت لجوانبها سحباً

عبرى تهمي أبداً مطرا

They brought clouds to its sides,

tearful, forever pouring rain.

أنعى أحجاراً هامدةً

أو يجدي أن أنعى حجرا

I lament lifeless stones—

but does it help to lament a stone?

بانوا يا طرف فلا سهر

يجفوك ولا يدنوك كرى

They have departed, O eye; no sleeplessness

forsakes you, and no slumber draws near you.

وصلو هجروا والدهر كذا

أن من بوصل شج هجرا

They joined us, then deserted us; such is time:

if it grants union, it wounds with separation.

ولمية أطلال درست

صارت عبراً لمن اعتبرا

And Mayya has ruins worn away,

now lessons for whoever takes heed,

وأثاف واجدة وجدي

فكأن البين لهن برى

and hearthstones feeling my grief,

as though separation had whittled them away.

ظعنوا وأقامت نائحة

نوحي بثرى رسم دثرا

They journeyed away, and a mourner remained,

voicing my lament on the soil of an effaced trace.

أبكي وأناشدها عمن

قضوا دهراً منها وطرا

I weep and implore it about those

who, for an age, fulfilled their desires in it.

يا دار قطينك أين سرى

فيعيد صداها أين سرى

O dwelling, where did your residents travel by night?

Its echo repeats: “Where did they travel by night?”

خشعت للبين فلست ترى

إلا الأرزاء بها زمرا

It bowed to separation, so you see

nothing there but calamities in throngs.

فعلمت بأن مؤملها

ألوي وتحققت الخبرا

Then I learned that its hoped-for one

had been carried off, and I confirmed the news.

هو جعفرها هو مفخرها

هو أكبرها قدراً خطرا

He is its Ja'far, its pride;

he is its greatest in rank and eminence.

غصن من هاشم دوحته

يجني شرف العليا ثمرا

A branch whose great tree is Hashim,

harvesting exalted honor as fruit.

غيث ليث للدهر قذاً

يرتاع الموت متى ذكرا

A raincloud, a lion, a mote in time's eye—

death recoils whenever he is mentioned.

ويصيب السر حتى نزلت

بهما فأجال بها نظرا

And strikes the secret, until it descended [wording unclear]

upon them both; then he cast a glance upon it.

نظم الراثون له شعراً

وأرامل ناثرة شعرا

The elegists composed verses for him,

while widows scattered their hair.

يا مرتحلاً عنا فلكم

أوهيت قوى وفصمت عرا

O you who departed from us, how many

strengths you weakened, bonds you severed!

من بعدك لي درء وزر

عضط اجتاز به الخطرا

Who after you is my shield, my refuge,

my support [reading uncertain], with which I brave danger?

فبرغمي أن أمسيت وما

غير الأحجار ترى سمرا

Against my will you came to evening, with

no companions for night-talk but stones.

وبعين الدين وأهل الدين

تبيت فريداً رهن ثرى

And under the gaze of faith and its people,

you spend the night alone, captive to earth.

وبرغم المجد منامك في

لحد قد وسدت الحجرا

And despite glory, your sleeping-place is in

a grave-niche, with stone laid as your pillow.

آهاً أو تثلجني آهاً

لشج ناء مضني سفرا

Ah! But can an “ah” soothe me

for a grieving man far away, worn by travel,

ومدير الطرف إلى أهليه

وليس يرى منهم بشرا

turning his gaze toward his kin,

yet seeing not a soul among them?

يا مسعر وجدي من داوى

داءً في أحشاك استعرا

O kindler of my grief, who treated

the sickness that blazed in your innards?

بك والأقدار ممهدةً

علقت ناباً نشبت ظفرا

Upon you, while the fates lay poised,

they fastened a fang and sank a claw.

وأمان هاتفة عصفت

بمنايا تختلس العمرا

And calling hopes were swept away

by deaths that steal one's lifetime.

أجل ناداك لمسقطه

ولواثاً قلت لما ظفرا

A destined term summoned you to its killing-ground,

and you said, “A respite!” when it prevailed.

لهفي أسفي أو يجديني

أسفي في محتوم صدرا

My anguish, my sorrow! But can it help me—

my sorrow—against a decree already issued?

من ذا نشكوه ليلهفه

كأساً يتجرعه كدرا

To whom can we complain, to make him grieve

over a cup he drinks, murky with dregs?

من بات أنيسك حيث هو

يت نديمك وهناً أو سحرا

Who kept you company where you

fell—your companion late at night or before dawn?

لم لا واسيتك مضطهداً

لم لا واسيتك مفتكرا

Why did I not comfort you when oppressed?

Why did I not console you when deep in thought?

لم لا جاوبت أنينك من

صدعاً للغربة منكسرا

Why did I not answer your groaning—

you, rent by estrangement and broken?

لم لا عالجتك معتلاً

لملا شاهدتك محتضرا

Why did I not tend you when ailing?

Why did I not witness you dying?

حتى واقى نبأ أوهى

جلدي واقتاد لي السهرا

Until news arrived that weakened

my fortitude and dragged sleeplessness upon me,

وأصاب حشاي بقارعةٍ

توري وجداً ترمي شررا

and struck my heart with a calamity

kindling anguish and flinging sparks.

للَه ضريحك حيث حوى

طوداً مجداً بحراً زخرا

To God belongs your tomb, which holds

a mountain, glory, a surging sea;

علماً عملاً حزماً كرماً

شهماً شيماً حلماً بهرا

knowledge, deeds, resolve, generosity;

a gallant man, virtues, dazzling forbearance;

أدباً عذباً حسباً نسباً

عضباً للحادث مدخرا

sweet refinement, ancestral honor, lineage;

a keen blade held in reserve against calamity;

خلقاً كالكأس برقته

والمسك بنفحته عطرا

character like a cup in its delicacy,

and like musk, fragrant in its wafting scent;

وإماماً عند بلاغته

وحساماً في الهيجا ذكرا

and an imam in his eloquence,

and a virile sword in battle;

وشقاشق ناطقة هدرت

أزرت بالفحل إذا هدرا

and eloquent throat-sacs that roared,

putting the stallion camel to shame when it roared.

قد كنت ضميارص مرتفعاً

للعليا أبرز فاستترا

You had been a lofty [unclear word],

brought forth toward the heights, then hidden;

أو عقد جمان خاف علي

ه الدهر فاسكته الحفرا

or a necklace of pearls, for which

time feared; then the grave-pits silenced it.

يا من يرتاد حفيرته

تدري بفؤادي قد قبرا

O you who visit his grave,

do you know he was buried in my heart?

هو روض في فلك فترى

غصناً غضاً وترى قمرا

It is a garden in a heavenly sphere: you see

a tender branch, and you see a moon.

لكن لا لهف عليك فقد

جاورت مليكاً مقتدرا

Yet no grief for you, for you have

dwelt beside an all-powerful Sovereign.

لك عهد في عنقي ما عشت

أبث مراثيك الغررا

You have a pledge upon my neck, as long as I live:

I shall spread your radiant elegies.

وهراك ترصعه عيناي

عقيقاً أحمر او دررا

And my eyes will inlay your soil [reading uncertain]

with red agate or pearls.

أصلت الحق نهجت الصدق

بماذا ترثيك الشعرا

You established truth; you followed honesty's path.

With what can poets elegize you?

قسماً بالبيت ورب البيت

ومن قد لبى معتمرا

An oath by the House and the Lord of the House,

and by those who answered the call while performing 'umrah:

مهدي الخلق جميل الخلق

رتاج الحق ربيع قرى

guide of creation, beautiful in character,

gateway of truth, springtime of hospitality,

من قوم هم حجج المعبود

على من آمن أو كفرا

from a people who are the Worshipped One's proofs

before whoever believes or disbelieves.

قوم نصبوا لفخارهم

حججاً من نورهم غررا

A people who erected, for their glory,

radiant proofs drawn from their light.

صبراً فاللَه تعالى غير

مضيع أجر من اصطبرا

Be patient: God Most High does not

squander the reward of those who persevere.

كن بالسلف الماضي وبما

لاقت آباؤك معتبرا

Take heed of your departed forebears, and of what

your fathers endured.

طالت شكوانا من زمن

أن رمت له سلماً مكرا

Our complaints have long been against an age

that schemes if you seek peace with it,

وتوائب ذهرٍ لا تبقي

أحداً في الأرض ولن تذرا

and the calamities of time spare

no one on earth, and will leave none.

قالوا رزء أعطاك حشا

قرحي وأساءت مبتدرا

They said: A calamity has given you a heart

wounded, and done harm, in haste [wording unclear].

قم أرخ قلت لكم بدر

بجوار الباقر قد قبرا

Rise, record the date! I told you all: A full moon

has been buried beside al-Baqir.