1. هل بعد مفترَق الأظعانِ مجتمَعُ

    أم هل زمانٌ بهم قد فات يُرتَجَعُ

    Is there reunion after the camel-litters have parted?

    Or can bygone time with them be brought back?

  2. تحمّلوا تسعُ البيداءُ ركبَهُمُ

    ويحمل القلبُ فيهم فوق ما يَسعُ

    They departed; the desert holds their caravan,

    while the heart bears for them more than it can hold.

  3. مغرِّبين هُمُ والشمسَ قد ألفوا

    ألا تغيب مغيباً حيثما طلعوا

    Westward they go; they had grown used to the sun

    never setting wherever they themselves rose.

  4. شاكين للبين أجفاناً وأفئدةً

    مفجَّعين به أمثالَ ما فَجعوا

    Suffering from separation in eyelids and hearts,

    stricken by it with grief like the grief they caused.

  5. تخطو بهم فاتراتٌ في أزمَّتها

    أعناقها تحت إكراه النوى خُضُعُ

    Languid she-camels bear them onward in their reins,

    their necks bowed beneath separation's coercion.

  6. تشتاق نعمان لا ترضى بروضته

    داراً ولو طاب مصطافٌ ومرتبَعُ

    They yearn for Nu'man, yet will not accept its meadow

    as a home, though summer retreat and spring pasture be pleasant.

  7. فداء وافين تمشي الوافياتُ بهم

    دمعٌ دمٌ وحشاً في إثرهم قِطَعُ

    A ransom for faithful ones borne by faithful she-camels:

    tears that are blood, and a heart in fragments in their wake.

  8. الليلُ بعدهُمُ كالفجر متّصلٌ

    ما شاء والنومُ مثلُ الوصل منقطِعُ

    After them, night, like dawn, stretches on

    as long as it wills; sleep, like union, is cut off.

  9. ليت الذين أصاخوا يوم صاح بهم

    داعي النوى ثوِّروا صَمّوا كما سمِعوا

    Would that those who listened when called upon by

    the herald of parting—'Rouse the mounts!'—had gone deaf as they heard.

  10. أو ليتَ ما أخذَ التوديعُ من جسدي

    قضَى عليَّ فللتعذيبِ ما يدعُ

    Or would that what farewell took from my body

    had finished me; what it leaves is only for torment.

  11. وعاذلٍ لجَّ أعصيه ويأمرني

    فيهم وأهرب منه وهو يتّبعُ

    And a persistent rebuker—I defy him, and he commands me

    concerning them; I flee from him, while he follows.

  12. يقول نفسَك فاحفظها فإن لها

    حقاً وإن علاقاتِ الهوى خدَعُ

    He says: Your soul—guard it, for it has

    a right, and love's attachments are deceptions.

  13. روّح حشاك ببَرد اليأس تسلُ به

    ما قيلَ في الحب إلا أنه طمعُ

    Refresh your heart with despair's coolness; through it you will forget.

    Nothing has been said of love except that it is craving.

  14. والدهر لونان والدنيا مقلَّبة

    الآن يعلم قلبٌ كيف يرتدعُ

    Time has two colors, and the world is ever changing.

    Now a heart knows how to restrain itself.

  15. هذي قضايا رسولِ اللّه مهمَلةٌ

    غدراً وشملُ رسول اللّه منصدِعُ

    These judgments of God's Messenger lie neglected,

    through treachery, and God's Messenger's unity is shattered.

  16. والناس للعهدِ ما لاقَوا وما قربوا

    وللخيانة ما غابوا وما شَسَعوا

    People keep the covenant while they meet and remain near,

    but turn to betrayal while absent and far away.

  17. وآلُهُ وهُمُ آل الإله وهم

    رعاة ذا الدين ضيموا بعده ورُعُوا

    And his family—who are God's family, and who are

    the guardians of this faith—were oppressed and terrorized after him.

  18. ميثاقه فيهمُ ملقىً وأمّته

    معْ من بغاهم وعاداهم له شِيعُ

    His covenant concerning them is cast aside, and his community

    stands with whoever wronged and opposed them, as his partisans.

  19. تضاع بيعتُه يومَ الغدير لهم

    بعد الرضا وتحاط الرومُ والبِيعُ

    His pledge of allegiance for them on Ghadir's day is discarded,

    after assent, while the Romans and churches are protected.

  20. مقسَّمين بأيمانٍ همُ جَذبوا

    ببوعها وبأسياف همُ طَبعوا

    Torn apart by right hands they themselves had drawn

    to their full reach, and by swords they themselves had forged.

  21. ما بين ناشرِ حبلٍ أمسِ أبرمه

    تعدُّ مسنونةً من بعده البِدعُ

    Between one unraveling a cord he twisted yesterday—

    after him, innovations are deemed established tradition—

  22. وبين مقتنصٍ بالمكر يخدعه

    عن آجلٍ عاجلٌ حلوٌ فينخدعُ

    and one who snares by guile, himself lured

    from the hereafter by sweet present gain, and so deceived.

  23. وقائل لي عليٌّ كان وارثَهُ

    بالنصِّ منه فهل أعطَوه أم منعوا

    And someone says to me: Ali was his heir,

    by his explicit designation; did they give him his due, or withhold it?

  24. فقلت كانت هَناتٌ لستُ أذكرها

    يجزي بها اللّهُ أقواماً بما صنعوا

    I replied: There were misdeeds I do not mention;

    God will requite certain people for them, for what they did.

  25. أبلغ رجالاً إذا سمَّيتهم عُرِفوا

    لهم وجوهٌ من الشحناء تُمتقعُ

    Carry word to men who are known when you name them;

    their faces grow pale with rancor.

  26. توافقوا وقناةُ الدين مائلةٌ

    فحين قامت تلاحَوا فيه واقترعوا

    They agreed while religion's lance was bent;

    once it stood upright, they quarreled over it and cast lots.

  27. أطاعَ أوّلُهُم في الغدر ثانيَهم

    وجاء ثالثُهم يقفو ويتَّبِعُ

    Their first obeyed their second in treachery,

    and their third came, tracing their steps and following.

  28. قفوا على نظرٍ في الحقّ نفرضه

    والعقلُ يفصلُ والمحجوجُ ينقطعُ

    Pause over an inquiry into right that we propose;

    reason decides, and the one refuted falls silent.

  29. بأيّ حكمٍ بنوه يتبعونكُمُ

    وفخركم أنكم صحبٌ له تَبَعُ

    By what ruling should his sons follow you,

    while your boast is that you are companions who follow him?

  30. وكيف ضاقت على الأهلين تربتُهُ

    وللأجانب من جنبيه مضطجَعُ

    How did his grave grow too narrow for his own kin,

    while strangers have a resting place on either side of him?

  31. وفيم صيّرتم الإجماعَ حجَّتَكم

    والناسُ ما اتفقوا طوعاً ولا اجتمعوا

    Why did you make consensus your proof,

    when people neither agreed willingly nor came together?

  32. أمرٌ عليٌّ بعيدٌ من مشورتِهِ

    مستكرَهٌ فيه والعبّاس يمتنعُ

    A matter from whose consultation Ali was excluded,

    coerced in it, while Abbas refused.

  33. وتدّعيه قريشٌ بالقرابة وال

    أنصارُ لا رُفُعٌ فيه ولا وُضُعُ

    Quraysh claims it through kinship, while the

    Ansar have no place in it, high or low.

  34. فأيّ خُلفٍ كخُلفٍ كان بينَكُمُ

    لولا تُلفَّقُ أخبارٌ وتُصطنَعُ

    What discord could match the discord among you,

    were reports not patched together and fabricated?

  35. واسألْهمُ يوم خَمّ بعد ما عقدوا

    له الولايةَ لِمْ خانوا ولِمْ خَلَعوا

    And ask them about Khumm's day, after they had pledged

    authority to him: why did they betray him, and why depose him?

  36. قولٌ صحيحٌ ونياتٌ بها نَغَلٌ

    لا ينفع السيفَ صَقْلٌ تحته طَبَعُ

    A sound declaration, but intentions tainted with corruption;

    polishing cannot help a sword with rust beneath it.

  37. إنكارُهم يا أميرَ المؤمنين لها

    بعد اعترافهمُ عارٌ بِهِ ادرعوا

    Their denial of it, O Commander of the Faithful,

    after admitting it is shame they have donned as armor.

  38. ونكثهم بك ميلاً عن وصيّتهم

    شرعٌ لعمرك ثانٍ بعده شرعوا

    Their betrayal of you, turning away from their charge,

    was, by your life, a second law they instituted after him.

  39. تركتَ أمراً ولو طالبته لدرتْ

    معاطسٌ راغمته كيف تُجتدَعُ

    You relinquished a claim; had you demanded it, they would have learned—

    the noses that defied it—how they are cut off.

  40. صبرت تحفظ أمرَ اللّه ما اطرحوا

    ذَبّاً عن الدين فاستيقظت إذ هجعوا

    You endured, preserving God's command, which they cast aside,

    in defense of the faith; you awoke while they slept.

  41. ليشرقنّ بحلو اليوم مُرّ غدٍ

    إذا حصدت لهم في الحشر ما زرعوا

    Tomorrow's bitterness will surely make them choke on today's sweetness,

    when you reap for them at the Gathering what they sowed.

  42. جاهدتُ فيك بقولي يوم تختصم ال

    أبطالُ إذ فات سيفي يومَ تمتصِعُ

    I strove for you with my words on the day the

    champions contend, since my sword missed the day they clashed.

  43. إن اللسانَ لوصَّالٌ إلى طُرُقٍ

    في القلب لا تهتديها الذُّبَّلُ الشُّرُعُ

    The tongue surely reaches paths

    within the heart that slender, leveled lances cannot find.

  44. آبايَ في فارس والدين دينُكُمُ

    حقاً لقد طاب لي أُسٌّ ومرتبَعُ

    My forefathers are in Persia, and my faith is your faith;

    truly, my foundation and spring pasture are pleasing to me.

  45. مازلت مذ يَفعتْ سنّي ألوذ بكم

    حتى محا حقُّكم شكِّي وأنتجعُ

    Ever since I came of age, I have never ceased seeking refuge in you,

    until your rightful claim erased my doubt; I seek pasture with you.

  46. وقد مضتْ فُرُطاتٌ إن كفلتَ بها

    فرّقتُ عن صُحفِي البأس الذي جمعوا

    Lapses have passed; if you stand surety for them,

    I shall disperse from my scrolls the torment they amassed.

  47. سلمان فيها شفيعي وهو منك إذا ال

    آباء عندك في أبنائهم شفعوا

    Salman is my intercessor in this; he is one of yours when the

    fathers intercede with you for their sons.

  48. فكن بها منقذاً من هول مطَّلَعي

    غداً وأنت من الأعراف مطَّلِعُ

    So, regarding them, be my deliverer from the terror of my rising

    tomorrow, as you look down from the Heights.

  49. سوَّلتُ نفسي غروراً إن ضمنتُ لها

    أني بذخرٍ سوى حبِّيك أنتفعُ

    I would delude my soul with false hope if I assured it

    that I could benefit from any treasure other than my love for you.