1. مشين لنا بين مِيلٍ وهِيفِ

    فقل في قناةٍ وقل في نزيفِ

    They walked before us, swaying and slender;

    so speak of a spear-shaft, and speak of a drunkard.

  2. على كلّ غصنٍ ثمارُ الشبا

    بِ من مجتنيه دواني القُطوفِ

    On every branch are the fruits of youth,

    their clusters within reach of whoever gathers them.

  3. ومن عجب الحسن أنّ الثقي

    ل منه يُدِلُّ بحمل الخفيفِ

    And among beauty's marvels is that what is heavy

    in it takes pride in carrying what is light.

  4. خليليَّ ما خُبرُ ما تُبصرا

    ن بين خلاخيلها والشُّنوفِ

    My two companions, what is the true nature of what you see

    between her anklets and earrings?

  5. سلاني به فالجمال اسمه

    ومعناه مَفسدةٌ للعفيفِ

    Ask me about it, for beauty is its name,

    and its meaning is ruin for the chaste.

  6. أمن عربيّةَ تحت الظلام

    تولُّجُ ذاك الخيالِ المطيفِ

    Is it an Arab woman, beneath the darkness,

    from whom that haunting dream-image comes stealing in?

  7. سرى عينها أو شبيهاً فكا

    د يفضحُ نوميَ بين الضيوفِ

    It came by night, her very self or a likeness, and almost

    disgraced my sleep among the guests.

  8. نعم ودعا ذكرَ عهدِ الصبا

    سيلقاه قلبي بعهدٍ ضعيفِ

    Yes, and it summoned the memory of youthful days;

    my heart will greet it with a faint remembrance.

  9. بآل عليٍّ صروفُ الزمان

    بسطنَ لساني لذمّ الصروفِ

    Time's reversals against the family of Ali

    have loosened my tongue to revile those reversals.

  10. مصابي على بعد داري بهم

    مصابُ الأليف بفقد الأليفِ

    My grief for them, though my home is far away,

    is a companion's grief at losing a companion.

  11. وليس صديقيَ غيرَ الحزين

    ليوم الحسين وغيرَ الأسوفِ

    And none is my friend but one who grieves

    for Husayn's day, none but the grief-stricken.

  12. هو الغصن كان كميناً فهبَّ

    لدى كربلاء بريحٍ عصوفِ

    He is the branch that lay hidden, then rose

    at Karbala in a raging wind.

  13. قتيلٌ به ثار غِلُّ النفوس

    كما نغر الجرحَ حكُّ القروفِ

    A slain man through whom the rancor of souls flared,

    as scratching scabs makes a wound fester,

  14. بكلّ يدٍ أمسِ قد بايعتْهُ

    وساقت له اليومَ أيدي الحتوفِ

    by every hand that yesterday pledged allegiance to him

    and today led the hands of death toward him.

  15. نسوا جدَّه عند عهدٍ قريبٍ

    وتالدَهُ مَعَ حقٍّ طريفِ

    They forgot his grandfather, though his time was still near,

    and his ancestral heritage, along with his newly acquired right.

  16. فطاروا له حاملين النِّفاقَ

    بأجنحةٍ غِشُّها في الحفيفِ

    So they flew at him, bearing hypocrisy,

    on wings with deceit in their rustling.

  17. يعزُّ عليَّ ارتقاءُ المنون

    إلى جبلٍ منك عالٍ منيفِ

    It grieves me that death should climb

    to the lofty, towering mountain that you are.

  18. ووجهك ذاك الأغرُّ التريبُ

    يُشهَّرُ وهو على الشمس موفي

    And that radiant face of yours, dust-covered,

    is put on display, though it rises above the sun,

  19. على ألعن أمره قد سعى

    بذاك الذميل وذاك الوجيفِ

    upon one most accursed in his conduct, who had hastened

    at that swift trot and that rapid gallop.

  20. وويلُ امّ مأمورِهم لو أطاع

    لقد باع جنّتَه بالطفيفِ

    And woe to the mother of their underling, if he obeyed!

    He has surely sold his paradise for a trifle.

  21. وأنت وإن دافعوك الإمامُ

    وكان أبوك برغم الأنوفِ

    And you are the Imam, though they thrust you aside,

    and your father was, despite their proud noses.

  22. لمن آيةُ الباب يومَ اليهود

    ومَن صاحبُ الجنّ يوم الخسيفِ

    Whose was the miracle of the gate on the day of the Jews,

    and who dealt with the jinn on the day of the rock-cut well?

  23. ومن جمع الدينَ في يوم بدرٍ

    وأُحْدٍ بتفريقِ تلك الصفوفِ

    And who united the faith on the day of Badr

    and Uhud by scattering those ranks,

  24. وهدّمَ في اللّه أصنامَهم

    بمرآى عيونٍ عليها عُكوفِ

    and shattered their idols for God's sake

    before eyes fixed upon them in devotion?

  25. أغير أبيك إمام الهدى

    ضياء النديِّ هزبر العزيفِ

    Was it anyone but your father, the Imam of guidance,

    the assembly's light, the lion amid the tumult?

  26. تفلَّلَ سيفٌ به ضرَّجوك

    لسوّدَ خِزياً وجوهَ السيوفِ

    May the sword with which they bloodied you be blunted;

    it has blackened the faces of swords with shame.

  27. أمرَّ بفيَّ عليك الزلالُ

    وآلم جِلدِيَ وقعُ الشُّفوفِ

    Clear, sweet water has turned bitter in my mouth over you,

    and the touch of gauzy cloth has pained my skin.

  28. أتحمِلُ فقدَك ذاك العظيمَ

    جوارحُ جسمِيَ هذا الضعيفِ

    Can that immense loss of you be borne

    by the limbs of this frail body of mine?

  29. ولهفي عليك مقالُ الخبي

    ر أنك تُبرِدُ حرّ اللهيفِ

    And my lament for you is the saying of one who knows

    that you cool the burning of the anguished.

  30. أنشرُك ما حملَ الزائرو

    ن أم المسكُ خالط تُرب الطّفُوفِ

    Is it your fragrance that the visitors carried,

    or has musk mingled with the soil of al-Tufuf?

  31. كأن ضريحك زهرُ الربي

    ع هبَّت عليه نسيمُ الخريفِ

    It is as though your tomb were spring blossoms

    over which the autumn breeze has blown.

  32. أُحبّكُمُ ما سعى طائفٌ

    وحنَّتْ مطوَّقةٌ في الهُتوفِ

    I love you all as long as a pilgrim makes his rounds

    and a ring-necked dove coos in plaintive song.

  33. وإن كنتُ من فارس فالشري

    فُ معتلِقٌ ودُّهُ بالشريفِ

    And though I am from Persia, the noble man's

    love is bound to the noble.

  34. ركبتُ على من يعاديكُمُ

    ويفسُدُ تفضيلكم بالوقوفِ

    I have ridden against those who are your enemies

    and mar your precedence by withholding judgment,

  35. سوابقَ من مدحكم لم أَهَبْ

    صُعوبةَ ريِّضِها والقَطوفِ

    on racing steeds of praise for you; I have not feared

    the difficulty of their half-trained and slow-paced mounts.

  36. تُقَطِّر غيرِيَ أصلابُها

    وتَزلَقُ أكفالُها بالرديفِ

    Their backs throw off riders other than me,

    and their rumps send the rider behind slipping off.