قد براها جذب البرى والأزمة

وثناها طول السرى وهي رمة

The tug of nose-rings and reins has worn her down,

and long night travel has bent her, leaving a wasted frame.

وطواها على الطوى قطعها البيد

وإنهاء مهمه بعد مهمه

Crossing deserts on an empty belly has wasted her,

and traversing wilderness after wilderness.

وكواها حر الهواجر لو لم

تطفه من هو اللقاء بنسمه

Noonday heat would have seared her, had she not

quenched it with a breeze of yearning for the meeting.

وهدادها الجوى وقد جازت الطرق

وساق الثرى الدليل وشمه

Longing guided her after she had passed beyond the roads,

and the guide tasted the earth and smelled it.

فغدت كالقسى ضمراً رمى السير

بمن فوقها إلى البيد سهمه

She grew lean as a bow; the journey shot

its arrow—whoever rode her—into the deserts.

فاكفاهم سوقها وتأملها

تجدها وهي الفتية همه

Spare her the strain of being driven, and look at her:

you will find her, though young, an aged crone,

طول سير وعرض ففر فان تعنق

بها في المسير فهو التتمه

from long travel and wide wilderness; if you quicken

her pace upon the road, that will be the finishing stroke.

خلها واشتياقها فهو كاف

همه الشوق لا تقاس بهمه

Leave her to her yearning: it is enough;

longing's resolve cannot be measured against any other.

وأرحها ففي غد توجب الحق

بأوفى عهد وآكد حرمه

And let her rest: tomorrow her claim will be binding,

with the truest pledge and the strongest sacred bond.

فربتنا من الديار فأضحت

ولها عندنا أيادي جمه

She brought us close to the dwellings, and now

we owe her countless favors.

أنا آليت أن بلغت بها البيت

لئمت الأخفاف منهن ثمة

I swore that, if I reached the House upon her,

I would kiss those camels' padded feet there.

فوفت بالذي عليها ومثلي

من وفا بالذي لها وأتمه

She fulfilled what she owed; a man like me

honors what is owed her and fulfills it completely.

حمتنا إلى حمى من غدونا

بهداه بين الورى خير أمه

She bore us to the sanctuary of him through whom we became,

by his guidance, the best community among humankind:

أشرف العالمين طراً وأوفا

هم بعهد وأوثق الخلق ذمه

the noblest of all beings, and the most faithful

of them to a covenant, the firmest of all in his pledge;

خاتم المرسلين أرسله الله

إلى سائر البرية رحمة

the Seal of the Messengers, whom God sent

as a mercy to all creation.

كم جلا شرعه ونور هداه

عن قلوب الأنام غماً وغمة

How often his law and the light of his guidance dispelled

grief and gloom from human hearts!

وتولت بنور أيامه الغر

ليالي الضلالة المدلهمة

Before the light of his radiant days there fled

the pitch-dark nights of error.

هو للمرتجين غيث واللاجين

غوث وللأرامل عصمه

He is rain for those who hope, and for those seeking refuge,

succor; for widows, a protecting refuge.

أخذ الله عهده في الذي آتى

النبيين من كتاب وحكمه

God took a pledge concerning him in what He gave

the prophets of scripture and wisdom.

صاحب المعجزات حن إليه الجزع

شوقاً حتى أتاه وضمه

The worker of miracles: the tree-trunk yearned for him

in longing, until he came to it and embraced it.

وكذاك الذراع ناجاه إذا أودع

فيه العدو بالغل سمه

Likewise, the foreleg spoke to him when

an enemy put his poison within it out of malice.

فعفا عن جانبيه صفحاً وابدى

دون ما يوجب العقوبة حلمه

He pardoned his offender, forgivingly, and showed

his forbearance in the face of what deserved punishment.

وكذا جاءه عمير عدوا

يبتغي الفتك مضمراً فيه عزمه

Likewise, Umayr came to him as an enemy,

seeking murder, concealing his resolve to do it.

فحكى ذلك الذي كان عند الحجر

منه وسام صفوان كتمه

He recounted what had happened beside the Hijr

on his part, which Safwan had charged him to conceal.

وأراه ما كان يفعل بالسيف

الذي كان قد سقاه وسمه

He showed him what he meant to do with the sword

which he had tempered and poisoned.

فانثنى مؤمناً وعادت عليه

نقمة الكفر بالهدى وهي نعمة

He returned a believer, and for him

the curse of unbelief became, through guidance, a blessing.

وكذا أشبع المنين بأقراص

شعير لجابر مع بهمه

Likewise, he fed hundreds to satiety with loaves

of Jabir's barley, together with his young livestock.

فاكتفوا كلهم وعادوا وما أودوا

بما في تنوره والبرمة

All had enough and returned, without exhausting

what was in his oven and cooking-pot.

قام بالدين مفرداً لايجابى

لو رآه حيا أباه وأمه

He upheld the faith alone, showing no favoritism,

even had he seen his father and mother alive.

لم يهب في الإنذار أمة كفر

لا ولم يخش من بسؤ أمه

In giving warning, he feared no community of unbelief,

no, nor anyone who approached him with ill intent.

حارب الخلق لا يرجى امرؤ قط

بغير افسلام يوماً سلمه

He fought mankind; no man could ever hope

for peace from him on any day without Islam.

ثم لما قام الصحاب لديه

كان يلقي بها الأمور المهمة

Then, when the Companions stood beside him,

he would face momentous affairs with their aid.

ليت شعري هل في المسير إليه

قبل موتي قضى الله لي قسمه

Would that I knew whether, in journeying to him,

before my death, God has allotted me a share.

فلعلي أتيه في أمر ديني

قاصداً جاهه ففي القصد حرمه

Perhaps I may come to him concerning my faith,

seeking his high standing, for such intent has sanctity.

ولعلي ألقاه في موقف الحشر

فلم يبق بي من الذنب وصمه

Perhaps I may meet him at the place of the Gathering,

with no stain of sin remaining upon me.

وبعيد رجاء من كل يوم

يلثم الدهر منه بالضعف ثلمه

Yet far-fetched is the hope of one in whom, each day,

time, through weakness, chips another notch.

ولئن مت قبل هذا فوادي

نحوه حبه وحفظي الختمه

And if I die before this, [my provision]

toward him is love for him and my keeping of the complete recitation.

فعسى أن سعدت تشهد لي ثم

إذا لم أطق من الهول كلمه

May it, if I am blessed, bear witness for me there,

when terror leaves me unable to utter a word.

ووثوقي بعفو ربي وافراً

ري بذنبي وفاقتي للرحمة

And I trust in my Lord's pardon, acknowledging

my sin and my need for mercy;

ورجائي ما يرتجى مذنب شابت

له في افسلام والدين له

and I hope for what a sinner hopes for, whose

locks have grown gray in Islam and the faith.

صلوات الإله تهدي إليه

دائمات ما أطلع الليل نجمه

May God's blessings be offered to him,

unceasingly, as long as night brings forth its star,

وعلى آله واصحابه الأبرار

هل التقى الهداة الئمة

and upon his family and his righteous Companions,

the people of piety, the guides, the imams.

وتحياته توالي وتتلو

فيه أزكى سلامه واتمه

May His greetings come in succession, following

His purest and fullest peace upon him.