It is narrated by Al-Mas’oudi in Murooj-adh-Dhahab that al-Imam ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi (as) was called into the court of the Abbasid caliph Mutawakkil while the latter was indulging in alcohol and merrymaking. He was called to partake of it, but the Imam abstained stating “My flesh and blood can never mingle with alcohol.” Then Mutawakkil asked the Imam whether he fancies poetry, to which he replied, “I am not a poet.” Nonetheless, Mutawakkil insisted to hear the Imam compose, perhaps in an attempt to humiliate him. The Imam responded impromptu with a legendary sonnet so eloquent that Mutawakkil broke down in profuse tears. The poem is well-known, however has never been translated into metered rhymed English poetry, which we have endeavored to do while preserving the meaning. The poem is matchless in Arabic eloquence and our English translation can only approximate its spell-binding power.
They camp on the peaks of mountains surveilled
By hardened men yet their guards won’t avail
Debased after pomp from their lofty stations
And into their pits, what pitied destinations!
A shouter does call them while they lie in graves
Where are beds, crowns, and lavish displays?!
Where are the faces well-caked in their glamor
That once took curtains and garlands as armor
The answer emerges from deep in their caskets:
Now those dear faces are grub for the maggots!
How long they had tarried in needless consumption
Indeed how tasty is he who’s a glutton!
How long they had furnished their homes for protection
Only to leave them for lands of dejection
How long they had treasured their wealth and did store
They leave it for rivals and move to the fore
Their dwellings are voided of all operation
Its dwellers to tombs have taken vacation
Ask the Caliph, while Fate did summon his soul
Where’s your guards, your horses, your jewels and your gold?
And where are the archers; won’t they cast a volley?!
When arrows of death catch you in your folly?!
And how go the troops; are they not enraged?
Oh where are those legions that stood at your stage?!
Far be it that they should ward off or curtail
Mortality’s throes as your term hits the pail
For how can you hope for your lifestyle forever
When your soul is strapped to Death’s fated lever?!
باتوا على قللِ الاجبـال تحرسُهـم
غُلْبُ الرجالِ فلم تنفعهمُ القُلـلُ
و استنزلوا بعد عزّ عـن معاقلهـم
و أودعوا حفراً يابئس مـا نزلـوا
ناداهمُ صارخٌ من بعد مـا قبـروا
أين الاسرّةُ و التيجـانُ و الحلـلُ
أين الوجوه التـي كانـتْ منعمـةً
من دونها تُضربُ الأستارُ و الكللُ
فافصـحَ القبـرُ عنهم حيـن ساءلـهـم
تلك الوجوه عليهـا الـدودُ يقتتـلُ
قد طالما أكلوا دهراً و ما شربـوا
فأصبحوا بعد طول الأكلِ قد أكلوا
و طالما عمّـروا دوراً لتُحصنهـم
ففارقوا الدورَ و الأهلينَ و ارتحلوا
و طالما كنزوا الأموال و ادّخروا
فخلّفوها على الأعـداء و انتقلـوا
أضحت منازلُهـم قفـراً معطلـةً
و ساكنوها الى الاجداث قد رحلوا
سـل الخليفـةَ إذ وافـت منيتـهُ
أين الحماة و أين الخيلُ و الخـولُ
اين الرماةُ أمـا تُحمـى بأسهمِهـمْ
لمّا أتتـك سهـامُ المـوتِ تنتقـلُ
أين الكماةُ أما حاموا أما اغتضبوا
أين الجيوش التي تُحمى بها الدولُ
هيهات ما نفعوا شيئاً و ما دفعـوا
عنك المنية إن وافى بهـا الأجـلُ
فكيف يرجو دوامَ العيش متصـلاً
من روحه بجبالِ المـوتِ تتصـلُ
Ahlulbayt Poetry 