وَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ جَوْلَتَكُمْ،
I have seen your flight
وَانْحِيَازَكُمْ عَنْ صُفُوفِكُمْ،
and your dispersal from the lines.
تَحُوزُكُمُ الْجُفَاةُ الطَّغَامُ ،
You were surrounded by rude
وَأَعْرَابُ أَهْلِ الشَّامِ،
and low people and Bedouins of Syria (ash-Sham),
وَأَنْتُمْ لَهَامِيمُ الْعَرَبِ،
although you are the chiefs of Arabs
وَيَآفِيخُ الشَّرَفِ،
and summit of distinction,
وَالاْنْفُ الْمُقَدَّمُ،
and possess dignity as that of the high nose
وَالسَّنَامُ الاْعْظَمُ،
and big hump of the camel.
وَلَقَدْ شَفَى وَحَاوِحَ صَدْرِي أَنْ رَأَيْتُكُمْ بِأَخَرَة،
The sigh of my bosom can subside only when I eventually see you
تَحُوزُونَهُمْ كَمَا حَازُوكُمْ،
surrounding them as they surrounded you,
وَتُزِيلُونَهُمْ عَنْ مَوَاقِفِهمْ كَمَا أَزَالُوكُمْ;
and see you dislodging them from their position as they dislodged you,
حَسّاً بالنِّصَالِ،
killing them with arrows
وَشَجْراً بِالرِّمَاحِ،
and striking them with spears
تَرْكَبُ أُولاهُمْ أُخْرَاهُمْ كَالاْبِلِ الْهِيمِ الْمَطْرُودَةِ،
so that their forward rows might fall on the rear ones just like the thirsty camels
تُرْمَى عَنْ حِيَاضِهَا،
who have been turned away from their place of drink
وَتُذَادُ عَنْ مَوَارِدِهَا!
and removed from their water-points.
Alternative Sources for Sermon 107: Al-Tabari, Ta'rikh, VI, 14, events of 37 H.; al-Kulayni, Furu’ al-Kafi, V, 40; Nasr ibn Muzahim, Siffin, 256.
