1. The sublime one wept when she lost Ma'n,
And no words remained for rhymes, nor meaning.

2. The stars of the virtuous faded away
And there the sun of glory set, saddened with grief.

3. The eloquent tongues in every gathering are silenced,
And the one whose words would silence tongues is made mute.

4. After him the prime of life is pastured on loss,
And the roar of the formidable, horn-wielding warrior is stilled.

5. The days mourned him in black as if
The Pleiades at nightfall mourned in black garb.

6. Your environs are of varied hues like the faces
Of the bereaved, so we see in them neither beauty nor charm.

7. Oh his grave, how much glory you took in
And how much anguish from him and how much grief you harbor!

8. Oh his grave, you hid from him fingers
When the bereaved despaired of life, being utterly despondent.

9. Keys to sustenance, clouds of bounty
That rain upon the farthest and nearest of creation.

10. When the fearful and hoping came to him
The hoping found safety and the fearful found peace.

11. And how, when we have tasted the bitterness of losing him,
Could we visit lands that hold no charm for us?

12. Truly time has trampled its coursers
And after him it was deluded, and the right hand too.

13. Would that when death announced him to me
God had not created for me either eye or ear!

14. How they wounded a heart! How they inflamed a mind
With the news of Ma'n! How they ulcerated the eyelids!

15. It is but little for us to rend our cloaks in sadness
And to let fall a tear, some of which could float ships.

16. For the world would flatter me through him
And elevate me through him to the most noble abode.

17. When fate is my adversary, then where is he who would
Repel its fangs when I cry out?

18. Does every day bring strife swooping down on me
With one who does not tire of striking and stabbing?

19. I think my heart has become the repository of sorrows,
For their torrent has flooded the easy and difficult terrain.

20. The good fortune of the state died with Muhsin's son,
So how do I see the like of him among people? Where?

21. Gone is the sword that was resolute and decisive,
And the pouring rain that would expand around me abundantly.

22. Dear sir, how hard for us that we lived on
While the hands of time snatched you harshly from us!

23. You were but the formidable fortress of your people,
So after you they find no refuge if oppressed.

24. You were their glory and pillar, lofty and firm,
So after you they lost glory and pillar.

25. Some men wished you dead so they might gain prominence,
But alas, after you they tasted but disgrace and frailty!

26. For you are the good deeds that remain with mankind,
So if you perish in this world, still your memory does not perish.

27. Some folk will recall your position among them
And their work after is but to strike their teeth.

28. The belly of the earth used to envy its back,
But since you died its back envies its belly!

29. O lover of life, take heed, for it
When friendly, betrays, and shows but malice.

30. When you see a people whose elders have perished,
God will not grant them prominence again.

31. Had power driven back death from him
Lips of the cleavers of skulls would have snatched lives,

32. And a tribulation would have taken wing
From which even lionesses retreat in cowardice.

33. But it is death, which cannot be repelled
If it desires a tomb among the people, and will not be dissuaded.