1. Death sought him, so he died a captive
And departed having faced misfortunes with dignity

2. By my father and mother, I singled him out for ruin
He had excelled in every field of knowledge

3. Graves, once black, turned white because of him
While the hearts of the virtuous turned black for him

4. We did not grieve when we alone were stricken
And death took him away deserted and alone

5. Rather we grieved al-Qasim ibn Muhammad
For his virtuousness, and al-Aswad ibn Yazid

6. And Ibn al-Mubarak for his gentle ways
And Ibn al-Musayyab for his excellent traditions

7. And the two Ahfashes for their eloquence
And the two A’shas for their recitation and verse

8. He was the trustee when I wanted a trustee
And the useful one when I sought benefit

9. He turned a vigilant guardian in adversities
And passed away loved among mankind

10. Never was I like a father in affliction
His hands were rewarded with the like of him, a child

11. Until he surpassed in noble deeds
And knowledge was lodged safely with him

12. O you who in weeping makes the bereaved forget their own grief
He never used to hear weeping, so he wept

13. The suffering hearts refuse sorrow
Lest they should become stones and iron

14. Indeed, the one whose death destroyed my happiness
After him, my sorrow will never perish

15. Now, when you have encompassed glorious deeds
You have exhausted an enemy among mankind and the envious

16. And I have seen in you the traits of righteousness
And the proofs of magnanimity and witnesses

17. I weep for you when the dove warbles
The face of the morning and chirps its chirping

18. Were it not for shyness and that I be accused of innovation
Of that which mankind enumerates as enumerations

19. I would have made your day one of mourning in elegies
And made your day one of celebration as a feast