1. Shall my tears arise, or shall my tongue
Pay homage to your right, O finest of youths,

2. On this day of remembrance, which has brought us
Naught but separation and sorrows?

3. My tongue is blameless, for it falls short
Of expressing on this day what I wish to say.

4. It can chatter and indulge in verbosity
But not in this sublime domain.

5. The majesty of this day silences the tongues
Of poets, orators and the insane.

6. Only tears remain, but they fall short
If they are not a sea of overflowing.

7. In them the ship of imagination sails
Toward the island of the All-Merciful.

8. There, my tears fulfill their duty,
As my tongue cannot.

9. Each ode that stirs our innermost being,
In old age and youth alike,

10. O you who saw tears flowing copiously-
My tears flowed with abundant meaning.

11. And I read in the traces they left atop the soil
Wisdoms to which ears do not listen.