1. I lowered the banner of death's glory,
And the majesty of its speech was awesome.

2. Let death suffice for extempore warnings
And for lessons and examples to invent.

3. A wise silent being who laid bare the nights
And tore off the mask of life's illusion,

4. When death draws near, you see around life
Neither bliss nor possessions.

5. I uncovered life through death but found naught
Except a flash of its waters-deceit.

6. What good a surgeon who does not slaughter corpses
If through them he fails to gain experience?

7. If you elegy then let them be tears
To forge maxims that heed morals,

8. And be not like a hired mourning woman
Who wept for payment and not in agony.

9. Eras have passed and pillars have declined,
Yet the earth’s pillar remains as long as chaos reigns,

10. As though the earth never witnessed a meeting
It almost swayed for without even bidding adieu.

11. Had the nurses of every age sobbed,
They would have found the sun never once orphaned a ray.

12. But examples are given for guidance
And as a path for those who wish to follow.

13. And many a good word stirs up goodness,
Just as courage's mention rouses the brave.

14. Cairo’s lighthouses had a firm foothold
Till today when they collapsed from the pillar’s crack.

15. The noblest of men walked its right side,
The most open‐armed in its coat.

16. The most sincere to it in loyalties,
Unbowed by mishaps or times of need.

17. Cairo came to Saad unsought, a bonus,
Not a gift or favor he worked to gain.

18. He roamed through it as youth and grown man,
And by its causes attained plentitude.

19. A youth whom the nights’ events aged
Without being humbled or forced to bow.

20. He was jailed, exiled, his glory multiplied,
And the more squeezed, the more fragrant his musk.

21. Firm, crucified in truth until
Truth itself says yield and bend.

22. He founded a school that truth buttressed
And resurrected justice and legislation.

23. He built it, bettering with knowledge, innocent,
Erecting landmarks and homesteads.

24. And for it he battled the comatose of old
As though they and time itself were disjointed.

25. When faced with the new, they simply turned away
Like one blind who flinches from light.

26. O friend, do not mention seas
That have remained far from your tomb or land.

27. By your Lord, behind your bier is vast distance
While you remain by Cairo’s gate.

28. You came to a world where chaos erupted
And the rhythm of fate in it was lost.

29. So leave the mourners to their forty,
And arise to find the centuries have flown.

30. You fell ill, and no sooner did the malady worsen
Than assail a soul that grew used to strife.

31. Nor was it just an accident that befell,
Vanquishing each mishap with a slap.

32. Whoever gulps down pain while alive
Will find death’s throes easy to endure.

33. You lost sleep—how can slumber be granted an eyelid
That trails after it a wakeful heart?

34. Your pillow found no rest during the nights
Knowing the morrow would leave it flat.

35. I wondered at one who explained the cause of death
Naming illness and aches as the motive,

36. When the allotted terms were never ambiguous
Nor did the appointed times allow dispute.

37. Rather, death has hunters and experts
Who deem cancer and headache fair game.

38. I see education, since you fell from it,
A weak pillar, failed, neglected, collapsed.

39. A drowner who grabbed at a sail
Only to lose hold of it as he sank.

40. The tribe’s nobles turn away from it
And the tribe’s papers shorten its defense.

41. The days you opposed have truly forgotten you—
Years you weathered consecutively.

42. Rise, O son of mothers, on a foundation,
And build no citadels or castles.

43. For they give birth to cane and thorn
And birth to beasts of wasteland lairs.

44. I found the senses of morals manifold
Collected, yet single in expression.

45. Condolences, O just father, are your wont
And the wont of those like you who heeded and obeyed.

46. You were patient when calamities descended
And patience then was beyond anyone’s grasp.

47. The soul does settle after a time
If it gains no benefit from despair.

48. When time differs with a grieving soul,
Off goes the tear, then the tear is wiped away.

49. The goal of the two lids is destined death
If in it they trip, broken is their bond.

50. Nor did the Kinaana's creatureliness
Against enemies prove fiercer than yours.

51. Nor did your predecessor who found salvation
Bear the trust or task more ably.

52. Tomorrow comes the decisive word. So who brings me news
That truth has conquered the gluttonous?

53. Ask the Kinaana: Have you come together?
For the opponent tomorrow comes together.

54. Saad is no profiteer if
Rights are compromised in sale or purchase.

55. But hopes take cover in him
And rights don armor in his shelter.

56. If your hearts look to him, he rises
Above events and spreads his wingspan wide.