1. I wish you would eulogize me,
O you who judge the dead from the living.

2. But you went ahead - may you enjoy good health always,
Fate and death come by divine decree.

3. The truth called and you answered its call,
Staying true to the truth in the face of all cries.

4. You came to the Imam’s desert, melting
With yearning for its dweller.

5. So I met, in that abode, Imam Muhammad
Among the righteous and the upright.

6. The marks of bliss were on his noble brow
As he taught Qur’anic exegesis and jurisprudence.

7. We complained to each other of our old longing
And tasted the sweetness of closeness after the pain of estrangement.

8. If homes must be places of separation,
Then the great mosques are places for reunion.

9. I wish that I were a ransom for you
From harm - as I am a ransom for the liars and slanderers.

10. Those who speak out of resentment and passion,
Slandering the living to praise the dead.

11. As well as all destroyers who build their glory
On the ruins of corpses and body parts.

12. They did not destroy you - rather, it is by you that they were destroyed.
Who can destroy the fluttering palm leaves?

13. I look and see your status as glorious as ever -
Your name, the highest of names.

14. Yesterday, you gifted me with a wonderful poem
That I hold onto like a white hand.

15. The envious boil with anger at it
While I gave thanks for it, as you know my friendship and loyalty.

16. In a gathering, I shared my hopes through it
When you raised my banner up high.

17. O granter of Sudan its bloom of youth
And its guardian in peace and war−

18. When you descended upon its perfect moons,
The spring of eloquence flowed after the spring of water.

19. You gave him the sharp sword and endowed him
With a pen like the breast of a brown mountain.

20. A pen that flows through ages without ever
Committing indecency or foolishness.

21. It clothes the generous with majestic splendor through praise
And bids farewell to the dead with excellent eulogy.

22. O Alexandria, bride of water
And beloved of sages and poets−

23. The fine arts were born on your shores
And nurtured under your bright skies.

24. Rare things came to you like noble birds
And you gathered them like a singing nightingale.

25. They beautified you until you became
An iris of the land for newcomers and a pearl of the epoch.

26. They planted your foundations on the ruins of ancient Babylon
And built your palaces with red granite.

27. And they pioneered well-lit roads
Like Jesus’ path through the water ravines.

28. So take culture as your adornment, as before,
And dress beautifully in your fine youth.

29. Wear the language of scripture, for it
Is the building block and tools of composition.

30. It built civilization twice over and paved the way
For royal rule in Baghdad and Fayyum.

31. And it raised Cordoba and Egypt up
To the pinnacle of glory among kingdoms.

32. What tears have you shed for Hafiz?
What sorrow have you stored and crying?

33. What calamity you have felt in losing him -
For calamity slays the great!

34. God knows you have been generous
With tears, unlike miserly orators.

35. And you have taken a fair share in eulogizing Majid,
Who gathered all virtues and brought good news.

36. The reciters present hailed his poetry−
As did the Bedouin in the desert.

37. Lebanon cries for him - the letter ‘d’ cries
From Aleppo to Fayyum to Sanaa.

38. Arabs of loyalty remained true to the covenant of a poet
Who built ranks and composed whole works.

39. O guardian of eloquence and protector of its glory,
And leader of those who attained excellence in rhetoric−

40. You kept hailing the old and its merit
Until you guarded the loyalty of ancients.

41. You renewed al-Walid’s style and diction
And brought magic with the letters ‘t’ and ‘a’ to this world.

42.
And in seeking out the new, you went to great lengths

43. Until you were coupled with the author of al-Bu’sā’.
What comfort, serenity, generosity and overlooking

44. Lie beyond death? Pray elucidate the realities you have seen−
For you were always qualified to clarify

45. The realities of all things.
There are many types of courage among men,

46. But the bravest is courage of opinion.
How you ranted about the woes of life and its schemes!

47. And you cried out complaining of harm!
So come, set aside your despair for an hour,

48. And look upon the valley with rays of hope.
Laugh at the world scornfully−

49. Its hidden facets are made of joy.
How often has the Eternal filled you with gladness

50. And guided the needy’s wants to you!
Today, make peace with misfortunes−

51. Cast off the burden of years and shed the burden of disease.
You have left behind eternal rhetoric−

52. And generations of children.
Tomorrow, time will remember you as it always does −