1. Cease striving to attain lofty virtues and merits
For he who strove for them is gone, the caravans have moved on

2. So say to the lightning racing across the sky
I will help it with a fire of sorrow or pouring rain of overflowing tears

3. And tearing the robes of mourning for his loss
With the wailing of a weeping mourner or the regret of a bereft woman

4. Announce it to the traveling folk and stop the travelers along the way
For the one they were heading to meet has finished the stages before them

5. And say the bright full moon of perfection has been eclipsed from the faint stars
And after him each one shone brightly from among them

6. He was but a sea that raged, and whoever desires
Its coast meets none but rivulets

7. You have attained his knowledge from its transmitters
Yet the intimate companionship of his company cannot be matched

8. For you have missed the guiding light that has faded with his passing
As well as the light of piety, and successful means

9. No share for one deluded by the sharp sword
Who hoped for its aid, from its sheath and straps

10. Let him who saw him mourn him, as well as those
Whose hearts he filled, in the few days with him

11. And let one who missed his readily available merit
Hasten to dissipate his sorrow at seeing him, and the gaining in every hastened moment

12. I grieved at my delayed arrival, O beloved ones
And postponing until next year

13. Had they been fortunate enough to meet his like
They would have remained eternally young, though grown old

14. Oh what a tribulation befell the year of Ahmad
That deprived every transmitter and conveyor

15. Damascus was emptied of any good - every town
In it was devoid of the likes of the imam

16. And after the hadith master, knowledge was vacant
Without a memorizer babbling in every unqualified one

17. How many brilliant ones went astray when their support faded
And how many indolent ones recovered when the zealous one passed

18. The year of the Chosen One was devoid of any victorious helper
So the heresy of an ignorant one was facilitated

19. Controversy grew around Imam Shafi’i
So that every disputant came to vilify him

20. While he supported Imam Ash’ari’s doctrine with proofs
That were the clearest evidence against him

21. How often he made truth manifest in every gathering
Silencing the thirsty fools of the assemblies

22. And closed the door of the aberrance of anthropomorphism
And refuted the false doubts of resemblance

23. If he was killed, how many active tongues
Still operate by virtue of his words, in the world

24. If a people deviated and misled their commoners
Away from him, I do not care

25. I see merit in lamenting him while I see
Only sin in lamenting the bereft, wailing weepers

26. One who weeps for a leader in religion
Is not like one weeping for his world at the loss of a companion

27. So O heart, join him with the greatest mercy
And O eye, water him with the most copious rains

28. And greet his noble dust with the most affectionate
Repeated salutations, at dawn and nightfall

29. I am strengthened to mourn him, for he
Will soon be covered in the burial ground and strapped in the coffin

30. Were it not for the flood of tears in love for him
Every miser would have been stingy in burying him

31. He who was preoccupied with the speech of the Chosen Prophet
With utmost dedication, beyond any other preoccupation, has passed

32. Islam was indeed afflicted with adversity in him
While he was its finest well-wisher and advisor

33. His knowledge surpassed those of past times
Thus he removed deficiencies from every superior one

34. He became unmatched in the critical appraisal of narrators
With no peer in the world, and the greatest proof

35. He compiled the most complete chronicle of generations
Gathering those distinguished in every aspect and perfection

36. Putting the chronicle of al-Khatib to shame
For the one gifted in authorship was the most eloquent speaker

37. Death has folded from him knowledge, asceticism, and guidance
And earning lofty merits and avoiding vices

38. He grieved the world with his blessed arrival
As one patient against the war of misguidance’s trickery

39. He was zealous, protecting the religion of Ahmad
Repelling from it as a brave warrior

40. The religion was deprived by him of its noblest defender
And staunchest opponent of deviation

41. Never have I seen the earth’s loss as its loss
At the death of a learned imam of virtues

42. O days of tribulation, the judgement of a decisive Ruler
Who decreed our death with justice

43. With what can I console the Muslims, when I see
No consolation but those virtuous ones now passed?

44. Upon you peace from God, for as long as the world
Benefited from your knowledge, and you towered over the pretentious