1. The meadows of bliss have withered, and tears have watered the graves of the perished,
The flowers bloomed in spring but the doves grieved in silence,

2. Successive misfortunes alarmed me, and repeated misfortunes are frightening,
My teary eyes streamed with sorrow, as if each was a flowing spring,

3. It only showed me corruption, product, excess, and tragic death,
I saw the days devour the landmarks of our lives while they starved,

4. Oh Lord, a generation is declining, its skulls and ribs trampled,
As if the earth that embraced all these dead was an expansive grave,

5. And the sky was like a dome of a monastery, and the stars in it like candles,
And I am behind the darkness of death, like a sheep followed by wolves,

6. Do not depend on flowers that fade after blooming and are lost,
The branches of the slender willow are not hoped to be safe from winds that uproot trees,

7. No thirsty land is watered unless nourished by the rain,
Whenever graves surrounded me, I was filled with awe and humility,

8. Those entering them will not remain, and none of us leaving will return,
And life flickers like lightning in all bodies,

9. It is a spring that when dry in old age, the exuberant spring has quenched it,
Of man's misery is that death is harsh and has no intercessor,

10. Death seeks a victim each day, and the wolf cannot be stopped from the flock,
The sky wants from us a martyr or a bleeding wounded,

11. We are in a war where victory is realized when the fallen moan,
People in life are either deceiving victors or deceived losers,

12. The evil of weapons in our time is fire, no armors protect from it,
Perhaps days will order peace but there are those who disobey,

13. What is my waiting for the dawn of a grim night that had no end but frailty,
Of the beautiful world, only graves remained where longing is prolonged,

14. Places with no safety, and time with no spring,
If only I found in the universe lands with no hatred or anguish,

15. The soaring falcon benefits not from the vastness of space,
And people deceived think the doves are as described, though they are bitten by extremism,

16. My heart is astonished after the conflict by this inclination,
Oh days of literature, you are not like the epoch of happiness and joy,

17. The waves of ether carried news to us from which people in the East recoiled,
The poet of Egypt fell from his lofty place so Egypt now mourns,

18. I cried all night when they announced the death of Hafez, as if bitten by a snake,
I extend to you, Hafez, though you may not hear me, so listen to my tears,

19. Oh you who rests in the narrow grave, your glory was lofty,
You planted eloquence in the land of Egypt, so it flourished in Iraq,

20. You served literature in it sincerely, as spring serves the gardens,
None of my eloquent peers matches you in immortality, all I said will be lost,

21. I cannot equal you in experience, I am only starting while you were seasoned,
It is no wonder that rhymes come naturally to you, while their absence makes me weep,

22. Some people imitated the West in poetry, though its essence is free,
They knew not that poetry in every land comes naturally from its people,

23. Some poetry has angels sing it and prostrate themselves before God,
The loss of Egypt’s Nile poet was a tragedy brought by the evil of all,

24. Brave Zayd protected it with his soul though it went against him,
His tireless efforts did not bear fruit when they turned against him,

25. Oh narcissists in the land of Egypt, which of you is the shield protecting it?
He sought reform through his poetry while others bought and sold it,

26. He refused to submit when they did, for the brave and coward are not equal,
A poet who lead creativity, not every poet is creative,

27. Beautiful literature, pleasing morals, convincing rhetoric, and a brilliant mind,
It is all Arabism that mourns while Egypt and Iraq have gashes,

28. Oh my tears, help me in my elegy, for Hafez is the subject,
Or leave him a narrow tomb with no porch or space,

29. Walk with him to the dust, so all hearts ache at his procession,
Walk with him to the city of the dead, behind them a barrier separates us,

30. His companions, family, and crowds behind crowds walked with him,
As if his shrine was a hill of poetry, and the procession birds falling,

31. All I have scattered is beautiful, and all I have composed is exquisite,
They burdened you with privileges you could not uphold, if only they burdened you with what you can,

32. They wanted you to obediently obey, but the free spirited do not obey,
Wander through Hafez’s book, and pick its flowers, it does not fade or forbid,

33. My soul yearns for the glow of a star that has no rising after the first,
It has dimmed since you who sang in its vales and lands are gone,

34. They lost you, but the genius you displayed is not lost,
Death calls me to it but I will disobey if I can,

35. Perhaps death is not as bad as people exaggerate to frighten,
Submit, my soul, for you have no say in what fate has determined, only acceptance,

36. The shining sun will revive others while my body will decompose,
All you have composed is wonderful, all you have strung is exquisite,

37. They tasked you with privileges you could not uphold, if only they tasked you with what you can do,
They wanted you to obediently obey them, but the free spirited do not obey,

38. Wander through Hafez’s book, and pluck its flowers, it does not fade or forbid,
My soul longs for the brilliance of a star that has no rising after the first,

39. It has dimmed since you who sang in its valleys and lands are gone,
They lost you, but the genius you displayed is not lost,

40. Death calls me to it, but I will disobey if I can,
Perhaps death is not as bad as people exaggerate to frighten,

41. Submit, my soul, for you have no say in what fate has determined, only acceptance,
The shining sun will revive others while my body will decompose,