1. What ails the meadows, their necks bowed in submission,
As the elegy passes by, and they are immersed in sorrow -

2. As if pallor has dyed their faces,
And sickness of grief and anxiety has overtaken them.

3. What ails the pages - their gardens have withered away in lament,
Though they were like leaves green.

4. What ails the goblets - abandoned and neglected -
The butler forgot them and the cupbearer slept.

5. What ails me - I lost my patience and fortitude,
Yet patience in tribulations is a trait of the virtuous.

6. A calamity has befallen the people of eloquence and rhetoric,
It makes the breath run short and the sighs overflow.

7. Now that Abu al-Hasan al-Ridha has passed away,
Excellence itself has completely passed away.

8. The treasure of knowledge - its coins will never perish,
Nor diminish no matter how much is spent.

9. Who will host the finest gatherings,
Between Syria and Iraq?

10. Who will spare the meadows from his malice,
The poison of enmity and the keys of sustenance?

11. Branches laden with fruit, symbols of prosperity,
And palms bearing the nectar of healing.

12. Who will gather together the beauty of the red parchments -
The shyness of the cheeks and the dye of the eyelids -

13. That plunder the enemy's entrails as if they were
The fatal pages of polished swords.

14. And shake the bosoms of the loyalist as if they were
The gently blowing breeze gladdening the cupbearer.

15. Who will lead in the battlefields of knowledge
The steeds of rhetoric, noble Arab horses.

16. Who will elucidate the doors of truth that were ambiguous
And open them to the people though they had been shut.

17. Who will seek his glory through noble deeds
And support them though they fail.

18. How many firm covenants did he uphold
In Allah, and untie what bonds had been tied!

19. Open-armed he was to every towering misfortune,
Exhausting those skilled in asylum and refuge.

20. Hard to handle in amity and love,
Yet easy for the chaste and wise.

21. He rode the path to gardens and fair maidens,
Who welcomed him with embraces and hugs.

22. Wondrous is the intimacy found in dreaded solitude,
And the visitation at the abode of separation!

23. Sweetened with praise for deeds well done,
And shrouded in the virtues of noble character.

24. Never did I think, before your funeral procession,
That I would one day walk proudly with your bier upon my shoulders

25. Never did I think before your burial in the earth
That hidden within it were the depths of minds.

26. O star of guidance! Now that you have gone
Darkness lingers in these horizons

27. O peerless one! No matter what transpires in the arena
You were first, surpassing the racers.

28. O resident of the tomb! Yet your remembrance
Will forever accompany travelers and friends.

29. O refuge for those whose cries reached you, finding
No room on earth for a helper or protector!

30. You were but a cloud pouring forth without thunder and lightning.
You were but a well-watered garden,

31. Bearing whatever fruits and leaves you desired.
O you who has turned away from us and saddled your mount!

32. Why not stay, even for a moment?
Gently, dear father! Do not overburden us.

33. Do not forget your customary tenderness.
Permit us, even if briefly, to visit your tomb,

34. That we may continue to draw life from you.
If the means to meet are blocked,

35. Imagination will make up for the longing of the yearner.
Wondrous is the soul that bid you farewell, fully convinced

36. That, after you, there will be no day of reunion!
If she did not share your grave - which you drank to the dregs -

37. What excuse has she, despite your merit?
If our eyes failed to weep

38. Crying copiously over you, as was deserved,
If they were frozen in shock - surely our hearts

39. Were roused to every duty of the deeply aware!
Trust in lasting loyalty from the youth

40. Who emulate your covenant and pact.
They have adorned themselves with the blessings you bestowed,

41. Until they were collared with your favors.
They cry over your loss in private - a sanctuary

42. You filled with remembrance, in childhood and prime.
As for praise of your sublimity, it is widely diffused,

43. Proclaimed by consensus and unanimous agreement.
And Allah has coupled praise to His land

44. By praising it from above the seven layers of heaven.
Your tomb pours forth a perpetual rain,

45. Weeping over you with constant pouring.
And you have been clothed by the Divine in bliss

46. That lifts your spirit to the Most Exalted Station.
Have patience, oh kinsmen of al-Jabbaab, your departed one

47. Will soon delight in what he is destined to attain.
When the darkness of grief casts shadows on hearts,

48. Patience and acquiescence are the best havens.