1. Who among you was a prince, O ruins?
And who were the soldiers, followers and servants?

2. Who was the hero protecting the homes? And who
Had the eloquent sermons and wisdom?

3. Where is the one whom the world shuddered of
Fearfully, and for whom the army was crowded?

4. Who used to defeat the heroes of men, I wonder
Was he defeated by that worm's face?

5. They all became dust without coherence
Stepped on in the road by the barefoot and the shod

6. The servant and the master became equal in level
And the sword and the pen were lost among the dust

7. Miserable is the life whose existence is nonexistence
I wish there was no existence nor nonexistence

8. A dream the young man saw during his slumber
That became in the morning no sleep and no dream

9. How many virtuous were fooled and tempted by it
Its emptyness fooled the scholar and the learned

10. Every insightful eye went astray in it
And in its passions perished the Arabs and non-Arabs

11. May God not make a home deserted of our loved ones
Whose company made it smile with warmth

12. Yes, it became deserted of them while we
Console its ruins where they are

13. Alas, death has no truce ever
No, it has no sacred months

14. They are the firm ones, they do not hope to rob
Except the souls a gain they suppose

15. Woe to it, our pillars were destroyed vainly
Is there on earth a pillar not made to crumble?

16. We hope time will keep pacts for us
Woe to us, when were pacts made by it?

17. The beloved died, with whom died happiness
From the hearts, and grief and agony lived

18. After him, the voice of wailing disturbs us
And the strings and tunes bother us

19. He passed away, and after him remains in each heart a wound
That stays, and in each body after him an illness

20. As if he was ripped out of people's hearts
So each heart aches of his loss

21. No eye was devoid of tears after his death
And no mouth ceased mentioning him

22. We did not find before him in any nation a man
Whose death made the peoples and nations weep

23. I used to complain of the home from afar
So blessed be today that distance and farness

24. While the home was hoping to see him tomorrow
You are the stranger if qualities were counted

25. My eyelids were not fair crying
Tears, for the like of you should be cried over in blood

26. Which virtue is not perfect in you?
And which flaw do we see in you to blame?

27. In you is combined piety, virtue, knowledge
And forbearance, wisdom, kindness and generosity

28. We eulogize you, O critic of poetry's cloak
And poetry eulogizes you until words run out

29. The rhymes, pens and opinions cry for you
And the pages and minds and resolves

30. And every book of poetry you used to compile
And every people's book you used to organize

31. And every knowledge seeker whose support ran out
And every aspirant whose bounty ran out

32. It is right upon us to chant an elegy for you
But silence is more beloved to our ears

33. I almost erase the ink with my tear, as it blends
When I write it, overwhelmed by my ardour

34. You were cut off, O sprig of lusciousness in youth, alas
When you bent, and the breeze tilted you

35. We were hoping for ripe fruits from you
But death outstripped us, storming

36. I wonder, do we have a gathering on earth?
And will our unity in life be mended?

37. Will we see that face whose lights
The darkness of wear erased under its lids?

38. If you have departed the home of demise, you gained
Eternity, where there is no greying or aging

39. The fortunate one whose outcome
In good deeds, obeying the Merciful, was sealed