1. O you whose hopes were plucked away,
O you made desolate by tribulation,

2. Bounty has gone, so bounty is not felt,
Deeds have ceased, so deeds are not accomplished,

3. Time has destroyed those who teach their people
What bliss is, so how can they enjoy comfort?

4. Time has robbed his beauty from himself,
So he came and went with no beauty left,

5. Gone is he whose hands the hopeful grasped,
And found through them attainment and rest,

6. Gone is he whose hands grasped the heights,
That none can grasp in praise however expressed,

7. Oh how base is the earth that it still holds firm!
Though rightfully it should shake and quake,

8. After Muhammad, enough earthquake to know,
No favor comes that to his can compare,

9. Gone is he who fasts were his banner raised,
Food for guests poured down, gifts unstinting,

10. So that he was Ramadan in his seclusion,
And in his generosity like Shawwal’s feast,

11. Gone is he whom Adam advised ere he died,
To care for his household, his dear dependents,

12. Gone is he who never delayed his promise,
Who, when moved to kindness, had gifts overflowing,

13. Muhammad ibn Nasr, after whom were modeled,
In his nobility, morals and manners excelling,

14. A king whose life all heights strove to outvie,
Whose day contended with fates intervening,

15. Who saw not his bier as it moved along,
Knows not how mountains themselves walked in mourning,

16. Oh grave that triumphed over a garden!
With him it boasted and preened in its glory,

17. Now all doubters and waverers are sure,
Sites themselves shift in their rising and falling,

18. The stars have hiding places if misfortune strikes,
And mountains themselves cannot avoid their crumbling,

19. We're consoled that he met his full life's span,
For life's completeness from him was not stolen,

20. A lion has gone and his cubs remain,
And the cubs must now become lions emboldened,

21. When I gained his companionship, though his loss,
Brought hardships heavy upon me that linger,

22. I was left out of wealth he dispensed,
While through it others were lavished with riches,

23. When I sought from him, disappointed went I,
Yet I was patient, no begging or taking,

24. I stored him for fortune, knowing for sure,
Like a fortress he'll be for whoever comes after,

25. My soul enjoyed the life breath of his care,
For so long, and to gain satisfaction is wealth,

26. I saw him as the sun—if it you never grasp,
Its radiance gently, subtly comes forward,

27. Truth commands I speak—and truth of him—
No speaker should oppose what truth has commanded,

28. My longing for you, O Muhammad,
Has taken fragrant sighs and bounty left barren,

29. By God I swear, your life had not yet ceased,
When kindness and favor completely retreated,

30. Dawn's first light sends its blessings always to you,
And the darkest shadows guard you in your grave clothes,

31. The earth showed clemency to your radiant cheek,
Meeting requests, however difficult, gently,

32. Your hand's limbs stayed composed, which forever,
Through its gifts, composed all beings' limbs,

33. O jewel of the world and its inhabitants,
Orament of one who else no jewel could summon,

34. After you affairs spun out of control,
And ruin crept forward to seize and to maim,

35. Your palace garden weeps for your voice,
For the shapes your breaths gave its blooms' praising,

36. Your doves weep, their songs turned to laments,
Such as makes the hoopoe join in their grieving,

37. Help me bear it that your dwellings now lie waste,
While for others still stand, peopled and graced,

38. Help me bear it that your horses now weep,
Saddles and bridles weep for them in turn,

39. Help me bear it that your intimates weep,
Hope itself weeps for them and yearns,

40. Help me bear it that your friends are aggrieved,
While through them your dear self was disgraced,

41. The weights of all noble deeds, now cast off,
When you set, O sun, all weights were misplaced!

42. After one who fought and boldly contended,
You've become dust, heaped up or scattered,

43. As for your degraded grave goods laid bare,
Let them go, all hidden things will be bared,