1. Time has replaced my comfort with toil,
And marred the serenity of my life with misery.

2. And time has assumed an appearance before all eyes
That decrees the mixing of their tears with blood.

3. Woe to me if it steals the hearts of mankind
On the day of tribulation, showing no compassion in calamity!

4. Its mirror has been obscured and the face of it is rusty,
After having been happy for so long unveiled.

5. And for long the eyes of the noblest men have been lined
With its betrayals, calamities and afflictions!

6. And how numerous are its arrows that pierce hearts,
And how many the chests of the eminent they cleave!

7. The lightning bolts of the rain clouds of guidance are veiled
From the eyes of every hopeful and desirous one.

8. The brilliant stars of every truthful dawn have lied
Since the sun of knowledge set in obscurity.

9. So the scholars are saddened and grieve
For the fountain of the grace of knowledge and scholars.

10. And ignorant ruinous misguidance and its people rejoice,
Making their evening a night of delight.

11. And those of its henchmen who are deluded are glad,
For today the living have bowed to the ignorant.

12. May the hand of time that mocked us wither,
For its turning has, in one fell night,

13. Caused the light of the religion to set, he
Whose radiances are the fountain of all brilliance.

14. Indeed, al-Shāfi‘ī has passed away - but never before him
Had “the water bearer is gone” been true!

15. He was an ocean of jurisprudence, the treasure of mankind’s guidance,
Master of eloquence and unequalled rhetorician.

16. The heart of Islam languishes from the thirst
That has befallen the hearts of the learned.

17. And the externals of the upright religion have been made to appear
With the traces of burning grief - so who can comfort it?

18. I would water the boulevards of sciences with his rain,
And how many a blooming garden he watered!

19. And for long his ideas healed the sickness
Of a heart gone astray into misguidance.

20. Our land that blossomed has become barren,
Which by him was verdant like an emerald meadow.

21. It complains of drought, with none to quench it,
Since the water bearer of the Most High disappeared with the water!

22. What is the state of eyes that have seen
The Shaykh of Shaykhs vanish into the dust?

23. Why does that dear tear of theirs not overflow copiously,
Which is embarrassed by the tender dripping of tears?

24. It is deserved that when he departed, eyes
Should not refrain from shedding bloody tears!

25. The eye of knowledge cried blood when it saw
Its companion carried off furtively by death.

26. If books of knowledge were able to lose him,
They would have crumbled from the anguish and hardship.

27. And I saw Mercury openly writing
The effects of parting with him on Virgo!

28. The eyes of the noblest were shocked when they saw
The sun of knowledge set in blood.

29. How much did the hand of ill health toss him,
And yet he did not say: “Oh, the adversity I have faced!”

30. And for long he encountered misfortunes, but then why
Would he complain to the assembly of wise men about my condition?

31. He carried out the duty of his knowledge truthfully
Until he passed away, lonesome and bereaved.

32. The herald of proximity called out: “Gladden your soul,
For setting off to the abode of eternity is pleasant.”

33. He heard the call in the darkness and surrendered his soul,
Willingly to the herald of the meeting.

34. The spirits of the lovers of knowledge prepared
For his arrival in the stations of the fortunate,

35. And the chambers of Paradise were sweetly scented
And its birds warbled there beautifully.

36. And he ascended to the highest level of his fortune,
Once he was installed in the ranks of martyrs.

37. He is in eternal bliss, but because of his distance from us
We are in severe tribulation!

38. My heart blamed it the next day, like embers of hatred,
And I am weary of its heat and my misery.

39. So I will shed tears of sorrow for him,
As long as I live in the ruins of my abode!