1. I did not know that Sa'id would reside
In the land of exile, all alone.

2. Residing in a land with no friend,
Where a hater and a lover shun him equally.

3. Residing there for ages, next to people
Whom the ground has swallowed in their graves.

4. Nor did I know that I would see his beautiful face
Pelted by hailstones and gravel.

5. When I see the days plotting against me
With what an envious rival wishes,

6. I hastily throw dust on him with my palm,
Though I used to prevent the ants from him.

7. And I wish for him the darkness of the grave,
Until the day the righteous and wicked are called.

8. So evil is my state when I saw his face
With someone pursuing and someone pursued.

9. Our insights bore witness and souls poured out,
Chests reached up to our throats,

10. And our skins shuddered at the separation.
A farewell without relish, his family

11. Will have no reunion till the day of return.
I bade him farewell one day while my tears

12. And his tears kept flowing down our cheeks.
It was as if the roof fell down on me, and the ground

13. Beneath me kept sinking from the fear of loss.
When I lose my son, who was my paradise,

14. Do the joys of life have any existence?
I taught him the science of eloquence, hoping

15. Fortunes for me through him would abound.
But the turns of fate came between me and him,

16. And his destiny drew him away from any doubt.
So melt away, my liver, from anguish and yearning,

17. For a promise is wasted and a threat realized.
And exert yourself, my soul, for the nights are dejected,

18. Even if you are accustomed to promises from them.
Do not seriously crave anything from your life,

19. For I have long been ascetic towards it.
The sun of certainty has risen, leaving behind

20. Flashes of hope whose benefit and thunder we sought.
After it, from the east arose misfortunes,

21. While good fortune inclined toward the west.
Delight of my eye, I will inevitably come to a pool

22. Whose water you have reached, so I must arrive.
I will bring to water, worn out from destruction,

23. Even if I think the goal is far away.
And do not deny death, for death is apportioned equally,

24. Overcoming both master and slave.
The epochs of time will take away their people,

25. And no creature in time is immortal.
Life is but tribulation and joy,

26. And people are but suffering and happy.
Your nights were all white, but

27. We lost you, and the days after you are black.
If you resembled Joseph in beauty,

28. In sorrow I exceed even his father.
The days did not let me forget seeing you,

29. While my life overflowed with bliss.
When you were bright-faced, just reaching youth,

30. Your life still fresh, and fate still new,
Moving about in your prime, so lovable,

31. The finest beauty shining brilliantly on you.