1. Grief in your virtues is little,
And tears in your praise are few.

2. Shedding tears is not enough
For the rightful grief for you, nor sufficient.

3. Rending clothes for you is easy,
Not enough for consolation.

4. I spent a night bidding you farewell,
As gallantry and loyalty bid you adieu.

5. Contemplation and composure weep for you,
Valor and steadfastness mourn you.

6. Friends who knew you well lament,
For you were their hope in time of need.

7. Was not your father its builder of old?
And you were its protector and builder anew.

8. He brought forth upon Egypt’s land seas of knowledge,
And literati who were parched with thirst.

9. You stood by it for so long,
And so you both earned reward from God.

10. So who now remains for poetry and rhymed prose,
To recite whatever he desires?

11. Who will elucidate the dark passages of history
When disagreement becomes entangled?

12. Who will clarify the tenets of the noble Sunnah
When confusion grows strong?

13. Who will fulfill the needs of Tanta’s people
When judgment becomes difficult?

14. You were generous to them equally,
Not favoring relative over stranger.

15. You established schools where you reared
So Southern Egypt emulated your lead.

16. And the Sa’id preceded the North,
While Egypt’s faces--but for you--were equal.

17. My life ransom for you, O Ali,
Would that life's blood be ransom enough!

18. You passed away but your name lives on,
Echoing with the dawn and dusk.

19. May the Merciful water your grave with rain of mercy
And may your resting place be clothed in modesty.

20. The standing of the Prophet’s son suffices,
And excellent is that to which its beginning is its end.