1. Who after Hamza will protect the precinct of literature
And who will ward off harm from the tongues of the Arabs

2. And who will restrain the roving thoughts of its abundant meadows
From the nightly pilferer in its pastures and the creeping thief

3. And strangenesses come to him in his writings
Willingly and they incline to him in poetry and speeches

4. If he wishes for impromptu speech from them
They respond and if his pens leave them be, they answer

5. He clothes meanings, if words are difficult for him
As if he had hoarded vocabulary in boxes

6. He was diligent in the language of grammar since childhood
And was granted mastery in grammar while still a boy

7. And found sweetness in elucidating its obscurities
As if he had with him a kind of knocks

8. So the reins of command stuck with him and mingled
In his maturity with flesh and nerve

9. When he feels like challenging it
The chapter of anger takes hold of him

10. And immediately with his argument he wards off
The excesses of one who, if he shoots his bow, hits the mark

11. And right away cites its various beauties
That foreigners do not know the wonders in it

12. And says bring the named and he is collecting
And take from the language a name other than fabricated

13. No modern innovations in skill
Did existence know of during that period

14. He answers his questioner on every issue
Until he acknowledges to him the triumphant victory

15. Oh how hard the news of his death came
Upon souls, oh what woe and war

16. Yearning am I for a sea of overflowing merit that is gone
Yearning am I for a treasure of knowledge lost in the dust

17. Oh how often the eminent would implore him
The belly of a ship, the ridge of a camel litter and saddle

18. Egypt, Tunisia and Sudan knew him
How much he traveled in their roads and trails

19. And in Sweden he appeared wondrous to the people
And attained in Europe the utmost glory

20. He strove from the East seeking news of a conference
In the West anticipating whatever he wished of minds

21. And we used to hover around him
As the stars of the night hover around Polaris

22. Let the people understand that knowledge is our pursuit
And that the sun of ascendance in Egypt did not set

23. Nothing was more heartwarming than his appearance
When he came out in the adornments of his wool

24. How much did the photographers of the people portray him
From afar and up close in Vienna and Stockholm

25. And how much did people surround us asking
Every admirer in the wake of an admirer

26. Whose king is this, I said to them
This imam is king of knowledge and literature

27. When I visited him once at home alone
To invite him to the Arabic Academy

28. I said I invite you for it is worthy of you
And you are most deserving of precedence in rivalry

29. He said, denying my attempt
Why strain when people are playing

30. I said my master you brought out sprouts
In the past, oh what excellent youth

31. You invigorated knowledge among them, wondrously
Far be it that what you endured of fatigue be wasted

32. So the sheikh smiled at my words and said yes
But it is a position that requires appointment

33. The journey grew long and motes touched the eyes
From the wine flask, so we sought the leftover drops

34. You are my successor, so rise with them for the sake of the language
And be diligent for you are inclined towards diligence

35. I said, who could test the temperaments of sticks
And their states, traversing between source and destination

36. So the hardest thing was that I went back to them
And said, I have failed in my request

37. If fortune had helped and the professor assisted us
We would have been spared searching in books

38. So now the Academy mourns in sorrow and grief
And complains of flaming sorrows and calamities

39. But we will endure adversity reluctantly
And seek refuge from misfortunes and afflictions

40. And ask God for success to motivate us
In what we busy ourselves with, taking the causes

41. We walk to the extent of our ability
And whoever makes for the sake of God is not disappointed

42. The clouds rained on his burial place a downpour
And his resting place was generous with clouds from the horizon

43. And God compensated Egypt for its loss
With much goodness and saved it from ruin