1. That misfortune in the noble friend
Was an arrow that struck me in the core

2. Whenever his mention revived in me
There awoke in my wounds an acute wakefulness

3. It was the day I turned away in Egypt while shame
Engulfed Lebanon, a day of deep sorrow

4. The land where culture thrived did not grieve more
Nor did the East for its magnificent youth

5. For the literary man of letters, the poet, the crafty, wise one
For the journalist who was no impostor

6. And the novelist who was no debauchee
A flag whose multiplicity did not mar

7. The oneness of his nature in any description or fair hue
O star of beauty in the sacred art’s sanctum

8. Like the whispers of the Almighty
Where is the weaver of rhetoric in every

9. Ingenious garb, in every fine color?
Who can emulate that outpouring torrent in its splendor and beauty?

10. Who can emulate that systematic composition?
Who can emulate the ingenious rhetorical construction

11. And the emergence of meanings in that framework?
Verily, that talent holds a magic

12. That is no pretense or delusion
It is in every Arab territory

13. The guarantee of its protection and deterrence of transgressors
It tamed its devil so it did not pelt people with evil

14. Nor was it banished or made an outcast
Seldom amongst those we knew

15. As congenial or compassionate
His share of the joy of those he brought joy to

16. Was his share of the pain of every sufferer

17. If dryness stanched his ink
His tears would flow from a pitiable orphan

18. A being whose breath is like the blowing of the winds
And whose gentle passage is like a breeze

19. If a grave issue aggrieved you, friend
It aggrieved beyond the patience of the patient

20. Let the most eloquent tongue declare
In his most painful, most painful adversity

21. The excuse of the aggrieved is established, rise, o pulpit orator of the East
And roar with the roar of a furious chider

22. Expend the surplus of your ink, unleash
Bolts that shatter with the force of bombardment

23. Present your major signs, wherein
Is guidance to desist for every dweller and resident

24. Except I see you refuse violence in diffusing
Your concealed sorrow

25. No weakness, but silence for those
Who suppress agony suits grave matters

26. The sins of time are not slighted by futile wailing
Nor by sullenness

27. Incapacity is the same, save for
The complainant's continued pain and the suppressor’s endurance

28. My soul yearns for the comet disappeared in the horizon
And the dear, intimate friend

29. O my companion, and what a companion you were
O my boon companion, and what a boon companion

30. After you, who will I share the night with
As I shared the secrets of the daughter of the grapevines?

31. Sorrow stirred in my heart a longing
For loved ones gone in days of old

32. How we were in the prime of life
Forceful, robust youths in their prime

33. A band of elite youth that left no room
For the dishonest or the villainous

34. It took the provision of ease upon itself
As a right the destitute petitioner has over it

35. And it shouldered the injustice of its time
Seeing it as cause for its vindication of the wronged

36. You united us in the service of truth as best we could
And grace the people of truth from the oppressed

37. We fill the pages with mature, ripe fruits
Of talents and knowledge

38. And rivers of sweet clear water flow in them
Of gentle syrup or hot springs

39. Between earnestness and jest, and in both
Moderation and framework

40. In defense of the nation we support
Those who supported it or foil the schemes of opponents

41. We suffered the most from zealotry every day
Battling advocates and battling aggressors

42. We sacrificed without suffering what we suffered
Of woe, without gain we yearned for

43. And we saw in youth a merit with which we melded
Analysis and law

44. Blessings be upon youth and what potential
Of resilience and resolve it holds

45. When we encountered disputes blazing
With ideas, we resolved to rise above the fray

46. Dens of frivolity recognized us
From theirwanton mockers given to sin

47. And today our voice meets its echo from yesterday
Between goodbye and peace

48. Excuse the zealous youth if they stray
Off the straight path

49. For those who wish to hasten their perfection
An aberrance before the time of maturity

50. Chances of life are prey for soldiers
Before an appointed, inevitable day

51. An era carried us into an era the obverse
Of memories, most woeful traces

52. Thus we moved between two times like a caravan
Between one region and another

53. After proximity, again the border between them widened
And the distance between the borderlands lengthened

54. We shed for the abyss of abyss from its cover
To restraint

55. And with maturity, we attained a rank
That was neither sensed nor predicted

56. Elias became a judge whom the nation
Petitioned for ruling and arbitration

57. Ministers by whom ministry is adorned
Custodian of knowledge and education

58. A tongue by which the dew of pulpits flows
Wrathful before each impudent aggressor

59. Post to post he won by the grace of his livelihood
A full, bountiful share

60. Yet the days remained a war against him
And every generous soul faced war

61. How can a natural disposition of munificence and charity
Be for one whose conscience is upright?

62. In my view, no state wearier or heavier
Than a wealthy man made destitute

63. Penury exhausted his mind and stripped him
Of vestiges of barrenness though he was not barren

64. O you who blame him, longing for his leadership
One other than forbearing may be blamed

65. In the souls of the virtuous, great woes
Kill minor woes

66. And if what you seek eludes you in life
Then what of what lies beyond the stars?

67. Alas Elias part of your affair was confounding
Even to the knowledge of the All-Knowing

68. You bear the injustice though you do not doubt
Even if anguish fills your viscera

69. Calm and peaceful as if the grave issue when you meet it
Is not grave

70. You are not seen armed for battle
Save in defense of the wronged

71. And you refused to submit or let the curtain fall
For in this lies your submission

72. O loyal kinsman who tended the reins of his loved ones
His legacy was no blemish

73. If you depart what hoard remains for a people
Who after life are but remnants?

74. Your impending departure did not leave gladness
In the survival of any shining resident

75. The world presented you though in other than this feat
You were deserving of presentation

76. So turn from a misery that has reaped
What joy and bliss remain