1. Life is toil and trouble galore,
While death is but rest, calm and peace.

2. We yearn for life knowing full well,
Each day brings regret and sighs.

3. We grieve for Maymouna al-Nakib, so great,
At whose sight eyes light up with joy.

4. A paragon of one who lives life nobly,
Transcending all that is base and low.

5. True to those true, and faithful to the faithful,
Forgiving those who slander and betray.

6. Whatever need one has of him,
He grants without demur or delay.

7. We knew him to accept only what pleases him,
Shunning all dishonor and disdain.

8. None better in companionship or kinship,
More generous, more kind and humane.

9. Would a father live so righteously with family,
If not for one like him, a kindred soul?

10. O perfection of God's blessings! I lament,
And countless others lament for you, in dole.

11. Is it in one fleeting moment we lost forever,
While you brimmed with vim and verve?

12. With you was success, knowledge and wisdom rife,
Why then did success desert you in the end?

13. You built great bastions of culture,
Seeking help from all quarters for this end.

14. From the generous you drew only good,
You were never miserly or mean.

15. Trustees of their wealth and hopes for their youth,
You remained ever faithful, ever keen.

16. One firm of purpose succeeds in all,
He takes on with that firmness, determined and lean.

17. Schools you built to groom the young,
With learning and manners to preen.

18. To educating girls you gave utmost care,
To refine their ways and their mien.

19. You endured all their problems and affairs,
Most of which cause distress and chagrin.

20. Yet you faced provocation with graceful patience,
For you were most noble and serene.

21. Serve your homelands like you served,
And see progress and growth careen!

22. When a home declines through ignorance of its people,
All the great ones in it dim and preen.

23. Can a people rise if not raised by knowledge and arts?
By these they are graced and keened.

24. Greetings to your grave which spreads about,
Your great feats, as you lay demeaned.

25. You eschewed all that pleased you,
Your weeping homeland remains in debt.

26. Oh! A Nile oration on a full day,
Resonates on both shores, I ween.

27. How many tearfully grieve, how many slap in agony,
Like the fluttering palm, downcast and lean!

28. How can the bereaved not grieve, with no recompense,
When the precious loss cannot be redeemed?

29. You left a void in watchful eyes,
Your station in memories secured and ensconced.

30. Can one forget? When in time’s wake lie vestiges of your grace,
The righteous deeds will remain, evergreen.

31. So in God’s generous mercy, after striving,
You attained the finest reward in bliss serene.