1. جئت يا دهر بالرزية بكراً

    غادرت مهجة الهدى وهي حرّى

    You came, O Time, with an unprecedented calamity;

    you left the heart of guidance burning with grief.

  2. انما اقصدت سهامك نفساً

    يطلب الدين دخلها والوترا

    Indeed, your arrows struck down a soul

    for which faith demands vengeance and requital.

  3. لم تصب واحداً من الناس لكن

    أوحد الناس في الفضائل طرّا

    You struck not merely one among the people, but

    the one unequaled among them in every virtue.

  4. فهوى لا هوى من الشرع ركن

    لم يزل باذخ الذرى مشمخرا

    A pillar of sacred law fell—would that it had not—

    ever lofty in its summits, towering high.

  5. كل مصر اقام مأتم شجو

    لمصاب العزيز في الناس قدرا

    Every city held a gathering of mourning

    for the loss of one held high in people's esteem.

  6. قسم الحزن للقلوب فكل

    حاز سهماً لمقتل الصبر يبرى

    Grief was apportioned among hearts, and each

    received an arrow honed for patience's mortal spot.

  7. وثوى حبرها الفقيد بقبر

    من رأى القبر قبله ضم بحرا

    And its lamented scholar lay in a grave;

    who before him had seen a grave embrace a sea?

  8. مات لكن ذكره في خلود

    انما المجد مجد من عاش ذكرا

    He died, but his memory lives forever;

    glory is only the glory of one who lives on in remembrance.

  9. اصبح الناس محرمين من اللذ

    ات قد اشعروا المدامع نحرا

    The people entered sacred abstinence from plea-

    sures; they marked their tear ducts for sacrifice.

  10. ازمع الصبر عنهم إذ رآهم

    قد تراموا بجمرة الحزن نفرا

    Patience resolved to leave them when it saw them

    already pelting one another with grief's burning coal, as a band.

  11. أو مض البرق ناعياً فاستهلت

    سحب الدّمع فهي تبكيه عبرى

    Lightning flashed, announcing death; then poured forth

    the clouds of tears, weeping for him, grief-stricken.

  12. نعت الكهرباء جوهر فضل

    كان للآملين كنزاً وذخرا

    Electricity announced the death of a jewel of virtue,

    who was a treasure and reserve for those who hoped.

  13. سلكه بين رنة واهتزاز

    واصفاً في حشاه خوفاً وذعرا

    Its wire, between ringing and trembling,

    expressed the fear and terror within its heart.

  14. كم نفوس في ربقة الحزن اضحت

    وهي اسرى للبرق ساعة اسرى

    How many souls came under grief's yoke,

    captives of the lightning when it traveled by night!

  15. سلكه قطع القلوب فهلا

    قطع السلك فهو بالقطع احرى

    Its wire cut hearts apart; why, then,

    was the wire not cut? It deserved severing more.

  16. هل درى لا استقل فيه عمود

    انه قد نعى العميد الاغرا

    Did it know—may no pole stand erect for it—

    that it had announced the illustrious leader's death?

  17. ما عهدنا الحمام يفري شبا السيف

    ويردي وسط العرين الهزبرا

    Never had we known death to cleave the sword's edge

    and fell the mighty lion in the midst of its den.

  18. عم آفاقها مصاب فقيد

    عمها نائلا وجوداً وبشرا

    The loss of one departed filled its horizons,

    one who had filled it with bounty, generosity, and good cheer.

  19. يا فقيهاً له شرايع فضل

    لم تزل في الزمان منهن ذكرى

    O jurist, whose laws of excellence

    have always left a remembrance through the ages.

  20. كان للسمع من حديثك عقد

    نظمته الرواة في السلك درّا

    Your discourse was a necklace for the ear,

    which narrators threaded as pearls upon a string.

  21. فغدا الدر في المسامع لما

    نعي الفضل في الاضالع جمراغ

    Then the pearls in our ears became, when

    virtue's death was announced, embers within our ribs.

  22. كم مقام شهدته فتجلت

    ظلمة الشك مذ تجليت بدرا

    How many a gathering you attended, dispelling

    the darkness of doubt as you appeared, a full moon!

  23. فانثنى الخصم ليس يملك نبساً

    وسطا النحل وهو يهدر هدرا

    Then the opponent withdrew, unable to utter a word,

    and he assailed the creeds, roaring aloud.

  24. عادت الالسن الفصيحة خرساً

    بك والاعين الحديدة حسرى

    Eloquent tongues became mute

    before you, and keen eyes grew weary.

  25. لك في المشكلات ثاقب فكر

    كلما اظلمت تبلج فجرا

    Amid difficult problems, yours was penetrating thought;

    whenever they darkened, it shone forth as dawn.

  26. تفصل الحكم ناطقاً ببيان

    ساطع يجتلى الكواكب زهرا

    You gave decisive judgment, speaking with eloquence

    radiant, bringing the shining stars into view.

  27. مثل سيل العقيق يجري فيلقي

    درراً من معادن الحكم غرّا

    Like al-Aqiq's torrent, it flows and casts up

    brilliant pearls from the mines of wisdom.

  28. ويراع إذا جرى فوق رق

    حاز رق البيان نظما ونثرا

    And a reed pen, whenever it ran across parchment,

    took eloquence captive, in verse and prose.

  29. ليس ينفك ينتقي اللفظ فحلا

    ويزف المعنى إلى السمع بكرا

    It never ceases selecting virile words,

    and leading virgin meaning as a bride to the ear.

  30. وإذا حبر الكلام استمد الشهد

    والخمرة السلافة حبرا

    And when it embellished speech, it drew upon honey

    and the choicest wine as ink.

  31. وحديث البيان قد صح عنه

    فهو فوق الطروس ينفث سحرا

    And the saying on eloquence is proven true through it:

    for upon the pages it breathes magic.

  32. ولو ان المداد لم يك خمراً

    ما وجدنا عقولنا وهي سكرى

    And had the ink not been wine,

    we would not have found our minds intoxicated.

  33. اكبر الفيلسوف نقدك لمّا

    ان رأى آية الكتاب الكبرى

    The philosopher held your critique in awe when

    he saw the book's greatest marvel.

  34. ان يكن عاد للطبيعة عبداً

    فلقد عدت بالشريعة حرّا

    If he has become a slave to nature,

    you have surely become free through sacred law.

  35. حجج صدعت بنور هداها

    ليل شرك من الضلال اكفهرا

    Proofs that cleft, with the light of their guidance,

    a night of idolatry grown black with error.

  36. كنت نعم النصير للدين لما

    هتف الدين قائلا لك نصرا

    You were an excellent champion of faith when

    faith cried out to you, saying, 'Help!'

  37. قال قوم بأن شبلي شميل

    ليث غاب فقلت صادف بشرا

    Some people said that Shibli Shumayyil

    was a forest lion; I said, 'He met Bishr.'