أفلا أبكي وقد أفلا — Abou Al Hassan Al Housri

أَفَلا أَبكي وَقَد أَفلا

قَمَرٌ مِنّي بَدا بَدَلا

Shall I not weep, when there has set

a moon sprung from me, who rose as a replacement?

كَمُلَت زَهرُ البُدورِ وَما

كَمُلَت حُسناً كَما كَمُلا

The radiant full moons reached fullness, but never

did they grow as perfect in beauty as he.

أَجلا لَيلي بِغُرَّتِهِ

وَخَبا مُستَوفِياً أَجَلا

He dispelled my night with his bright brow,

then faded, having fulfilled his allotted span.

أَو ما فَدَّتهُ يَومَ خَوى

شُهُبٌ كانَت لَهُ خولا

Or did they not ransom him on the day he set—

the bright stars that had been his servants?

جلَّ خَطبُ المَجدِ فيهِ وَكَم

بِمُحَيّاهُ جَلا جَلَلا

Great was glory's calamity in him; how often

his countenance dispelled a grave calamity!

مُنتَقى الأَخلاقِ جَدَّ إِلى

جَنَّة الفِردَوسِ مُنتَقِلا

Of choicest character, he hastened toward

the Garden of Firdaws, passing on.

تَرَكَ الدُنيا وَآثَرَها

فِعلاً فيها بِما فَعَلا

He left the world, yet favored it

with the deeds he performed within it.

أَسلا عَن كُلِّ غانِيَةٍ

أَرسَلَت أَلحاظَها أَسلا

He made me forget every fair woman

who sent her glances forth as spears.

وَحَلا مُرُّ الحِمامِ لَهُ

إِذ رَأى الدُنيا لَنا وَحلا

And bitter death tasted sweet to him,

when he saw the world was mire for us.

وَأَلاحَت مِن رَزِيَّتِهِ

فِهرُ إِذ وَلّى وَإِذ وَأَلا

And fearful at the calamity of his loss was

Fihr, when he turned away and sought refuge.

وَلَدي أَودى فَلا شَغَفٌ

لي بِالدُنيا وَلا شُغُلا

My son has perished: no passion remains

in me for this world, nor any preoccupation.

أَو حَطَّ البَدر رافِعُهُ

فَاِختَبا أَو عَقلي اِختَبَلا

Or has the one who raised the full moon lowered it,

so it vanished—or has my mind gone mad?

فَسَأغشى القَبر باكِيهُ

لا الطّلى أَخشى وَلا الطَلَلا

So I shall visit the grave, weeping for him,

fearing neither the fawns nor the ruins.

نَتَجَتهُ الشَمسُ ثُمَّ نَأَت

فَاِعتَدى الدَهرُ الَّذي اِعتَدَلا

The sun bore him, then went away;

and time, once just, became oppressive.

أَزمَعَت أُمُّ الغَزالِ نَوىً

فَنَسيتُ اللَهوَ وَالغَزَلا

The gazelle's mother resolved to depart;

so I forgot amusement and courtship.

غَدَرَت مِنّي وَفِيّكما

فَسَلا المَشغوفُ كَيفَ سَلا

She betrayed your faithful friend in me;

so ask, you two, how the lovestruck man found solace.

نَجلها عَبدُ الغَنِيِّ شَفى

وَجَلا عَن قَلبي الوَجلا

Her son, Abd al-Ghani, healed me

and dispelled fear from my heart.

فَاِعتَزى لِلعِزِّ والِدُهُ

ثُمَّ ذَلَّ اليَومَ فَاِعتَزَلا

So his father claimed kinship with glory;

then today he was humbled and withdrew.

قَد أَسا جُرحي وَفارَقَني

فَاِندَمى الجُرحُ الَّذي اِندَمَلا

He had healed my wound, then parted from me;

so the wound that had healed bled anew.

لا حَبا مِن بَعدِهِ وَلَدٌ

لا تَسَلَّت أُمُّهُ حَبَلا

May no child crawl after him;

may his mother find no solace in pregnancy.

آدَني دَهري فَأَبَّدني

وَاِحتَمى في العِبءِ فَاِحتَمَلا

My fate weighed me down and left me desolate;

it grew fierce in its burden and carried him away.

كلَّ مَعنى كانَ يوضِحُهُ

في العُلا لمّا اِشتَكى اِشتَكَلا

Every quality he used to make clear

in greatness grew obscure when he fell ill.

لِتمُت نَفسي بِحَسرَتِها

مَن إِلَيهِ اِرتاحَت اِرتَحَلا

Let my soul die of its grief:

the one in whom it found comfort has departed.

جَذَمَت حَبلي النَوائِبُ مِن

سَكَني وَاِبني فَلا جَذَلا

Calamities cut the cord binding me to

my companion and my son; no joy remains.

لَو أَرادَ اللَهُ بي رشداً

لَكَفاني لَمسي الكَفَلا

If God had willed right guidance for me,

touching the haunch would have sufficed me.

أَعنت نَفسي ذي عَنتٍ

لِضَجيعٍ حَلَّ لي وَحَلا

I burdened this soul of mine with hardship

for a bedfellow lawful to me and sweet.

لَيتَني عِفتُ الزُلالَ فَقَد

أَعقَب الغضّاتِ وَالزَلَلا

I wish I had shunned the clear water, for it

brought humiliations and stumbling in its wake.

عِبرُ الأَيّامِ قائِلَةٌ

وَيحَ مَن أَغفى وَمَن غَفَلا

The lessons of the days proclaim:

'Woe to him who dozes and him who is heedless!'

وبَنو الدُنيا كَأَنَّهُم

في عمىً عَنها فَلا عَمَلا

And this world's children seem

blind to them, and take no action.

لَو دَرى عَيرٌ دَوائِرها

ما نَزا مِن هَولِ ما نَزَلا

If an ass knew the world's reversals,

it would not leap, for dread of what befell.

فازَ مَن لَم يَستَقِرَّ هَوىً

فَخَلا مِنها وَلا خَلَلا

Victorious is he in whom desire never settled,

who is free of this world, with no flaw.

عَرَضَت أَعراضها فَأَبى

وَنَفى غَيرَ التُقى نَفَلا

She offered her wares, but he refused,

and rejected every gain but piety.

جَرَّعَتني اليَومَ عَلقَمَها

فَعَسى أَن تُعقِبُ العَسَلا

Today she made me swallow her bitter colocynth;

perhaps she will follow it with honey.

وَصَل اِبني لِلنَّعيمِ فَيا

لَيتَ مَوتاً صَدَّني وَصَلا

My son has reached bliss; oh,

would that death, which barred me, would bring me to him!

فَصَلاةُ اللَهِ جَلَّ عَلى

مَن إِلى رِضوانِهِ وَصَلا

So may God's blessing—exalted is He—rest upon

the one who has reached His good pleasure.

وَذُنوبي كَالحَصا عَدَداً

أَينَ منّي ما لَهُ حَصَلا

And my sins are as numerous as pebbles;

how far from me is what he attained!

مِن طِرازِ اللَهِ كانَ فَلَو

ذَبَّ عَنهُ العَينَ ما ذَبلا

He was of God's own embroidery; had He

warded the evil eye off him, he would not have withered.

وَنَجا لِلحُسنِ مِن ضَرَرٍ

لا لَمىً أَبقى وَلا نَجلا

And his beauty would have escaped a harm

that spared neither dusky lips nor wide eyes.

هَمَّ إِبلالاً فَلَجَّ دَمٌ

مِنهُ لا يَألو الثَرى بَلَلا

He sought recovery, but blood kept flowing

from him, unstintingly soaking the earth.

إِن غَسا لَيلي أَرِقتُ لَهُ

وَأَرَقتُ الدَمعُ فَاِنغَسَلا

If my night darkens, I lie awake for him,

and pour out tears, till it is washed clean.

وَكَذا صَرفُ الزَمانِ إِذا

حَلَّ أَمراً لِلفَتى فَتَلا

And such are time's reversals: when

it unties an affair for a man, it twists it tight.

كانَ إِن فتَّ الحَشا سَقَمٌ

عادَ في قُرآنِهِ فَتَلا

Whenever illness crushed his inward parts,

he would return to his Qur'an and recite.

بَطَلَ الزَعمُ الَّذي زَعَموا

أَنّ درعاً أَحرَزَت بَطَلا

False is the claim they made:

that armor keeps a hero safe.

نَحنُ في الهَيجا عَلى خَطَرٍ

مَن يَقُل أَنجُو يَقُل خَطَلا

We stand in peril in the battle;

whoever says 'I shall escape' speaks folly.

وَقّتَ اللَه الحمامَ فَإِن

صابَ شَهماً سَهمُهُ قَتَلا

God has fixed the hour of death; if

its arrow strikes a valiant man, it kills.

بِأَبي طِفلٌ فُروسَتُهُ

أَرحَلَت عَن طَرفِهِ الرُحَلا

A child—my father be his ransom—whose horsemanship

drove the saddles from his steed.

في نَشاطٍ لِلحِضارِ نَشا

إِن كَسا الطِفلَ الصِبا كَسَلا

He grew up eager for the gallop,

though childhood clothed a child in sloth.

قَد حَبا العَقل الوقارَ لَهُ

فَرَساً في حِلمِهِ جَبَلا

Reason had bestowed dignity upon him,

so he stood firm, a mountain in his forbearance.

إِن وَعى مِنّي الأُصولَ ضُحىً

فَرَّعَت آراؤُهُ أُصُلا

If he grasped the roots from me in the forenoon,

his thoughts branched forth into roots of their own.

قَبَرَت فهر التُقى مَعَهُ

وَالجِدا وَالجِدَّ وَالجَدَلا

Fihr buried piety with him,

and generosity, earnestness, and disputation.

وَلَدي عَبدَ الغَنِيِّ أَما

بَلَغَت فيكَ العُلا أَمَلا

My son, Abd al-Ghani, has not

greatness attained its hope in you?

هَنَّأَتكَ الكَأسُ تَشرَبُها

مِن رَحيقٍ ثُمَّ لا ثَمَلا

May the cup you drink bring you joy—

of pure wine, with no drunkenness afterward.

فَاِشفني بِاللَهِ مِن عِلَلٍ

وَاِسقِني يَومَ الصَدى عَلَلا

So heal me, for God's sake, of my ailments,

and give me draught upon draught on the day of thirst.