1. رَمَتكَ سِهامُ العَينِ وَاللَهُ أَنفَذا

    وَما أَخَذتَ حَتّى قَضى فيكَ مَأخَذا

    The arrows of the evil eye struck you, and God let them pierce.

    And you received none until He decreed their hold upon you.

  2. فَمُتَّ وَقالَ الحَمدُ لِلَّهِ مُشفِقٌ

    بِأَسمائِهِ الحُسنى رَقاكَ وَعَوَّذا

    So you died, and a caring man said, 'Praise be to God,'

    having prayed over you and invoked protection with His most beautiful names.

  3. وَلَو شاءَ عافى وَجهَكَ الحَسنَ الَّذي

    تَوَرَّمَ حَتّى خِفتُ أَن يَتَخَذَّذَا

    Had He willed, He would have healed your beautiful face, which

    swelled until I feared it would split apart.

  4. وَلكِنَّهُ جازاكَ بِالجَنَّةِ الَّتي

    غَذاكَ بِها مِن جَنَّةِ الخُلدِ ما غَذا

    But He rewarded you with the Garden,

    where He nourished you with what He bestowed from the Garden of Eternity.

  5. رَجوتُكَ يا اِبني وَالزَمانُ محالِفي

    سَعيتُ لِتَوقي وَهوَ يَسعى لِتوقَذا

    I placed my hopes in you, my son, while time was my ally.

    I strove to protect you, while it strove to strike you down.

  6. وَلَمّا تَوَفّى اللَهُ مَن كُنتُ أَرتَجي

    وَعاشَ الَّذي يشكى الأَذى مِنهُ وَالقَذى

    And when God took the one in whom I placed my hope,

    while the one complained of for harm and irritation lived on,

  7. نَبَذتُ وَضمتُ اِبنَ البِغيّ وَطالَما

    شَفعتُ لَهُ أَن لا يُضامَ وَينبذا

    I cast out and wronged the harlot's son, though often

    I had interceded for him, that he not be wronged or cast out.

  8. جَبَذتُ فُؤادي مِن حَنايا ضُلوعِهِ

    وَما جَبَذَتكَ الأَرضُ إِلّا لِتُجبَذا

    I wrenched my heart from the arches of its ribs;

    and the earth seized you only to wrench you away.

  9. لَحى في البُكا لاحٍ فَقالوا أَلا هُدى

    فَقُلتُ وَأسبَلتُ الدُموعَ أَلا اِنبذا

    A reproacher blamed my weeping, and they said, 'Is there no guidance?'

    I answered, letting tears stream: 'Cast that aside!'

  10. يَصيّرُني الداعونَ فيكَ إِلى الأَسى

    وَثُكلكَ في قَلبي أَحَرُّ مِنَ الحَذا

    Those who call to me concerning you bring me to sorrow;

    and losing you burns hotter in my heart than the ḥadhā herb.

  11. أَبى القَلبُ إِلّا أَن يُقَطَّعَ حَسرَةً

    وَيحمي عَلى النارِ الضُلوعَ مُحَبِّذا

    My heart insists on being torn to pieces with grief,

    and gladly heats my ribs over the fire.

  12. وترت صَغيرَ السِنِّ مُستَعظمَ السّنا

    جَنِيَّ المحيّا قلب القَلب جَهبَذا

    I was bereft of one young in years, immense in radiance,

    fresh-faced, nimble-hearted, a discerning genius.

  13. تَرِقّ حَواشيهِ وَيَظرُفُ طَبعُهُ

    وَآدابُهُ حَتّى يُقال تَبَغدَذا

    Gentle are his ways, and refined his nature

    and his manners, till they say, 'He has adopted Baghdad's refinement.'

  14. وَيَحنو عَلَيهِ المَجدُ مِمّا سَما لَهُ

    وَيَعنو لَهُ الضّرغامُ مِمّا تَنَجَّذا

    Glory bends fondly toward him for the heights he attained;

    and the lion yields to him for his seasoned wisdom.

  15. وَهَل كانَ إِلّا فَخرَ فهر بنِ مالِكٍ

    رأى حَذوهُم في صيصَةِ المَجدِ فَاِحتَذى

    Was he anything but the pride of Fihr ibn Malik?

    He saw their example in glory's citadel and followed it.

  16. وَصُمُّ الأَعادي تَقشعرُّ لِذِكرِهِ

    جُلودهُمُ حَتّى تَرى اللَيثَ قُنفُذا

    And the hardened enemies shudder at mention of him,

    their skins bristling until the lion looks like a hedgehog.

  17. تَقرّ بهِ عَيني إِذا سَخِنَت بِهِم

    وَتُقذى إِذا ما أقذيَت وَهُمُ القَذى

    My eye is cooled by him when it burns because of them,

    and is troubled when grit is cast in it—and they are the grit.

  18. أُقَبِّلُ ياقوتَ المحيّا بِخَدِّهِ

    وَلَو عاشَ لي قَبّلتُ مِنهُ الزُمُرُّذا

    I kiss the ruby of his face upon his cheek;

    and had he lived for me, I would have kissed his emerald.

  19. لَقَد ساءَني في الدَهرِ مَن كانَ سَرَّني

    وَأَغرَقَني في الدَمعِ مَن كانَ أَنقَذا

    Truly, in this life, he who once gladdened me has grieved me,

    and he who once saved me has drowned me in tears.

  20. مَضى وَهوَ لَم تُكتَب عَلَيهِ خَطيئَةٌ

    وَكَيفَ وَما أَمنى بُلوغاً وَلا مَذى

    He departed with no sin recorded against him;

    how could there be, when he had neither ejaculated at puberty nor emitted preseminal fluid?

  21. وَلا قَطّ آذى مُسلِماً بِلِسانِهِ

    وَلا بِيَدَيهِ بَل هُوَ اِحتَمَلَ الأَذى

    Nor had he ever harmed a Muslim with his tongue,

    or with his hands; rather, he bore the harm himself.

  22. فَأَرَّقَ عَيني وَالدُموع أَراقَها

    وَلَم يَبقَ إِلّا ذِكرُهُ مُتَلَذِّذا

    He left my eye sleepless and poured out its tears,

    and nothing remains but his memory for me to savor.

  23. سَعى النورُ حَولي نَعشهُ وَعِداتهُ

    تَقولُ زَكا مَن كانَ مَشهَدُهُ كَذا

    Light coursed on either side of his bier, and its assurances

    declared, 'Pure is he whose funeral is like this.'

  24. وَصَلّى عَلَيهِ المُسلِمونَ بِأَسرِهِم

    وَقاضي التقى إِلّا الفَقيهَ المَشعوذا

    All the Muslims prayed over him,

    and the pious judge—except for the charlatan jurist.

  25. بَكَوهُ وَقالوا أَيَّ برٍّ وَفالِذٍ

    وَجَدناهُ مِن كُلٍّ أَبرّ وَأَفلَذا

    They wept for him and said, 'What a dutiful soul and generous giver!

    We found him more dutiful and generous than anyone.'

  26. فَغاثوا بِهِ الأَرضَ رَيّا مِنَ البُكا

    وَطافوا بَرِيّا قَبره الطَيِّبَ الشَذا

    So, for him, they watered the earth to fullness with their weeping,

    and circled his sweet-scented grave amid its perfume.

  27. شِهابُ العُلا لَو كانَ يعقلُ نَعشهُ

    لَأَشبَهَ قَلبي حَسرَةً فَتَفَلَّذا

    A shooting star of glory—had his bier possessed understanding,

    it would have resembled my heart in grief and shattered.

  28. تَقولُ المَعالي كُلَّما أعجبت بِهِ

    لِمِثلِكَ قالَ العربُ نعمى وَحَبَّذا

    The heights of honor say, whenever they marvel at him,

    'For one like you, the Arabs said, "How excellent! How delightful!"'

  29. لَهُ فَهَمٌ ما كلَّ قَطُّ غرارُهُ

    فَمصقَله إِعمالُ فِكرٍ وَشَحَّذا

    He has an understanding whose edge never once grew dull;

    its polisher was the exercise of thought, which honed it.

  30. تَبَيَّنَ مَعنى الفَرق ما بَينَ إِن وَأَن

    وَمَيَّزَ إِذ قيلَ التَأَدُّبِ من إِذا

    He grasped the distinction in meaning between 'in' and 'an',

    and distinguished 'idh' from 'idha' when learning was discussed.

  31. وَكانَ يَرى الكُتّابَ قُرَّةَ عَينِهِ

    إِذا صِبيةُ الكتّابِ مَلّوهُ لُوَّذا

    He regarded the school as the cool delight of his eye,

    when the schoolboys tired of it and sought escape.

  32. وَأَقسَمَ لَو أَوفى عَلى التِسعِ مِثلُها

    عَنا كُلَّ أَستاذِ لَهُ فَتَتَلمَذا

    And he swore: had another nine years been added to his nine,

    every teacher would have bowed to him and become his pupil.

  33. أَعبدُ الغنيّ اِبني شَذَذتَ نَجابَةً

    وَما زالَت الأنجابُ مِثلكَ شُذَّذا

    O Abd al-Ghani, my son, you were exceptional in nobility,

    and noble souls like you have always been rare.

  34. بَذَذتَ الكُهولَ الغرّ حِلماً وَسُؤدُداً

    كَذاكَ عَهدنا فهر لِلنّاسِ بُذَّذا

    You surpassed illustrious men of mature years in forbearance and eminence;

    so have we known Fihr, outstripping other people.

  35. كَأَنَّكَ تَتلو الذِكرَ مُتَّعِظاً بِهِ

    تُرتِّلُهُ وَالناسُ يَتلونَ هُذَّذا

    As though you recite the Remembrance, heeding its admonition,

    you chant it measuredly, while others rattle it off.

  36. أَأَحسب لي مَعنى وَإِن كُنتُ واحِداً

    شَأى القَومَ في آدابِهِ وَتَفَذَّذا

    Can I imagine any meaning for myself, though I was unique—

    one who surpassed his people in refinement and stood apart?

  37. وَبَعدَكَ لا أَرتادُ في الرَوضِ مَربَعاً

    لِعَيني وَلا أَسطيعُ في الأَرضِ مَنفَذا

    And after you, I seek no springtime retreat in the gardens

    for my eye, nor can I find a way out on earth.