1. أكفُّ البَرَايَا مِنْ تُرَاثِهِمُ صُفْرُ

    وبِيْضُ المَنَايا من دِمَائِهُمُ حُمْرُ

    The hands of mortals are empty of their inheritance,

    and the white swords of death are red with their blood.

  2. وخيلُ الرَزَايَا ماتزالُ مُعدَّةً

    تقاتلُنَا فُرْسانُها ولها النَّصْرُ

    The horses of calamity remain ever ready;

    their riders fight us, and victory is theirs.

  3. تكُرُّ علينا البِيضُ والسُّمْرُ بالردَى

    فتبلغُ ما لا تبْلُغُ البِّيضُ والسُّمْرُ

    White swords and brown spears charge upon us with death,

    attaining what white swords and brown spears cannot attain.

  4. ومَوْردُ هذا الدهرِ مُرٌّ وإنَّهُ

    لأَعْذَبُ شيءٍ عندَنا ذَلكَ المُرُّ

    The watering-place of this age is bitter, yet

    that bitter draught is the sweetest thing to us.

  5. خليليَّ من أبناءِ بكرِ بنِ وائلٍ

    قِفَا وانْدُبَا شَيْخاً بهِ فُجِعتْ بَكْرُ

    My two friends among the sons of Bakr ibn Wa'il,

    stand and mourn an elder whose loss has bereaved Bakr;

  6. وبدراً تراءَى للنواظرِ فاهتدتْ

    بِهِ بُرْهةً ثم اختفَى ذَلِكَ البَدْرُ

    and a full moon that appeared to gazing eyes, which found guidance

    by it for a while; then that full moon vanished;

  7. وعَضْباً ثَنَتْ أيدي النوائِبِ حَدَّهُ

    فهلاَّ اعتراها من مضاربِهِ عَقْرُ

    and a keen sword whose edge the hands of calamity bent—

    why were those hands not wounded by its strokes?

  8. أرامي الرَّدَى أَخطَأْتَنا وأَصَبْتَهُ

    أسأتَ لنا جُذَّتْ أَنامِلُكَ العَشْرُ

    O archer of death, you missed us and struck him.

    You wronged us; may all ten of your fingers be severed!

  9. فَيَا أيُّها الثَّاوي الذي اتخَذَ الثَّرَى

    مُقَاماً فَهَلاّ كَانَ صَدْري لَكَ القبرُ

    So, O you who lie at rest, who have taken the earth

    as your abode, why was my breast not your grave?

  10. وهَلاَّ استخارَ الغَاسِلونَ مَدَامعي

    لجسْمِكَ غُسْلاً ثم شِيبَ به السِّدْرُ

    And why did the washers not choose my tears

    to wash your body, then mix lote leaves with them?

  11. فإنْ جُعِلَ الماءُ القُرَاحُ برغمِ مَنْ

    رآه لكم طُهْراً فأنتُمْ له طُهْرُ

    For if pure water is used—despite anyone who

    deems it a purifier for you—you are its purifier.

  12. وإن بَلِيتْ أكفانُكَ البيضُ في الثرى

    فما بَلِيَ المعروفُ منكَ ولا الذكْرُ

    And though your white shrouds decay in the earth,

    your goodness has not decayed, nor has your remembrance.

  13. أُوالُ سُقِيتِ صَوْبَ كلِّ مجلجلٍ

    من المُزْنِ هَامٍ لا يجِفُّ له قَطْرُ

    O Awal, may you be watered by the downpour of every thundering

    rain cloud, pouring freely, whose drops never dry.

  14. كأنَّكِ مغناطيْسُ كلِّ مُهَذَّبِ

    فما كاملٌ إلاّ وفيكِ له قَبْرُ

    You seem a magnet for every refined man:

    no perfect man exists but has a grave in you.

  15. لِيَهْنِكَ فَخراً أنْ ظَفِرتَ بتربةٍ

    يُعفَّرُ خَدٌّ دُونَ إدْرَاكِها الغُفْرُ

    May you rejoice in the honor of having gained a plot of earth

    that al-Ghafr cannot attain, its cheek laid in the dust.

  16. ثوَى بِكَ من آلِ المُقَلَّدِ سَيّدٌ

    هو الذَهَبُ الإبرِيزُ والعَالِمُ الصُّفْرُ

    A lord from the house of al-Muqallad rests within you;

    he is pure gold, and the world is brass.

  17. فَتًى كَرُمتْ آبَاؤُهُ وجُدُودُهُ

    وطَابَتْ مَسَاعيهِ فتمَّ لهُ الفخرُ

    A man whose fathers and forefathers were noble,

    and whose endeavors were good, so his glory was complete.

  18. عَفِيفٌ مُلاثُ البُرْدِ عن كلِّ زَلَّةٍ

    وفي أذْنِهِ عن كلِّ فاحِشةٍ وَقْرُ

    Chaste beneath his cloak, free of every lapse;

    and his ear is deaf to every indecency.

  19. جَوَادٌ له في كلِّ أُنْمُلَةٍ بَحْرُ

    بصيرٌ لهُ في كلِّ جَارِحَةٍ فِكْرُ

    Generous, with a sea in every fingertip;

    perceptive, with thought in every limb.

  20. ويا بَلَدَ الخَطِّ اعْتَرَاكِ لفقدِهِ

    مدَى الدهرِ كَسْرٌ لا يُرَامُ لهُ جَبْرُ

    And O land of al-Khatt, his loss has dealt you

    a fracture for all time, beyond all hope of mending.

  21. مِنَ الآنَ بَدْءُ الشَّرِّ فيكِ وإنَّهُ

    لمُتَّصِلٌ بَاقٍ وآخِرُهُ الحَشْرُ

    From now, misfortune begins in you, and it

    will surely endure without cease, ending only at the Resurrection.

  22. فأيُّ فتًى لا يَرْهَبُ الضيمَ جَارُهُ

    فقدتِ ويُسْرٌ لا يُمازِجُهُ عُسْرُ

    And what a man, whose neighbor fears no oppression,

    you have lost—and an ease unmingled with hardship!

  23. وليثُ وغىً لو قَابَلَ الليثَ أَعْزَلاً

    وحَارَبَهُ لم يُغْنِهِ النابُ والظُّفْرُ

    And a lion of battle: had he faced a lion unarmed

    and fought it, its fang and claw would not have availed it.

  24. فأُقسمُ لولا مَوْتُهُ في فِرَاشِهِ

    لجُرِّدَتِ البِيضُ المُهنَّدَةُ البُتْرُ

    So I swear, had he not died in his bed,

    the keen white Indian-forged swords would have been drawn,

  25. وأُرعِشَتِ المُلْدُ المثقّفةُ السُّمرُ

    وأقبلتِ الخَيْلُ المُسَوَّمَةُ الشُّقْرُ

    and the supple, straightened brown spears would have been set quivering,

    and the marked chestnut horses would have advanced.

  26. عليهنَّ من آلِ المُقَلَّدِ غِلْمَةٌ

    مَسَاعِيرُ حَرْبٍ لا يضيعُ لها وِتْرُ

    Upon them, youths from the house of al-Muqallad,

    kindlers of war, in which no blood-debt goes unavenged.

  27. تُثَقِّفُ مُنآدَ الرماحِ أكُفُّهُمْ

    وتمنحُها طُوْلاً إذا شانَها قِصْرُ

    Their hands straighten the bent shafts of spears

    and give them length when shortness mars them.

  28. كأنَّهُمُ والسابغاتُ عليهِمُ

    إذَا ما دجَى ليلُ الوغَى أنجمٌ زُهرُ

    They seem, with full coats of mail upon them,

    when battle's night grows dark, to be radiant stars.

  29. ولو خَلَّدَ المعروفُ في الناسِ وَاحِداً

    لَخلَّدَ عبدَاللهِ نَائِلُهُ الغَمْرُ

    And if kindness could immortalize a single person among mankind,

    his overflowing bounty would have immortalized Abdullah.

  30. ولكنَّها الأيامُ جَاءَتْهُ تبتغِي

    نَوَالاً فأَولاها نَوَالاً هُوَ العمرُ

    But such are the days: they came to him seeking

    a gift, and he granted them a gift—his life.

  31. فيا قَبرَهُ حَيَّاكَ مُنْعَبِقُ الكَلا

    ونَشَّرَ من أَبرادِهِ حَولَكَ الزَّهْرُ

    So, O his grave, may fragrant herbage greet you,

    and may blossoms unfurl their mantles around you.

  32. بَنِيهِ اصْبِرُوا فالصبرُ أَجملُ حُلَّةٍ

    تردَّى بها مَنْ مَسَّ جَانِبَهُ الضُّرُّ

    His sons, be patient, for patience is the finest robe

    worn by one whose side affliction has touched.

  33. فلولا انقضا الأَعْوَامِ ما فَنِي الدَّهرُ

    ولولا فَنَا الأيامِ ما نَفَدَ الشهر

    For without the passing of years, time would not perish,

    and without days perishing, the month would not be spent.

  34. ودونَكُمُ من لُجَّةِ الفِكْرِ دُرَّةً

    مُنظَّمةً يعنُو لها النظمُ والنثرُ

    And take a pearl from the depths of thought,

    strung, before which verse and prose bow;

  35. وعَذْرَاءَ من حُرِّ الكلامِ خريدةً

    بأمثالِها في الشِّعْرِ يفتَخِرُ الشِّعْرُ

    and a virgin, a secluded maiden of noble speech:

    in poetry, poetry takes pride in her like.

  36. وَمَا مَهْرُهَا إلاَّ قَبُولُكُمُ لها

    لقد كَرُمَتْ مَمْهُورَةً وغَلا المَهْرُ

    And her dower is nothing but your acceptance of her;

    she is indeed noble, endowed with her dower, and precious is the dower.