مضى وكل قطين بعده فان

من كنت في البعد ارعاه ويرعاني

He passed away, and every dweller after him must perish.

He whom I cherished from afar, and who cherished me;

ومن على فوته عيني مسهدة

ترعى النجوم وليل الهم يغشاني

and he whose loss leaves my eye sleepless,

watching the stars while the night of grief envelops me;

ومن اتاني منعاه ولم اره

فهاج حزني واضناني واضناني

and he whose death notice reached me, though I had not seen him;

so my grief surged and wore me down, and wore me down.

يا طور لبنان هل تشجيك اشجاني

لفقد الف عزيز للصبي ثان

O Mount Lebanon, do my sorrows grieve you

over the loss of a dear companion, a second youth?

وهل ذوى منك دوح باسق اسفا

كما ذوى من فوادي كل سلوان

And has any towering grove of yours withered in sorrow,

as every solace has withered from my heart?

وهل اتاك حديث الاولين مضوا

وفخرهم دائم من دون نقصان

And has the tale reached you of those of old who passed away,

while their glory endures without diminution?

امثال فردك ناصيف فهل لك من

فقدانه بدل يا فجع فقدان

The likes of your peerless Nasif—then have you, for

his loss, a replacement? O anguish of bereavement!

هيهات ليس له ند فينسينا

فرط الحنين اليه بعض نسيان

Far from it! He has no equal to make us forget

our overwhelming longing for him, even a little.

يا سائلي هل شجا ناعيه ذا شحط

ولاع منه فؤادا لوعة الداني

O you who ask me: did the announcer of his death grieve one far away

and sear his heart with the anguish of one nearby?

انظر الى دمعي القاني وقس لهبا

عليه بين الحشا من نار احزاني

Look at my crimson tears, and measure the flame

against them, within my breast, from the fire of my sorrows.

حر تحرى على الآداب في زمن

فيه المآدب تحدو كل انسان

A noble man who zealously pursued letters in an age

when banquets spurred everyone onward.

فلم يضع ساعة من عمره عبثا

ولم يضع قوله في غير احسان

So he wasted not an hour of his life in vain,

and set his words to nothing but good.

كانت قوافيها البيد سائرة

سير النجوم فتهدى كل حيران

Its rhymes traveled across the deserts,

as the stars travel, thus guiding every bewildered soul.

تنزهت عن عيوب الشعر رائقة

لفظا ومعنى هما في الحسن صنوان

They were free of poetry's faults, exquisite

in wording and meaning, twin equals in beauty.

كما تساوي لديه من نزاهته

مال وعدم هما للحر سيان

Just as, through his integrity, equal in his eyes were

wealth and poverty—both alike to a noble man.

لو لم تكن دررا ما كان ناظمها

فكر له ثاقب في جيد ازمان

Had they not been pearls, they would not have been strung

by his piercing thought upon the neck of ages.

له البلاغة مذ عهد الصبى خلق

لم يثنه عنه في السبعين من ثان

Eloquence had been his nature since boyhood;

no one turned him from it, even at seventy.

ما كان يهجو ولا يهجى ولا حجبت

ذكا قريحته احلاك حدثان

He neither satirized nor was satirized; never was veiled

the brilliance of his poetic gift by the darkness of misfortune.

كانت اسرته عنوان نيته

على المصافاة في سر واعلان

His countenance was the sign of his intent

toward sincere friendship, in private and in public.

وشانئ شانه تهجين ذي شان

لكنه عاش ذا شان بلا شان

And a hater's business is to disparage a man of standing,

yet he lived a man of standing without a blemish.

مضى وفي ثوبه الآداب قد طويت

من بعد ما نشرت عنه بتبيان

He passed away, with letters folded into his robe,

after they had been unfolded through him in lucid exposition.

ان الذي انشرت اشعاره حكما

حي وان درجوه ضمن اكفان

Indeed, he whose poems brought wisdom to life

is alive, though they folded him into shrouds.

ان كنت بالغت في تابينه فلكم

في مدحه بالغت صحبي واقراني

If I have exaggerated in eulogizing him, how often

have my companions and peers exaggerated in praising him!

لا تنكروا فضل ذي فضل لمذهبه

وفي اطلبوا علم اهل الصين برهاني

Do not deny a worthy man's merit because of his creed;

and in “Seek the knowledge of the people of China” lies my proof.

واحسرتاه عليه اذ نؤرخه

مضى وكل قطين بعده فان

Alas for him, as we date his passing:

He passed away, and every dweller after him must perish.