1. برق بأنباءِ الأحبّة سارِ

    صَدعَ القُلوبَ وطار بالأبصارِ

    A lightning message, speeding with tidings of loved ones,

    Shattered hearts and swept the eyes away.

  2. بلغ المطار به محلّةَ رازحٍ

    نهضت إليه روائعُ الأقدارِ

    Its flight brought it to the dwelling of one bowed down,

    Against whom the terrors of fate had risen.

  3. قطع الصّلاةَ عليه قبل تَمامِها

    فطوى أوائلَها بلا استغفارِ

    It interrupted his prayer before its completion,

    Then folded away its beginnings without a plea for forgiveness.

  4. وأقامَ للأحزانِ من صَلَواتها

    نُسْكَ الهُداةِ وسُنّةَ الأبرارِ

    And established for sorrows, out of their prayers,

    The devotions of the guides and the practice of the righteous.

  5. صلّوا بني الوطنِ المُصابِ فإنّها

    بلوى الشُّعوبِ ونكبةُ الأقطارِ

    Pray, sons of the stricken homeland, for this is

    An ordeal for peoples and a calamity for lands.

  6. أودى عليٌّ بعد أحمدَ فانظروا

    مَهوى الجبالِ ومَغرِبَ الأقمارِ

    Ali has perished after Ahmad; behold

    The downfall of mountains and the setting of moons.

  7. وسلوا الكِنانةَ هل لها من ناصرٍ

    يُرجَى لِمنعِ حِمىً وصَوْنِ ذِمارِ

    And ask Kinana whether she has any champion

    Who can be hoped for to protect her sanctuary and safeguard her honor.

  8. عصف الزّمانُ بها فطاحَ لِواؤُها

    وهَوتْ سُيوفُ حُماتِها الأحرارِ

    Time stormed against her, and her banner fell,

    And the swords of her free defenders fell.

  9. أَفضَى الجِهادُ بهم إلى مكروهةٍ

    تَغتالُ بأسَ الفارسِ المِغوارِ

    Their struggle brought them to an evil fate

    That steals away the fearless horseman's might.

  10. يُلقِي السّلاحَ وراءها ويحلُّها

    كاللّيثِ عاد مُقلَّمَ الأَظفارِ

    He casts his weapon behind it and dwells within it,

    Like a lion returned with his claws clipped.

  11. سَلَبَ الجبانُ بها الشجاعَ ذِراعَه

    وهَوى الضَّعيفُ بهامةِ الجبّارِ

    There the coward robbed the brave man of his arm,

    And the weak brought down the mighty one's head.

  12. حُفَرٌ تموتُ بها القُوى ومنازلٌ

    تَقرِى الترابَ نَضارةَ الزُوّارِ

    Pits where strength dies, and dwellings

    That feast the dust on their visitors' freshness.

  13. قُمْ يا عليُّ فأنت أكرمُ قائمٍ

    بالأمرِ بعد رِفاقِكَ الأخيارِ

    Rise, Ali, for you are the noblest to take charge

    Of the cause after your virtuous companions.

  14. فِيمَ الرُقادُ ومصرُ في أصفادِها

    والشّعبُ رَهنُ مَذلَّةٍ وَصغارِ

    Why sleep while Egypt lies in her shackles,

    And the people are held hostage to humiliation and abasement?

  15. أَشَفَيْتَ نفسَك حين مِلتَ إلى الكرى

    ونزلتَ منزل هَدْأةٍ وقرارِ

    Did you heal yourself when you turned to sleep

    And settled in an abode of quiet and repose?

  16. أين الشّفاءُ لمن تَضمَّنَ قلبُه

    ما بالكنانةِ من جوىً وأوارِ

    Where is healing for one whose heart contained

    Kinana's anguish and burning heat?

  17. كنتَ الزّعيمَ الحقَّ في أبنائها

    لولا الحياءُ وصالحُ الإِيثارِ

    You would have been the true leader among her sons,

    But for modesty and noble selflessness.

  18. أكرمتَ حزبَك عن مَطامِع عُصبةٍ

    شتّى المطامعِ جمّةِ الأوطارِ

    You kept your party above the ambitions of a faction

    Of varied ambitions and countless desires,

  19. عَقدتْ على الغَدْرِ العُهودَ ذميمةً

    وَلَوَتْ وُجوهَ مُساومين تجارِ

    That basely bound its covenants to treachery,

    And turned the faces of bargaining merchants.

  20. ووقفتَ جيشاً في طليعة فِتيةٍ

    بيضِ الصّحائفِ وُضَّحِ الآثارِ

    And you stood as an army at the forefront of young men

    With white records and radiant deeds.

  21. عَرفوكَ كَنْزَ هُدىً وذُخرَ مُروءةٍ

    ورأوك سَيفَ وَغىً ولَيْثَ مَغارِ

    They knew you as a treasury of guidance and a store of chivalry,

    And saw you as a sword of battle and a lion of the raid.

  22. أسفِي عليكَ ذهبتَ غير مُودَّعٍ

    ومَضَيْتَ بين عَشيَّةٍ ونهارِ

    My grief for you! You departed without a farewell,

    And passed away between evening and daylight.

  23. أسفِي على الجارِ القريبِ يؤمُّه

    عادى الرَّدى فيؤمُّ أبعدَ دارِ

    My grief for the nearby neighbor, whom

    Death's assailant seeks, so he seeks the farthest abode.

  24. جارَ الوفاءِ فُجِعْتُ منكَ بنازحٍ

    نائي المحلَّةِ مُوحَشِ المُزدارِ

    Neighbor of fidelity, I was bereaved of you, gone far away,

    Distant in abode, desolate to visit.

  25. أنت الصّديقُ دفنتُ أكرمَ صُحبةٍ

    فيهِ وأصدقَ ذِمّةٍ وجوارِ

    You are the friend; I buried the noblest companionship

    In him, and the truest pledge and neighborly bond.

  26. لمّا نُعِيتَ إليَّ في وَضَحِ المُنى

    سَدَّ الظّلامُ عليَّ مَطلعَ داري

    When news of your death reached me in the bright light of hope,

    Darkness barred my home's sunrise from me.

  27. أمسكتُ دمعي فاستهلَّ وهاجني

    تَهطالُ آخرَ دافقٍ مِدرارِ

    I held back my tears; they burst forth, and I was stirred

    By another's downpour, gushing and abundant.

  28. فعَرفتُ أبنائي ولستُ لهم أباً

    حتّى يُقيموا سُنَّتي وشِعاري

    Then I recognized my sons; I am no father to them

    Until they uphold my way and my watchword.

  29. صحبٌ صِغارُ السِّنِّ ما بِنُفوسِهم

    لُؤمٌ ولا أحلامُهم بصِغارِ

    Companions young in years; their souls harbor no

    Baseness, nor are their minds small.

  30. عرفوا الزّعيمَ فغالهم ما غالني

    لِفراقهِ وَاسْتَعبروا اسْتِعباري

    They knew the leader; what ravaged me ravaged them

    At his parting, and they wept as I wept.

  31. يا فارسَ الوادي وحارسَ ضأنِه

    الضأنُ فوضَى والذّئابُ ضواري

    O horseman of the valley and guardian of its sheep,

    The sheep are in disarray, and the wolves are ravenous.

  32. قُمْ غيرَ خوّارِ القناةِ فقد وهت

    عَزَماتُ كلِّ مُنكّبٍ خَوّارِ

    Rise, with no faltering spear-shaft, for weakened are

    The resolves of every shirking weakling.

  33. أنت الجديرُ بأن تُفارقَ أُمّةً

    وقع الرعاةُ بها على الجزَّارِ

    You are worthy of leaving a nation

    Whose shepherds have fallen in with the butcher.

  34. نَمْ غيرَ مكفورِ الجهادِ فإنّها

    أيامُ كُلِّ مُشاغبٍ كفّارِ

    Sleep, your struggle not denied, for these are

    The days of every quarrelsome ingrate.

  35. جَمعٌ يُعظِّمُ كلَّ خَبٍّ ماكرٍ

    ويُهينُ كُلَّ مُجاهدٍ صَبَّارِ

    A throng that honors every scheming rogue

    And humiliates every steadfast fighter.

  36. قُمْ يا خطيبَ النّيلِ في مَرْضَى الهَوى

    وَاشْفِ النُّهى ببيانِكَ السحّارِ

    Rise, orator of the Nile, among those sick with passion,

    And heal their minds with your enchanting eloquence.

  37. رَاعَ المنابرَ خطبُ مِنبركَ الذي

    نَسفَ الجبالَ ومال بالأسوارِ

    The calamity at your pulpit appalled the pulpits—that pulpit which

    Uprooted mountains and bent the ramparts.

  38. لمّا استبقتَ القولَ في أعوادهِ

    سِيقَتْ إليه يدُ القضاءِ الجاري

    When you hastened your speech upon its timbers,

    The hand of unfolding fate was driven toward it.

  39. أشرفتَ منه تَهُزُّ شعباً رابضاً

    والموتُ خلفَك رابضٌ مُتَوارِ

    From it you towered, stirring a crouching people,

    While death crouched behind you, hidden.

  40. مَيْتٌ على ميتٍ ينوحُ وذاهبٌ

    يبكي لِمظْعنِ ذاهبٍ سيّارِ

    A dead man laments a dead man, and one departing

    Weeps at the departure of another journeying on.

  41. لاقيتَ ربَّك قائماً تقضي الذي

    يقضي الوفيُّ لأُمّةٍ وديارِ

    You met your Lord standing, fulfilling what

    A loyal man fulfills for a nation and its homes.

  42. مِثلَ الشُّجاعِ هَوَى الحِمامُ بِسَرْجِهِ

    تحتَ العَجاجِ فَطاحَ في المضمارِ

    Like the brave warrior whose saddle death brought down

    Beneath the dust-cloud, so he fell in the arena.

  43. أحييتَ سُنّةَ مصطفى ولَقيِتَه

    حيَّ المناقبِ خالدَ التَّذكارِ

    You revived Mustafa's way and met him,

    Your virtues living, your memory everlasting.

  44. فاذهبْ جُزِيتَ من الإله مثوبةً

    ممّا اصطفى لفريقهِ المختارِ

    Go, then; may God grant you a reward

    From what He has selected for His chosen company.