بنى عبد السلام على أبيكم

من الرضوان غادية وظل

O sons of Abd al-Salam, upon your father

be a morning shower and shade of divine favor.

لكم بيت لواء العلم فيه

دعائم عزه شرف ونبل

Yours is a house where the banner of learning flies;

the pillars of its glory are honor and nobility.

بنوه بنو النبوّة قبل عاد

زكا أصل لكم فيه وفضل

Its sons have been sons of prophethood since before ʿAd;

your lineage and merit have flourished within it.

رمى الدهر المكارم والمعالى

فركنهما ضعيف مضمحل

Time has assailed noble virtues and high attainments,

and their pillar is weak and crumbling.

وخطب الدين والدنيا جليل

ولكن قدر من فَقدا أجل

Grave is the calamity of faith and worldly life,

but greater is the worth of him whom both have lost.

يحج لقبره بؤس عفاة

ورب القبر بالفردوس حِل

Wretched petitioners make pilgrimage to his grave,

while the grave's master dwells in Paradise.

بِعلِّيين لا بالأرض أمسى

وشأن النجم عن أرض يجل

He dwells in ʿIlliyyin, not in the earth,

and a star's station rises far above the earth.

وصافح بعضنا في العيد بعضا

وصافحه وملائكة ورسل

We shook one another's hands at Eid,

while angels and messengers shook his hand.

وعند الله ينشر بعد طى

حياة كلها في الخير فعل

And before God, after being folded away, is unfurled

a life made wholly of deeds of goodness.

لقاء الموت غاية كل حى

ولكن للحياة هوى مضل

Meeting death is the end of every living being,

but there is a misleading passion for life.

فإن تسمع بزهد القوم فيها

فإن الحب يكثر أو يقل

So if you hear of people's renunciation of it,

love grows greater or less.

وعند الموت تَحسَر كل نفس

لها في العيش أو طار وأهل

At death, every soul feels regret

that has wishes and family in life.

مضى المعطى وما تدرى يداه

ومن يأسو الجراح ومن يَبُل

Gone is the giver, his hands unaware of their giving,

and he who tended wounds and brought soothing relief,

ومن وزن الزمان فتى وشيخا

إذا الفتيان قبل الشيب ضلوا

and he who took the measure of his times, in youth and age,

when young men went astray before their hair turned gray.

وقور في الحوادث لا يبالى

سيوف البغى تغمد أو تسل

Dignified amid calamities, he cared not

whether tyranny's swords were sheathed or drawn.

وأقطع من سيوف الهند حدا

لسان لا يهاب ولا يزل

And keener of edge than the swords of India

was a tongue that neither feared nor erred.

كبير في المواقف لا جهول

بآداب الخطاب ولا مخل

Great in moments of consequence, neither ignorant

of the courtesies of speech, nor neglectful of them.

يسيل فصاحة ويفيض علما

وخطبة بعضهم عِى وجهل

He flowed with eloquence and overflowed with learning,

while some men's oratory is inarticulacy and ignorance.

فسر عبدالسلام إلى كريم

يلوذ به الكريم ويستظل

So journey, Abd al-Salam, to the Generous One,

in whom the noble seek refuge and shade.

بكاك الناس أحبابا وأهلا

بأحسن ما وفي للخل خل

The people wept for you as loved ones and kin,

with the finest loyalty one friend ever showed another.

وذاقت فقد خادمها بلاد

له في جيدها منن وفضل

And a country tasted the loss of its servant,

whose favors and bounty adorn its neck.

تعقَّلَ في محبتها فتيا

وأخلص في المحبة وهو كهل

He was prudent in loving it in his youth,

and sincere in love as a mature man.

وليس يؤثِّر الإخلاص شيئا

إذا لم يصحب الإخلاص عقل

And sincerity has no effect at all

if reason does not accompany sincerity.