قضى أريحي القوم والقوم من همو — Ahmed Shawqi

قضى أريحيّ القوم والقوم من همو

فكل لبيب بين جنبيه مأتم

The people's generous-hearted man has died—and what a people they are!

So every discerning man bears a mourning assembly within his breast.

غدا وغدونا والحياة تضمنا

ورحنا وكم من ميِّت لا يقوم

He went out in the morning, and so did we, while life embraced us;

We returned at evening—yet how many a dead man never rises!

فهل خطب الأبرار بالليل ودّه

فأصبح فيهم راضيا يتنعم

Did the righteous, then, court his friendship by night,

So that morning found him among them, content and in bliss?

ألا إنما الدنيا نهار وليلة

يذيعان ما تخفى الغيوب وتكتم

Behold, this world is but a day and a night,

Which disclose what the unseen conceals and keeps secret.

ولم ترق منذ الدهر للناس عَبرة

إذا ضحك الباكي بكى المتبسم

Since time began, people's tears have never ceased:

When the weeper laughs, the smiling one weeps.

أبا يوسف في كل نادٍ مناحة

أرامل تبكى أو عوائل تلطم

O Abu Yusuf, in every gathering there is lamentation:

Widows weep, or families beat their cheeks.

تغيّر للاحسان والجود معهد

ونكّر للعرفان والعلم معلم

A familiar home of benevolence and generosity has changed,

And a landmark of understanding and learning has become unrecognizable.

لئن مت فالإنسان لا بدّ ميت

ولكن رزء الناس بالحرّ مؤلم

Though you have died, every human must die;

But people's loss of a noble man is grievous.

وما عاش مجهول المكان محقر

وما مات مرفوع المنار معظم

No obscure, despised man has truly lived;

Nor has an honored man whose beacon towers high truly died.

وما المال إلا غصة فوق غصة

إذا ما سقى المرء القضاء المحتم

And wealth is but one choking pang upon another,

When inescapable fate gives a man drink.

وإن الفتى في عيشه ما سعى له

وإن الفتى من بعده ما يقدّم

Indeed, a man in life is what he strives for;

And after he is gone, a man is what he sends ahead.

فما كان عند الناس فالناس ألسن

وما كان عند الله فالله أكرم

As for what rests with people, people are tongues;

And what rests with God—God is more generous.

سراة بنى مصر طوى الموت حاتما

فهل حاتم من جمعكم يتقدّم

O nobles of Egypt's sons, death has folded away a Hatim;

So will a Hatim from among you step forward?

خذوا الخير عنه وافعلوا مثل فعله

فَلَلخَير في الدارين زين ومغنم

Take goodness from him, and do as he did;

For goodness is indeed adornment and gain in both abodes.

أما وعظتكم ميتة زلزلت لها

جوانب مصر والخلائق نوم

Has not a death admonished you, at which

Egypt's far reaches shook, while mankind lay asleep?

أما راعكم نعش حوى ذلك الغنى

وما فيه دينار ولا فيه درهم

Has not a bier startled you, holding that wealthy man,

With not a dinar in it, nor a dirham?

ويا أحمد الخيرات إنى ارتجلتها

ودمعي ارتجالا خلف نعشك تسجم

And O Ahmad of good deeds, I improvised this poem,

While my tears streamed unbidden behind your bier.

بكيت على الحرّ الهمام وفقده

وهل حيلتي إلا البكا والترحم

I wept for the noble, magnanimous man and for his loss;

And what recourse have I but weeping and prayers for mercy?

وما الشعر إلا رجع حس وخاطر

فمن خانه وجدانه خانه الفم

And poetry is but an echo of feeling and thought;

So whoever is betrayed by his feeling is betrayed by his mouth.

فخذها رثاء من وفىّ ولوعة

يبثك إياها الفؤاد المكلم

So take it as a loyal friend's elegy, and the burning grief

That the wounded heart pours out to you.

لقد كانت الآمال فيك كثيرة

وهل تنقض الآمال والله مبرم

Indeed, the hopes placed in you were many;

And can hopes be unraveled when God binds them fast?

وما ابنك إلا الخير من صلب خير

فِلم لا يرجى فيه أو يُتوسم

And your son is but a good man sprung from a good man's loins;

So why should good not be hoped for or discerned in him?

ستعليك ذكرا فوق معن وحاتم

أياد على هذا الأنام وأنعم

You will be raised in renown above Ma‘n and Hatim

By benefactions and bounties bestowed upon these people.