أخي سليمان هذي غربتي بلغت

بي غربتين وزاد الموت إقصائي

My brother Suleiman, this exile of mine has brought

me into two exiles, and death has deepened my banishment.

قد كنت أشجي لنايي عنك في أسفي

يا ليتني دمت ذاك الآسف النائي

Once, in my sorrow, I grieved at being far from you;

would that I had remained that sorrowful, distant man!

ما لي سبيل إلى لقيا فأنشدها

فعالم الغيب محفوف بظلماء

I have no path to a reunion that I might seek,

for the world of the unseen is shrouded in darkness.

لا على ذكريات حية أبدا

من الطفولة لم يبرحن تلقائي

[Except] through memories, forever alive,

from childhood, which have never left my sight.

عشنا سويا أليفي نعمة وهوى

نحسو الشذى بين أزهار وأضواء

We lived together, companions of bliss and love,

sipping fragrance among flowers and lights.

لم يبلغ الطير ما نلناه من مرح

ومن طلاقة أحلام وأهواء

The birds never attained what we knew of mirth

and of unfettered dreams and desires.

ولا ابتسام شواطي النيل ما بلغت

عيننا من صفاء دون أقذاء

Nor did the smile of the Nile's shores attain

the clarity our eye attained, free of specks.

ولا خرير السواقي في تعثرها

تعثري ضاحكا في الطين والماء

Nor did the canals' murmuring, in their stumbling, match

my laughing stumbles through mud and water.

ولا اختصام الورى والحرب صاخبة

مثل اختصام لنا من غير شحناء

Nor did human quarrels, with war raging loudly,

resemble our quarrels, devoid of rancor.

ولا الأماني للدنيا بأجمعها

ساوت أمانينا أو بعض إحصائي

Nor did the wishes of the whole world

equal our wishes, or even a fraction of my tally.

تلك السنون التي مرت على عجل

ذخيرة لم تفت لحظي وإصغائي

Those years that passed in haste

are a treasure that never escaped my gaze or hearing.

أحسها وأناجيها وأعرفها

كأنما هي من ذاتي وأعضائي

I feel them, commune with them, and know them,

as though they were part of my very self and limbs.

يا خادم المسرح العالي يسيرته

هذي رواياتك العصماء للرائي

O servant of the stage, lofty [in your conduct],

here are your masterly plays for the viewer:

قد خلدت في المرائي فهي نابضة

بين الورى والمرائي مثل أحياء

they have been immortalized in images, and pulse with life

among people and in images, like living beings.

من عاصروك استقلواف ي مشاعرهم

عن عرضها فهي لن تنسى لنساء

Those who lived in your time had no need, in their hearts,

of seeing them staged; even the forgetful will not forget them.

ومن يجيئون حيث الضاد مكرمة

سيكرمونك إكرام الألباء

And those to come, wherever the tongue of ḍād is honored,

will honor you with the homage of the wise.

فنّ كفنّك لن يفنى وإن بعدت

به السنون كبعد للأحباء

Art like yours will never perish, however far

the years may carry it, as loved ones grow distant.

لم ندر أيهما أولى بتكرمة

تأليفك الحر في نقد وإيصاء

We could not tell which was worthier of honor:

your independent writing in criticism and counsel,

أم عبقرية تمثيل خصصت به

حتى تعدد في ألوان إيحاء

or the genius of acting with which you were endowed,

until it took on many hues of evocation.

يا مصلحا كل ما أهدى لنا مثل

للمصلحين ودستور الأطباء

O reformer, every gift you gave us was a model

for reformers, and a code for physicians.

تخذت بعد أبيك الشهم سيرته

شعارك الحي في تنوير دهماء

After your noble father, you adopted his way of life

as your living watchword in enlightening the masses,

وفي التسامي بمن هانوا ومن قبعوا

في اللهو حتى غدوا أدنى الأذلاء

and in uplifting the abased and those who lingered

in idle amusement until they became the lowest of the low.

إنا افتقدناك في وقت أحق به

من كان مثلك يحمي كل علياء

Indeed, we miss you at a time most deserving

of one like you, who guarded all that is lofty;

من كان دون شبيه في مناقبه

حلو الفكاهة حتى للألداء

one unequaled in his virtues,

sweet in humor even to his fiercest foes;

ويمزج الجد طي المزح تحسبه

يلهو وفيه أفانين لإغراء

blending seriousness within jest—you would think him

at play, though within him lay many arts of enticement.

نم في ضريحك نوم الأنس في سرر

من الضياء وفي ألوان أشذاء

Sleep in your tomb the sleep of solace, on couches

of light, and amid many hues of fragrance.

واقبل دموعي رثائي فهو من مهج

شتى وإن كن أزهاري وأندائي

And accept my tears, my elegy, for it comes from hearts

diverse, though they are my flowers and my dewdrops.