سأبكي على ابني مدتي وحياتي

ويبكيه عني الشعر بعد مماتي

I shall weep for my son all my days, all my life,

and poetry will weep for him in my stead after my death.

وأقطع أيامي عليه بلوعة

تعبر عن مكنونها عبراتي

I shall spend my days in anguish over him,

my tears expressing its hidden depths.

وكل أسى دون الذي يستحقه

وليس وفاء العهد غير وفاتي

Every grief falls short of what he deserves,

and nothing but my death can fulfill my pledge.

وربتما لم أبط عنه فإنني

رأيت قريباً كل ما هو آت

Perhaps I shall not linger long behind him, for I

have deemed all that is to come to be near.

أتبلي المنايا مهجة ابن ذخرته

لدهري ويبلوني بخمس بنات

Do the fates consume the lifeblood of a son I had treasured

for life's trials, and test me with five daughters?

وكنت أرجي أن يكون محمداً

ذخيرة آمالي وكنز حياتي

I had hoped that Muhammad would be

the treasure of my hopes and the hoard of my life.

فافقرني صرف الردى بذخيرتي

وبت رجائي واستباح نباتي

Then death's blow impoverished me, taking my treasure,

and severed my hope and ravaged my growing shoots.

رحلت أبا الأضياف عني بأنسهم

فأقوت لأنسي منهم عرصاتي

You left me, father of guests, taking their fellowship with you,

so my courtyards lay desolate, without their company to comfort me.

فهل علمت عادات جودك أنني

عفت جنباتي من نزول عفاتي

Do your accustomed acts of bounty know that

my grounds lie deserted, no longer visited by my suppliants?

وما عشت إلا ست عشرة حجة

سقى عهدهن الله من سنوات

You lived no more than sixteen years—

may God water the days of those years!

وقد كنت تغري الناس بالبر والتقى

كريم الصبا ناء عن الصبوات

You would urge people to goodness and piety,

noble in youth, far removed from youthful follies.

محمد لا تبعد فإن حشاشتي

تكدر صافيها بقرع صفاتي

Muhammad, be not far away, for the life still in me

has had its clarity clouded by blows against my rock.

ترحلت عن صدري وحجري إلى البلى

فعرس ركب الهم في حجراتي

You departed from my breast and lap into decay,

and grief's caravan encamped in my chambers.

غدت لك أعواد المناياي مطية

وليس لها حاد سوى زفراتي

The wooden poles of death became your mount,

and it has no camel-driver but my sighs.

أعندك أن النوم نافراً أعيناً

لها سنة لم تكتحل بسنات

Do you know that sleep has shunned eyes

that for a year have worn no kohl of slumber;

وأنك لم توحش سواي من الورى

ولا وسمت بالثكل غير سماتي

and that, of all mankind, you left none desolate but me,

nor branded any features but mine with the loss of a child;

وأن سرور النفس جانب جانبي

وأقسم لا يبدو على قسماتي

and that the soul's joy has shunned my side

and sworn never to appear upon my features;

وأن محلاً بنت عنه تفرقت

جماعة عواد له وأساة

and that the home you left has seen the dispersal

of its company of sick-visitors and healers?

لقيت الردى مستبشراً غير أنه

لقاء رمى شملي بسهم شتات

You met death rejoicing, yet it was

a meeting that pierced my gathered life with an arrow of dispersal.

رزقت ثبات الجأش لطفاً ورحمة

وطشت فلم أملك عليك ثباتي

You were granted firmness of heart in kindness and mercy,

while I reeled, unable to keep my composure over you.

وخاطبتني والنفس في سكراتها

خطاب امرء صاح من السكرات

You spoke to me, your soul amid its death-throes,

with the speech of a man awakened from death's stupors.

بنفسي ثاو في القرافة سار عن

محل عفاة نحو دار رفات

My life be ransom for one resting in al-Qarafa, who journeyed from

a home of suppliants toward a house of crumbling bones.

فقير إلى الرحمن دون عبادة

غني عن الإحسان والحسنات

Needy of the All-Merciful, without worship,

in no need of beneficence or good deeds.

هجرت جميل الصبر فيه لأنني

وجدت جميل الصبر غير موات

I abandoned noble patience over him, because I

found noble patience would not come to me.

وكنت به دون البرية واثقاً

إذا خان إخواني وقل ثقاتي

In him alone, of all mankind, I had trusted,

when my brethren betrayed me and my confidants grew few.

وبيتني فيه الحمام ولم أكن

على حذر من طارقات بياتي

Death struck me through him by night, while I was not

on guard against the visitations of my nights.

وعهدي به يرنو إلي وطرفه

حسير وقلبي دائم الحسرات

My last memory is of him gazing at me, his eyes

weary, and my heart forever full of grief.

ووا رحمتا بل حسرتا لنواظر

سرت بيننا مخذولة النظرات

Ah, my pity—no, my anguish—for those eyes

that moved between us, powerless in their glances.

ومازلت أرجوه إلى أن رأيته

على الرغم مني ساكن الحركات

I kept hoping for him until I saw him,

against my will, with every movement stilled.

فقبلت وجهاً كان لي منه قبلة

أصلي إليها من جميع جهاتي

So I kissed a face that had been my direction of prayer,

toward which I prayed from every direction.

وآليت لا أسلوه حتى أزوره

وإن قريباً كل ما هو آت

I have sworn not to cease mourning him until I visit him,

and surely all that is to come is near.