1. My wailing and grief have been prolonged,
I came to call upon you, will you answer my plea?

2. I came to water with my tears the grave,
In which I deposited my share of life.

3. Do not fear the loneliness of the grave, nor
Grieve, I will join you soon.

4. I will not leave my cub alone,
In a desolate, inhospitable wilderness.

5. When the vicissitudes of life sapped my strength,
And my firewood burned out, and old age overtook me.

6. And your branch was stripped of its leaves
Under the sun of power and abundant prosperity.

7. And we hoped in you what the sire of cubs never hoped
In the precious cub.

8. Death stalks you in the crack of youth
And tender age in bitter cold.

9. It left no remedy untried, but
God’s knowledge eluded the physician’s knowledge.

10. Oh Abd al-Hamid, look at
A father overwhelmed with sorrow and pale.

11. Bewildered with grief beyond limit
Walking among your peers like a stranger.

12. Whenever he sees one of them,
Yearning shakes him for the face of the beloved.

13. He asks the branches in their flowers
About their sister, that delicate branch.

14. He asks the moons in their shining
About the vanished beloved.

15. Grief flooded the regions of his soul
And the darkness of sorrows melted his heart.

16. So life is no use to him, for can
Bodies thrive without hearts?

17. Rise, o sun, over a grave which
With greetings at dawn and dusk you encompass!

18. Settle, o God's mercy, upon him
And make your abundance the haven of the afflicted.