1. He finds solace in us while we console him,
And we slumber though his calamities do not slumber.

2. The survival of the young man is a quest hard for its seekers,
And the caprice of fate is a companion that stumbles its walker.

3. And the share of your fortune which you cannot attain,
And the misery of your enemy which you do not fight.

4. Beware! The turns of fate are a sea of calamities,
And all of mankind are its drowned, with the grave as its shore.

5. It becomes an heirloom to him who desired loyalty,
And it is fooled by him who sought deliverance.

6. The sorrows of the deeply grieved are plenty,
And the tribulations of the sensible are weighty.

7. Neither did his armor protect the sanctified being,
Nor did its misfortunes fall short with the hapless.

8. Does our nature's conflict with it benefit us,
When death approaches and we dislike its resemblance?

9. How can one be saved or ruined,
When his fate were arrows that suited his opponent?

10. But it has attained the son of Ghalib,
So it has attained one who wrestles its heights.

11. Its efforts have left it, so it darkened,
As its evenings left the light of day.

12. Excellence was enshrouded in his coffin, all of it,
And glory carried openly to the earth its carrier.

13. If the narrowness of the level ground constrained him,
How vast was the spacious earth that hosted his attainments!

14. And how much did his right hand race the seas,
And how it resembled the meadows in its left side!

15. If the day of his passing darkened the horizons,
His merits whitened the pages of judgment.

16. If the accident of his loss closed the door of patience,
His attainments opened the gates of heavens.

17. If his demise made the water of eyes joyless,
His legacy preserved the water of faces.

18. And how much did his night prayer revive the long night,
And how it killed the place of years with its separations!

19. So he left behind in the bitterness of affliction our hearts,
While his soul was carried to the coldness of bliss.

20. Condolences, Abu Bakr, had fate been just
To a generous people, you would have been one it treats justly.

21. The origin from which you branched has not gone,
Nor has the path ceased whose achiever you were.

22. Your father built glories, and you reinforced them
With a glory that matches what he built.

23. As the fullness of the moon is perfected
When a bright companion moon faces it.

24. And if the ancient glory grieved over him,
Do not fret, for you are its sponsor.

25. When the brilliance of Mohammed is proven again,
Its early radiances will not be shaken.

26. A man whom the envious amass against his virtues,
As those resembling and matching him are few.

27. The ally of an executioner whose swords are not sheathed,
And the robe of a pursuer whose weapons are not stripped.

28. Nothing intoxicates him but the blood of his enemies,
And no euphoria until his blades sing.

29. His wars conceal the lion of combat,
And his councils reveal the full moon.

30. Hailing by a sublimity whose envious are not at rest,
And leading by a generosity whose hopeful are not fatigued.

31. The meadows wish they were his stature,
And the virgins wish they were his features.

32. Similar is the glimmer of his opinion and his sword,
As are slack his cloak and its straps.

33. The seasons thrive by his efforts,
Yet sheathe and strap empty of them.

34. Passion's love softened his blade of wrath,
Though it does not cease to meet him every day.

35. It sparked a mind when he flowed with lenience,
As its torrents gushed when the clouds poured.

36. It blazed until the horizon was thought to be its origin,
And the shining stars its tribes.

37. I am baffled by him, though the meanings are strange:
Are his thoughts, or his compositions, more wondrous?

38. If there is an address or speech, then where is one who
Can debate him in this field and argue him?

39. You see in it the Nile's abundance and the full moon
When his marvel appears and his fingers create.

40. A generous man - if the promise lives an hour,
A smile hastens to him from it.

41. If comrades preceded him in time,
How much did the voluntary prayers precede the prescribed!

42. If a plateau matched him in the heights,
The thrust of the spear differed from the doer.

43. You supported me, Abu Bakr, when its tremors shook me,
And housed me when its quakes disturbed me.

44. None goes astray but your eminence is his reason,
And none is afraid but your heights are his fortresses.

45. You were sanctuary and refuge, like the raincloud -
It shades and waters the thirsty with its pouring.

46. And if you were a sharpened sword against the wicked,
Blessed is the sword and its wielder.

47. I see you through my eyes as one whose stumbling
Your efforts decrease, and the guide to good its doer.