عَدِمتُ قَلبي إِذا لَم يَعدُمِ الجَلَدا

وَنالَ نَفسي الرَدى إِن لَم تَذُب كَمَدا

My heart was broken if patience did not break

I would forfeit my heart if it did not forfeit its endurance, and death would claim my soul if it did not melt from grief.

And my soul met destruction if it did not melt like wax

Ah! If only a sigh could avail a sorrowful man, he would seek no other support in his time of distress.

آها وَلَو نَفِعَت آهٌ أَخا شَجَنٍ

لَم يَبتَغِ غَيرُها عِندَ الأَسى عُضُدا

Alas, if sighs were useful to a brother complaining

Ah! Had a calamity not befallen us, my hand would never have written this word upon the page.

None would seek but them in time of misery as a pillar

Man strives hard, but Death strives harder still, to leave no striving soul remaining upon the earth.

آها وَلَو لَم يَكُن خَطبٌ أَلَمَّ بِنا

ما سَطَّرَتها يَدي في كاغِدٍ أَبَدا

Alas, if we had no misfortune that pained us

It equates the nursing infant with the grey-haired elder, the slave with his master, and the fox with the lion.

My hand would have never scripted it on any paper

He who was solitary in his virtue among men has now left Virtue standing solitary in its grief.

المَرءُ مُجتَهِد وَالمَوتُ مُجتَهِدٌ

أَن لَيسَ يَترُكُ فَوقَ الأَرضِ مُجتَهِدا

A man makes effort and death makes effort

Eloquence has died with the death of Al-Yaziji; he who does not weep for the man, weeps for the art that is lost.

That it leaves no one making effort above the earth

By God, Eve has never borne a heart purer than that of this departed soul, nor shall she ever bear one again.

ساوى الرَضيعَ بِهِ مَن شابَ مَفرِقُهُ

وَالعَبدُ سَيِّدَه وَالثَعلَبُ الأَسَدا

It equalized the suckling infant with the one whose parting turned his hair gray

Where is the light that adorned the lands, as the full moon adorns the firmament in the deepest wing of night?

And the slave, his master; and the fox, the lion

Where is the reed pen that used to enchant us with its scratching against the parchment as it critiqued?

قَد غادَرَ الفَضلَ بِالأَحزانِ مُنفَرِداً

مَن كانَ بِالفَضلِ دونَ الناسِ مُنفَرِدا

It has left excellence with sorrows, alone

And where, oh where, are his virtues—envied for his sake, just as he was envied for possessing them?

He who was unique among people in excellence

It is the duty of Knowledge to weep for him, as a brother weeps for a brother, or a father for his son.

ماتَ البَيانُ بِمَوتِ اليازَجِيِّ فَمَن

لَم يَبكِ هَذا بَكى هَذا الَّذي فَقَدا

Eloquence died with the death of Al-Yaziji so whoever

I swear, never has a pen trembled in my hand over the page, but that I made my streaming tears its ink.

Does not weep for this, let him weep for the one who lost

And I shall take no companion in this life to comfort me, after that noble soul, save for the grief that remains.

وَاللَهِ ما وَلَدَت حَوّاءُ أَطهَرَ مِن

هَذا الفَقيدِ فُؤاداً لا وَلَن تَلِدا

By Allah, Eve did not give birth to one purer in heart than this deceased, no and will never give birth

Where is the illumination that adorned the countries like

أَينَ الضِياءُ الَّذي زانَ البِلادَ كَما

يَزينُ البَدرُ في جُنحِ الدُجى الجَلَدا

The full moon adorns the darkness of night with its beams

Where is the bell that used to give us pleasure

أَينَ اليَراعُ الَّذي قَد كانَ يُطرِبُنا

صَريرُهُ في أَديمِ الطِرسِ مُنتَقِدا

With its ringing in the sleeve of poetry, striking

And where, where are his qualities that were envied

وَأَينَ أَينَ سَجاياهُ الَّتي حُسِدَت

مِن أَجلِه وَكَذا مِن أَجلِها حُسِدا

Because of him and because of them he was envied

It is owed to knowledge to cry over him as

حَقٌّ عَلى العِلمِ أَن يَبكي عَلَيهِ كَما

يَبكي الشَقيقُ أَخا وَالوالِدُ الوَلَدا

A sibling cries over a brother and a parent over a child

I swear by He for whom no pen over poetry paper shook

أَقسَمتُ ما اِهتَزَّ فَوقَ الطَرسِ لي قَلَمٌ

إِلّا جَعَلتُ لَهُ دَمعي البَتيتُ مَدَدا

Except that I made my pouring tears as its provision

And I took no brother in life to console me

وَلَاِتَّخَذتُ أَخاً في الدَهرِ يُؤنِسُني

بَعدَ الجَليلِ سِوى الحُزنِ الَّذي وَجَدا

After the magnificent except the sorrow which was found