1. When the noble heroes were led forth with spears
As their steeds were urged on with slender swords,

2. And bent over them was a tribe from Ma'rib, and Khaulan,
Whose battlefields were strewn with skulls and bodies,

3. We salute the venerable faces in Paradise
Which met red death in the heat of battle,

4. And the bodies of faith which were all clothed
In the raiment of stallions charging in attack,

5. They were honored even in burial in the earth
For God honors none but the noblest of men,

6. They are the people who went forth unto martyrdom, and so they attained it,
And none could resist them in their victory,

7. They sipped from cups of death in the tumult of battle,
So they inclined to it gently, like the swaying branches.

8. They went forth in God's cause as though they were flying
In their daring, on the backs of racing steeds,

9. They see nearness to God as the greatest spoils -
Thus is nearness to God the finest gain -

10. Sublime goals they sought, and plunged in to attain them,
While no fear could deter their valiant hearts,

11. And they cared not if their bodies fed the beasts
Or lay in the bellies of wild animals.

12. Nay! By the Father of those youths, singling them out -
Though with God they are no different than others -

13. Only the remnants of their smiles remain
Which we find too painful to behold,

14. And the splendor of their radiant faces
That outshone the glowing stars at night,

15. Were the clouds to withhold rain from those faces
Flashes of lightning would scold the miserly skies,

16. And O Father of those bodies, slender as gazelles
Racing with purpose to earn great reward -

17. In them the dark-skinned and fair dissolved together
And braided as one, the rugged with the smooth,

18. So may God not distance those who drew near
By sacrificing lives most precious,

19. They are stops of righteous men who fulfilled with their striving
Obligations that were like ordained duties,

20. Afflicted while they were exemplars of worship
Youth and elders, at dawn and eve,

21. So the spear-bearer lies pierced in the chest by a spear-bearer
And the swordsman lies beheaded by a swordsman.

22. O Lord of vigils by night, and selfless giving at noon,
There life was cut short by the blades of swords,

23. The rescuer of the weak lay fallen into the fray
Toppled in the midst of the battle's rage,

24. They were lost on that fateful Thursday when they lost
Their comrades, and met their end in the deadly trap,

25. God watered their mangled limbs on the plain of Anishah
With downpours from heavily laden clouds,

26. And He prayed upon them, souls whose mention is blessed,
Sweetening thereby the gales that blow soft,

27. They showed patience - and such patience! - therein, and we can only
Respond by letting fall our eyelids and biting our lips,

28. I have spent the nights in darkness on their account, as though I am
Wounded by spears or bitten by snakes,

29. I consort with ever-growing anguish, not tiring,
And meet with the most prolific weeping, not bored,

30. I gaze upon the radiant stars, sleepless,
Yet they set away from me, slumbering,

31. I complain unto the days of their evil works,
But my complaint is to one who lacks mercy.

32. Calamities whose blows have rendered patience limp,
And tribulations have come one after another.

33. Even if the Sultan were to soothe my burning anguish,
I would still freely choose the gloom of wild beasts,

34. But what Sultan is there for me, who might cheer me
With a cup of wine circled by songs?

35. Among the sand dunes and meadows are maidens
Whose scent has mingled with the pleasant breeze,

36. The stalwarts wept for them as they exerted themselves fully,
But none shares in kindness save the equally kind.

37. I poured upon them copious tears, crimson and flowing,
As though hands had scattered rubies and pearls,

38. And I joined the bereaved women, sleepless with elegy,
Who stir the most delicate leaves at night,

39. And I shared in carrying the bier with their people -
But none bears goodness like those who bear it too.

40. So alas for the religion whose wound festers!
And whose remedy is not seized by a decisive healer,

41. And alas for knowledge, whose hills lie barren!
Its pillars fallen and its foundations destroyed!

42. The bearer of the legacy of the line of Ya'rub has died,
And the protector of the guidance of the Chosen Hashimi,

43. The guiding planet has set, so the morning is darkened,
And we grope confusedly in a night of overwhelming ignorance,

44. And the hopes of the listeners are ruined by his death,
As he willed on that terrible, momentous day.

45. What brilliance has set, never to rise?!
What glory has vanished, never to return?!

46. Peace upon the world, now that it lacks
The living presence of Suleiman bin Musa bin Salem!

47. Without him, is there any joy left in my life,
When sorrows have overwhelmed me like an advancing army?

48. So here I am, fearing the times of war,
When once in times of peace I was secure!

49. O brother of might, mature and young!
His peers range from agreeable to stubborn.

50. He was matchless in his knowledge and excellence,
And for one so lofty, it suffices that he is a knowing celestial body,

51. His resting place was above the heights, his visions expansive,
His gifts outpoured before the tying of amulets,

52. His reach is far, his path cannot be obscured -
Once resolved, his magic overwhelms like a firm spell,

53. His speech is smooth and gently rounded,
Yet if you shoot at it you meet rugged precipices.

54. He has a sorcery of eloquence that surpasses all speakers,
Leaving them humiliated and regretful.

55. Neither meadow, graced with his flowing pearls of dew,
Nor chilling hailstones can match him.

56. With the most wondrous beauty in his writings
Penned by his pen in the finest calligraphy,

57. A Yemeni, his gifts were nurtured
To completeness before the tying of protective charms

58. He pleases palace assemblies in every scene
And looks handsome at the time of festivals,

59. His unique traits proliferate in the immensities of splendor,
Like the perfection of virtues or the beauty of resistance.

60. Curse on a stumbling time that broke his might
With a misfortune that befell his glorious state!

61. He was called to the Abode of Peace, to its hospitality -
At it the maidens cry `Oh, the caller! Oh, the called!'

62. But he came to it guided, not turning back,
Seeking God's welcome, everlasting,

63. As leader of the religion or pillar of the state -
His work was completed, no critic could blame him,

64. And if his jealous enemies find fault in him,
Does not the beautiful always have those who blame her?

65. By your life! His affliction among the enemies does not wear away,
Though the heroes have dragged the hem of defeat!

66. By Allah, none forgets his stance in battle
Save a denier who hides the radiance of glory!

67. You met catastrophe with a beaming face,
So blessings be upon your beaming face at the catastrophe!

68. And you were protected until you attained the highest paradise,
So you won the fragments of bliss, the spoils of the victorious.

69. You had your fill of happy life or martyrdom -
You saw nothing else as sinful deeds.

70. You attained the Gardens of Bliss and everlasting,
Were a dweller in al-Thurayya before it and its bliss.

71. You did not cease to live in satisfaction or die a martyr -
The best of the two abodes for the God-fearing without end.

72. O you whose place is solicitude, who is sufficient ransom
From our masters? Every servant of yours!

73. O you whose work is sealed with victory - know that
Only deeds are considered in the final judgment.

74. Congratulations for what is beautiful from God!
It shades every devout one, permanently.

75. I find that you do not slow your rage against
Any roar I cure through ceaseless perseverance,

76. Nor after today do you promise a gift
Of sleep to transport me to the state of the dreamer.

77. How quickly you pulled away, fleeing,
And traveled the paths you blazed, not following others!

78. You left behind one who hopes for your defense, in despair
Of victory during calamities overwhelming,

79. As though, for my deep sorrows, beyond consolation
Were the attacks of adversaries relentlessly invading,

80. I lost you - none can equal you if present! -
So farewell glory of the absent and disgrace of loss!

81. I sought you - unattainable is your abode! -
Who seeks the like of you but the blameworthy?!

82. My heart is wounded, its sickness incurable,
Unlike one whose heart is reconciled to your loss,

83. I have an ardent longing to meet you
That tosses me about atop the waves of emotion,

84. By Allah, your memory in my heart eternally
Remains, not the memory of one immoral!

85. If there were room in my heart for solace
I would be solaced - but no consolation for the distraught!

86. I wrong you if I do not fulfill your boons in full,
But one like me does not wrong in its like!

87. Loyalty demands of me the utmost with regards to you,
I have preserved it, honoring those days.

88. I weep for a beloved in the wild, as Ziyad wept
For a grave between Basra and Jasim,

89. And I wish that eulogizers would excel me
In glorifying Qais ibn al-Asim.

90. With these elegies I have carried out their custom,
Contributing the effort of one who shares,

91. So extend to them a hand that receives
And press to them a mouth that is silent.