1. اطوياني ملامة وانشراني

    بلغ الوجدُ حيث لا تبلغاني

    Fold me in reproach and unfold me, you two;

    anguish has reached where you two cannot reach me.

  2. قد عناني جوًى يطول وفيه

    يقصر اللومُ عن مردّ عناني

    A burning grief besets me, long-enduring; within it

    reproach falls short of pulling back my reins.

  3. كيف عيني لم تغدُ بيضاء حزناً

    وهي قد أصبحت بلا إنسان

    How has my eye not turned white with sorrow,

    when it has already become bereft of its pupil?

  4. إنَّ صوت النعيّ مذ خاض سمعي

    خلته في حشاي غربَ سنان

    Since the sound of the death-announcement entered my hearing,

    I imagined it a spear's sharp point within my entrails.

  5. وعضضتُ البنانَ غيظاً ولكن

    لا يفيد المكلوم عضُّ البنان

    In anger I bit my fingers; yet

    biting one's fingers does not help the wounded.

  6. فاعذراني إذا ربطتُ فؤادي

    بيدي وانطويتُ ممَّا دهاني

    So excuse me if I bind my heart

    with my hands and fold inward at what has befallen me.

  7. إنَّ قلبي من دهشتي طار رعباً

    فغدا وهو دائم الخفقان

    My heart, from my bewilderment, flew away in terror,

    and now it never ceases fluttering.

  8. كفكفا عن حشايَ غرب ملامي

    من جراح الجوى بها ما كفاني

    Hold back reproach's sharp edge from my entrails;

    the wounds of burning grief within them suffice me.

  9. أينَ منِّي صبري لأرضى فأسلو

    صبري اليوم والرضا ميِّتان

    Where is my patience, that I may be content and find solace?

    My patience and contentment are dead today.

  10. أنا يا لائميَّ أدرى بطبِّي

    فاعذلاني ما عشتُ أو فاعذراني

    O my two reproachers, I know my own remedy best;

    so blame me as long as I live, or excuse me.

  11. سلّياني بردِّ روحي وإلاّ

    فبماذا عنه إذاً سلواني

    Console me by restoring my soul; otherwise,

    how, then, can I find consolation for his loss?

  12. قرّباه فوقَ الثرى اليوم منِّي

    أو فمنه تحت الثرى قرِّباني

    Bring him close to me above the earth today,

    or bring me close to him beneath the earth.

  13. واقبراه إذاً بقلبي وإلاّ

    فخذاه بقبره واقبراني

    And bury him, then, within my heart; otherwise,

    take him, grave and all, and bury me.

  14. وإلى جنب مهجتي وسِّداه

    أو إلى جنب جسمه وسِّداني

    Lay him beside my heart,

    or lay me beside his body.

  15. فحياتي وموته رزآن

    لم أقدّرْ عليَّ يجتمعان

    For my living and his dying are two calamities

    I never thought would fall upon me together.

  16. بل تخيلتُ أن يعيش وأفنى

    أو سواءً تضمُّنا حفرتان

    Rather, I imagined he would live and I would perish,

    or that two graves would enfold us alike.

  17. لم أفارقه أجنبيًّا ولكنْ

    هو روحي وفارقت جثماني

    I did not part with him as a stranger; rather,

    he is my soul, and I parted with my body.

  18. قد نشرنا ما بيننا الودَّ دهراً

    فطواه الردى وليت طواني

    For ages we spread our affection between us;

    death folded it away—if only it had folded me away.

  19. غمّضا ناظري ما عشتُ غيظاً

    فعلى مَن بعد الرضا تفتحان

    Close my two eyes in rage as long as I live;

    for whom, after al-Rida, should they open?

  20. وزفيري ثقّف حنايا ضلوعي

    فعلى ودِّ مَن تبين حواني

    My sighing has straightened the curves of my ribs;

    for whose love, then, should they appear curved?

  21. وخطوب الزمان دونك شخصي

    فلك اليوم قد كشفتُ عياني

    And, O calamities of time, here is my person;

    today I have laid myself bare to you.

  22. نزعت عنِّي الحوادث درعي

    فبمن أتَّقي شبا الحدثان

    The blows of fate have stripped off my armor;

    through whom can I ward off fate's sharp points?

  23. فلكم قد لويتُ دهري وهذا

    دهري اليوم كيفَ شاءَ لواني

    How often I bent my time to my will; yet this

    time of mine today bends me however it wishes.

  24. لك أسمحتُ يا خطوب الزمان

    ذهبتْ نخوتي فهاكِ عناني

    To you I yield, O calamities of time;

    my proud spirit is gone—here, take my reins.

  25. قد أبانت حشايَ فاستهدفيها

    نكبة طوَّحت ضحًى بأبان

    It has laid bare my entrails; make them your target:

    a calamity that toppled Aban in the morning light.

  26. راصدتني من حيثُ لستُ أراها

    أعين النائبات وهي تراني

    They watched me from where I could not see them,

    the eyes of calamities, though they could see me.

  27. فرمتني من حيثُ لا أتَّقيها

    بسهام الهموم والأحزان

    They shot me from where I could not ward them off,

    with arrows of anxiety and sorrow.

  28. فأنا اليوم يا نوائبُ كلِّي

    مقتلٌ بارزٌ لمن قد رماني

    Today, O calamities, all of me is

    an exposed mortal target for whoever has shot at me.

  29. كنتُ قدماً أذودُ نبلك عنِّي

    ببناني فأينَ منِّي بناني

    Once I used to fend your arrows off

    with my fingers—but where are my fingers now?

  30. قد نعاهُ الناعي إليَّ أيدري

    لا درى أنَّه إليَّ نعاني

    The death-announcer announced his death to me—does he know,

    may he never know, that he announced my own death to me?

  31. فحسبتُ الفؤادَ منِّيَ أضحى

    بين نابي ذي سورةٍ أفعوان

    I thought my heart had come to lie

    between the fangs of a raging serpent.

  32. لهف نفسي على صريع حمامٍ

    ليسَ لي عنهُ بالدفاعِ يدان

    Alas, my soul, for one struck down by death,

    for whom I have no hands to raise in defense.

  33. ودَّت المكرمات لو أنَّ منها

    غسلته بدمعها العينان

    Noble deeds wished that their own

    two eyes had washed him with their tears.

  34. ومسجًّى بنعشه في حبيرٍ

    هو والجودُ فيه ملتحفان

    Laid out on his bier in patterned cloth,

    he and generosity are wrapped in it together.

  35. حملوه وخلفه كلُّ عافٍ

    بدماء عيناه فائرتان

    They bore him, with every seeker of bounty behind him,

    his two eyes seething with blood,

  36. قائلاً أيكة الرجاء اظمأي اليو

    م وعودي مصفرَّة العيدان

    saying, 'Grove of hope, go thirsty today,

    and return with yellowing boughs.

  37. مصَّ منك الصعيدُ ماء سماحٍ

    كنت فيه ريَّانة الأغصان

    The earth has sucked from you the water of generosity

    with which your branches were well watered.'

  38. عجباً خف نعشه وهو قد سار

    بثقل المعروف والإِحسان

    How strange that his bier was light, though it went

    with the weight of kindness and beneficence.

  39. بل أراه ما خفَّ إذ سارَ لكن

    حملته ملائكُ الرحمان

    Rather, I think it did not grow light as it moved; instead,

    the angels of the All-Merciful carried it.

  40. شيَّعته الأنامُ بالأحزان

    والتقته بالبشر حورُ الجنان

    People escorted him in sorrow,

    and the houris of Paradise met him with joy.

  41. هل كذا جلَّ نعشُ ميتٍ سواه

    اختلطا عند نعشه العالمان

    Has any other dead man's bier been so exalted?

    The two worlds mingled beside his bier.

  42. وعليه قد ودَّت الأرضُ يبقى

    ويرى كلَّ مَن عليها فان

    The earth wished that he might remain upon it

    and see everyone upon it pass away.

  43. فاحملاني إلى ثراه احملاني

    وقفا بي عليه وقفة عان

    Carry me to his grave-soil—carry me,

    and make me stand there as a captive stands.

  44. ودعاني خلف الصعيد أناديه

    نداء المروَّع اللهفان

    Leave me behind the burial earth, calling to him

    with the cry of one terrified and distraught.

  45. يا فقيداً فقدتُ منهُ غماماً

    كلَّما قلتُ قد ظمئتُ سقاني

    O lost one, in whom I lost a raincloud

    that watered me whenever I said, 'I thirst!'

  46. ودفيناً دفنتُ منه حساماً

    كنتُ أعددته لحرب الزمان

    And O buried one, in whom I buried a keen sword

    I had readied for war against time.

  47. أغمدتْه في الترب كفِّي فشلَّت

    فاتَ نصري وأبتُ بالخذلان

    My hand sheathed it in the dust—may that hand be paralyzed!

    My support was gone, and I returned forsaken.

  48. شغلت منطقي عليه المراثي

    وخلا مِن هوى سواه جناني

    Elegies for him have occupied my speech,

    and my heart is empty of love for anyone else.

  49. يا تراني أثني على مَن بمدحٍ

    وهوى من أحبُّه يا تراني

    Whom, I wonder, shall I extol with praise,

    now that the one I love has fallen—I wonder?

  50. ماتَ محيي الثنا ولولا أبوه

    قلتُ في لحده دفنت لساني

    The one who gave praise life has died; were it not for his father,

    I would say, 'I buried my tongue in his grave.'

  51. ذاك منه صفاته الغرّ جاءتْ

    في مزايا علاه طبق المعاني

    From that man his radiant qualities came,

    matching the merits of his eminence in meaning.

  52. صالح الفعل راجحُ الفضل غوث ال

    مستغيثين غيثُ أهل الأماني

    Righteous in deed, preeminent in virtue, the succor of

    those who seek help, the rain of those who hope.

  53. ورعٌ ناسكٌ تفرَّغ للهِ

    بقلبٍ من خوفه ملآن

    Devout, ascetic, wholly devoted to God,

    with a heart filled with fear of Him.

  54. جامعٌ قسوة الحميَّة للدين

    انتصاراً ورقَّة الإِيمان

    Combining stern zeal for religion

    in its defense, with the tenderness of faith.

  55. وبعزِّ الملوك يصبح مرهو

    باً ويمسي بذلّة الرهبان

    With the might of kings, he inspires awe at morning,

    and at evening shows the humility of monks.

  56. صدق المدحُ في عُلاه فقلْ ما

    شئت في مجده العظيم الشان

    Praise speaks truth of his eminence; so say whatever

    you wish of his glory, so great in stature.

  57. هو في الخيرِ من قديم الليالي

    خيرُ مَن قد مشتْ به قدمان

    In goodness, since the nights of old, he is

    the best whom two feet have ever carried.

  58. أثقلت كاهل الزمان أياديه

    فأمسى عياله الثقلان

    His favors have weighed down the shoulder of time,

    so the two weighty races, humans and jinn, became his dependents.

  59. وعلى الأرض كلّها من نداه

    أثرٌ طيبٌ بكلِّ مكان

    Across the whole earth, from his bounty,

    there is a pleasant trace in every place.

  60. قد بنى للقِرى على الكرخِ بيتاً

    والتقى أسُّ ذلك البنيان

    He built a house for hospitality in al-Karkh,

    and piety is that building's foundation.

  61. شارعَ الباب تلتقي طرقُ الأر

    ض جميعاً لديه بالضيفان

    Its door wide open, the roads of the earth

    all meet at his house, bringing guests.

  62. رافعاً تحتَ ظلمة الليل للسا

    رين فيه ذوائبَ النيران

    Raising beneath the darkness of night, for travelers,

    lofty crests of fire within it.

  63. كرماً قد أعدَّ للضيف فيه

    عدد الطارقين غرَّ الجفان

    In generosity, he has prepared for guests there

    as many gleaming bowls as there are night visitors.

  64. مكرماتٌ تري رضيع سماحٍ

    عندها الدهرَ لا رضيع لبان

    Noble deeds that show you a nursling of generosity:

    time in their presence, not a nursling of milk.

  65. شكرُها أعجز الأنام فأنَّى

    قابلتها الأيامُ بالكفران

    Thanking them has proved beyond mankind—so how

    did the days repay them with ingratitude?

  66. قلتُ للبحر هل تساويه يوماً

    قال كلاّ لا يستوي البحران

    I asked the sea, 'Will you ever equal him?'

    It said, 'Never: the two seas are not equal.'

  67. وسألتُ الحيا أتحكيه جوداً

    قال أينَ الباكي من الجذلان

    I asked the rain, 'Do you resemble him in generosity?'

    It said, 'How can the weeper compare with the joyful one?'

  68. ليس يحكيه في سماحة كفٍّ

    غيرُ مَن قد حكاه عزَّة شان

    None matches him in openhanded generosity

    except one who has matched him in exalted rank.

  69. ذاك عبد الكريم من قد تسامى

    شرفاً حطَّ دونه النيران

    That is Abd al-Karim, who has risen so high

    in honor that the two luminaries have sunk beneath him.

  70. فهما فرقدا علاءٍ ومجدٍ

    وهما ديمتا ندًى وامتنان

    Thus they are the two Farqad stars of eminence and glory,

    and they are two steady rains of bounty and favor.

  71. كلما عنَّ مفخرٌ يوم سبقٍ

    فيه تلقاهما شريكي عنان

    Whenever a cause for pride appears on a day of contest,

    you find them there, partners sharing the reins.

  72. ولدا فتيةً همُ شهبُ الفخر

    وإلا جداول الإِحسان

    They fathered youths who are the meteors of pride,

    or else streams of beneficence.

  73. متساوين في المكارم قد فا

    قوا بفضل النهى على الفتيان

    Equal in noble deeds, they have surpassed

    other youths through superior understanding.

  74. ينشر الحيُّ من طوى الموت منهم

    ويعيد الباقي حياة الفاني

    The living one revives those among them whom death has folded away,

    and the survivor restores the life of the departed.

  75. ما فقدت الرضا وذلك باقٍ

    مصطفى الجود يا ركاب الأماني

    You have not lost al-Rida while that one lives—

    Mustafa of generosity, O mounts of hopes.

  76. فرديه خفائفاً تصدري منه

    ثقال الخطى على الركبان

    Go to him lightly laden; you will leave him

    heavy of step for the riders.

  77. هو صبحُ الأيام سعد الليالي

    بهجة الدهر نور عين الزمان

    He is the dawn of days, the fortune of nights,

    the joy of the age, the light of time's eye.

  78. تتلقَّاه من شذا حسبيه

    عطرَ الجيبِ طيِّب الأردان

    From the fragrance of his two lineages, you meet him

    fragrant at the collar, sweet-scented at the sleeves.

  79. ومن البشر في محيَّاه بدرٌ

    وبكفَّيه للندى جعفران

    From the cheerfulness in his face shines a full moon,

    and in his palms, for bounty, flow two rivers.

  80. والأغرُّ الهادي إذا حارَ وفدٌ

    فسناه دلالة الحيران

    And radiant al-Hadi—when a delegation is bewildered,

    his light is the lost one's guide.

  81. هو طلقُ العنان في الجود طلق ال

    وجه طلق اليدين طلق اللسان

    He is free-reined in generosity, open of

    face, open-handed, and fluent of tongue.

  82. ومزاياه في سما المجد شهبٌ

    وهو فيها وصنوه القمران

    His virtues are meteors in the sky of glory,

    and there he and his brother are the two moons.

  83. وأمين التقى وهل ضمَّ مثلاً

    لأمينٍ في عصرنا المشرقان

    And Amin of piety—have they encompassed an equal

    to Amin in our age, the two easts?

  84. طاهر النفس طاهر الجيب والأب

    راد عفٌّ في السرِّ والإِعلان

    Pure of soul, pure of breast and garments,

    chaste in secret and in public.

  85. أبداً في تقاه لم تتغبَّر

    بغبار الآثام منه اليدان

    Never, in his piety, have they been soiled

    with the dust of sins—his two hands.

  86. وهو في صدق لهجةٍ كأبي ذرٍّ

    وتقوًى تحكي تقى سلمان

    In truthful speech he is like Abu Dharr,

    and in piety he mirrors Salman's piety.

  87. والمرجَّى محمدٌ حسنُ الطل

    عة ينضو اللثام عن كيوان

    And the hoped-for Muhammad, handsome of

    countenance, lifts the veil from Saturn.

  88. مخبراتٌ مخايل الفضل فيه

    أن سيسموا فخراً على الأقران

    The signs of virtue in him foretell

    that he will rise in honor above his peers.

  89. يا أبا المصطفى وحلمك أرسى

    في لقاءِ الخطوب من ثهلان

    O Abu al-Mustafa, your forbearance is more firmly rooted

    than Thahlan when confronting calamities.

  90. لك نفسٌ قدسيَّةُ الذات فيها

    حزتَ أعلى مراتب العرفان

    You possess a soul holy in its essence; through it

    you have attained the highest ranks of spiritual knowledge.

  91. وصف اللهُ أنَّ قلبك للتق

    وى مشيراً بآية الامتحان

    God has described your heart as suited to piety,

    alluding to it in the verse of testing.

  92. وأرى الصابرينَ في عصرِنا أنت

    عناك الإِلهُ في القرآن

    I see in you the patient ones of our age;

    God meant you in the Qur'an.

  93. حيثُ لو قيلَ عدِّدوهم عددنا

    كَ ونعياً عن أنْ نجيء بثاني

    For, if told, 'Count them,' we would count

    you, and be unable to bring a second.

  94. هو جمعٌ أُريد بالذكر منهُ

    واحدٌ وهو أنتَ عند البيان

    It is a plural whose mention was meant to signify

    one alone—and that is you, as explanation shows.

  95. فرِّغ القلبَ من جوى الثكل يا مَن

    هو في الفضلِ ملءُ عين الزمان

    Empty your heart of bereavement's burning grief, O you

    whose virtue fills the eye of time.