1. لا أرى للزمان يا صاح عذرا

    أفيدري لمن تأبَّط شرَّا

    I see no excuse for Time, my friend.

    Does it know against whom it has tucked evil under its arm,

  2. ولمن بغتةً ألمَّ بخطبٍ

    ساءَ فيه الأنامُ عبداً وحرَّا

    And whom it has suddenly visited with a calamity

    In which all humankind suffered, slave and free?

  3. ردَّ فيه حزناً نواصي الليالي

    ووجوهُ الأنام شعثاً وغبرا

    In sorrow it left the forelocks of the nights

    And the faces of humankind disheveled and dust-covered,

  4. وحشا المكرمات حرَّى وعينُ ال

    مجد عبرى ومهجة الفضل حرَّى

    And the heart of noble deeds burning, and the eye of

    Glory tearful, and the heart of excellence burning.

  5. جذَّ من دوحة المكارم غصناً

    فذوى بغتةً وقد كانَ نضرا

    It severed a branch from the spreading tree of noble virtues,

    And it suddenly withered, though it had been fresh and green.

  6. قد نعته العلياءُ وهو بقبرٍ

    مذ حواه لصبرها صارَ قبرا

    Lofty honor has mourned him as he lies in a grave,

    Which, since it enclosed him, became the grave of her patience.

  7. يا هلالاً رجوتُ يكمل بدراً

    محقته يدُ الردى فاستسرَّا

    O crescent moon I hoped would become full,

    Death's hand effaced it, and it vanished from sight.

  8. مَن عذيري من لائمٍ فيك لا أق

    بل عذلاً وليس يقبل عذرا

    Who will defend me against one who blames me over you? I do not

    Accept reproach, nor does he accept an excuse.

  9. لامَ حتَّى بلومه ضقتُ ذرعاً

    مثل ما ضقتُ في مصابكَ صدرا

    He reproached me until his blame overwhelmed my patience,

    Just as grief for you had constricted my breast.

  10. قلتُ دعني ومقلةً لي عبرى

    ببكاها ومهجة لي حرَّى

    I said: Leave me with my tear-filled eye,

    With its weeping, and with my burning heart.

  11. لا تسمني قرارَ عيني فهذا

    ضوؤها في ثرى اللحود استقرَّا

    Do not bid my eye find solace, for

    Its light has settled in the soil of graves.

  12. هو منِّي شطرُ الحشا أوَأسلو

    بعدما من حشاي فارقتُ شطرا

    He is half my heart; can I find solace

    After parting with half my heart?

  13. عجباً صرتُ فيه أسمح للترب

    ومنه عليه أطرح وقرا

    How strange: I have grown generous to the earth with him,

    And heap a heavy load of it upon him,

  14. بعد ظنِّي على العيونِ جميعاً

    أن ترى ذلك المحيَّا الأغرَّا

    After I had begrudged all eyes

    A sight of that radiant face.

  15. كانَ لي في حياته العيشُ حلواً

    وهو اليوم بعده قد أمرَّا

    In his lifetime, life was sweet to me,

    But today, after him, it has turned bitter.

  16. وبحسبي ما عشتُ داءً لنفسي

    أنا أبقى ويسكن اللحدُ قسرا

    And, while I live, this is affliction enough for my soul:

    I remain alive while he is forced to dwell in the grave.

  17. كيف ما متُّ إنَّني لجليدٌ

    وبه أنشبت يدُ الموت ظفرا

    How have I not died? Surely I am hardy indeed,

    When death's hand has sunk a claw into him.

  18. أستجدُّ الثيابَ حياً لجسمي

    وهو يبلى في التربِ ميتاً معرَّى

    Alive, I seek new clothes for my body,

    While he decays in the earth, dead and unclothed.

  19. لم أخلني كذا أكون صبوراً

    وفؤادي بسهمه قد تفرَّى

    I never imagined I could be so patient,

    With my heart ripped apart by its arrow.

  20. رمتُ رفعَ الآلام عنه بجهدي

    شفقاً لا لأبلغ الناسَ عذرا

    I sought with all my effort to relieve his suffering,

    Out of compassion, not to make excuses before people.

  21. وبذلت الطريفَ من جلِّ مالي

    مع بذل التليد منه ليبرا

    And I spent newly gained riches from the bulk of my wealth,

    Along with its inherited portion, so that he might recover.

  22. وبودِّي لو كانَ يبقى وأملقتُ

    إذاً كانَ ذا لعيني أقرَّا

    I wished that he could live on, even if I became destitute;

    Then that would have brought my eye greater comfort.

  23. سوءةٌ للزمانِ مالي أراه

    ساءَ مَن أحسنوا لأبناه طرَّا

    Shame on Time! Why do I see it

    Wronging those who did good to all its children?

  24. هم بنو المصطفى ومَن في البرايا

    كبني المصطفى سماحاً وبرَّا

    They are the sons of al-Mustafa; who among creation

    Is like the sons of al-Mustafa in generosity and goodness?

  25. فئةُ المجد معشرُ الشرف المحض

    قبيل العليا وناهيك فخرا

    The company of glory, the fellowship of pure nobility,

    The clan of lofty honor—and that is pride enough!

  26. قد أرَّق الحرصُ الأنامَ ولكن

    لم يكن غيرُهم على الأرض حرَّا

    Greed has kept humankind awake, yet

    None but they on earth have been free.

  27. قد كساهم محمدٌ صالحَ الأفعال

    بُرداً من فخره طابَ نشرا

    Muhammad, righteous in deeds, has clothed them

    In a mantle of his glory, sweetly fragrant.

  28. ورعٌ من رآه قالَ لعمري

    إن لله في معانيكَ سرَّا

    Pious: whoever saw him said: By my life,

    Surely God has a secret in your qualities.

  29. ملكيُّ الصفات لكن تراه

    بشريّ الأعضاء قد جلَّ قدرا

    Angelic in his attributes, yet you see him

    Human in his limbs, exalted in worth.

  30. لك نفسٌ قدسيَّةٌ قد تمحَّض

    ت بها للإله سرًّا وجهرا

    Yours is a holy soul; you have given yourself wholly

    Through it to God, in secret and in public.

  31. هي تلكَ النفسُ التي بين جنبي

    ذي المعالي أخيك ليست بأُخرى

    It is that same soul between the two sides

    Of your noble brother; it is no other.

  32. شرعاً قد سموتما للمعالي

    وإليها ركبتما النجمَ ظهرا

    On equal terms, you have both risen to noble heights,

    And toward them ridden the star's back.

  33. تمَّ فيه ما كانَ ساءَ وسرَّا

    فهو ملء الزمان نفعاً وضرَّا

    In him was fulfilled all that grieved or gladdened;

    He fills Time with benefit and harm.

  34. ذو يسارٍ يزري بيمنى سواه

    ويمينٍ كانت لراجيه يسرا

    His left hand puts another's right hand to shame,

    And his right hand brought ease to those who hoped in him.

  35. هي أجرى من البحار نوالاً

    ومن الغاديات أغزرُ دَرَّا

    It flows more freely than the seas in bounty,

    And yields more abundantly than morning rainclouds.

  36. تخصب الأرض في نداه إذا الجد

    بُ أديمُ الصعيد فيه اقشعرَّا

    The earth grows fertile through his bounty when drought

    Makes the skin of the ground shudder.

  37. وعلى الأرضِ إن مشتْ ودَّت

    الشهبُ عليها أذيالَ علياه جرَّا

    And if it walks upon the earth, the stars would wish

    To have the hems of his lofty glory trail over them.

  38. كيف لا تحسد النجومُ ثراه

    وبه قد سما على الشهبِ فخرا

    How could the stars not envy his soil,

    When through him it has risen above the stars in glory?

  39. قد جرى سابقاً وصلَّى أمينُ ال

    فضل يتلوه لاحقاً واستمرَّا

    He raced ahead; second came the trustee of

    Excellence, following close behind; they both kept on.

  40. ثمَّ حلاَّ معاً بأرفع مجدٍ

    طلعا في سماه شمساً وبدرا

    Then both alighted together at the loftiest glory,

    They rose in its sky as sun and full moon.

  41. فغدا كلُّ نيِّرٍ بهما هادٍ

    لمن رامَ للمكارمِ مسرى

    So every luminary, through these two, became a guide

    For whoever sought a night journey toward noble deeds.

  42. يا بني المصطفى رسختم حلوماً

    فغدوتم على النوائبِ صبرا

    O sons of al-Mustafa, you stood firm in forbearance,

    And so became steadfast in the face of calamities.

  43. ذا الجزا أنتُم حريُّون فيه

    لكن الصبرُ أنتم فيه أحرى

    Such grief befits you,

    Yet patience befits you still more.

  44. ومصاب الماضي يهون إذا ما

    كنتَ أنتَ الباقي وإن عزَّ قدرا

    And the loss of the departed is easier to bear if

    You remain, however exalted he was in worth.