عِتابٌ وما يُغني العتابُ على الزَّمَن

وشَكوى كما تَشكو القِداحُ إلى السَّفَن

Reproach does not alleviate time’s affliction,

Nor does plaint, like flasks, avail ships.

وما رَضيت بعدَ الغضارَةِ أيكَةٌ

بِنَحتٍ ولكن عالَمُ الكَونِ مُمتَحَن

After the loss, not one region was pleased

With sculpture—but existence itself was tested.

ولو أعفَتِ الأيامُ قِدحُ ابن مقبلٍ

لما اختار كفّاً تطبيه على الفنن

Had the days shown gentleness to Ibn Miqbil’s flask,

It would not have chosen a palm to bandage its arts.

وما عزَّ هذا النبع إلا لذلةٍ

تُغادِرُهُ في راحة العين يُمتَهَن

This spring was exalted only by a humiliation

That leaves it in the eye’s comfort, exploited.

وما أَلبسَ الرِّيشَ اللُّؤامَ كرامَةً

وكم بزَّةٍ كانَت للابسها كَفَن

Finery did not clothe the feathers with honor,

And how often glory was a garment of death for its wearer.

وقد كان مسُّ الريحِ أَخفى بعطفِهِ

مِنَ الوَتَرِ الجافي إذا عزهُ أرَنّ

The breeze’s touch, within its folds,

Was lighter than the taut bowstring when it voiced complaint.

وللغرب الخوارِ عيصٌ مؤشبٌ

يُصانُ بما فيه ابتذالٌ لمن فَطَن

To ignorant West there is an unruly camel

That is guarded for the abasement it contains from the perceptive one.

وماذا عليه والسلامةُ حظهُ

بأَن تتخطاهُ النوائب والمِحَن

As for him—and well-being is his lot—

Calamities pass him by, as do afflictions.

فليت كريماً يُنعشُ الناسً خيرُهُ

يعمَّرُ فينا عُمرَ ثهلانَ أو حضن

Would that a generous man revive people with his goodness

And live among us the life of Thahlān or Ḥaḍn.

ولكنه يمضي كظلِّ غمامةٍ

ويبقى لئيمٌ شرُّه غيرُ مؤتمن

But he passes like the shadow of a cloud,

While the wretched one, his evil ever untrustworthy, remains.

يودُّ الفتى طولَ البقاءِ وطولُهُ

يُوَرِّثُهُ ثكلَ الأحبَّةِ والبَدَن

The young man desires longevity, but his longevity

Bequeaths the loved ones’ and body’s exhaustion.

وأيُّ اغتباطٍ في حَياةِ مُرَزَّإ

يروحُ على بثٍّ ويغدو على شجَن

What delight is there in a life patched up

That is joined with death in marriage?

زيادَتهُ نقصٌ وجِدَّتُهُ بِلىً

وراحَتُه كَربٌ وهُدنَتُهُ دَخَن

I see every living being carrying

The sentence of death—oh, what he bears and wraps himself within!

إذا فُوِّقَ السَّهمُ المُصيبُ فقَلبُهُ

ومَن صانَ فيهِ مِن أعزَّتِهِ مِجَن

If the stray arrow is overturned, then so is its direction,

And who in it had protected his dearest from piercing?

فَيا عجباً لِلمَرءِ يَلتذُّ عيشَةً

مُنغَّصةً لُزَّت معَ المَوتِ في قَرَن

How wondrous that one enjoys an existence

poisoning his being with the waters of death as if

أَرى كلَّ حيٍّ للمنيَّةِ حامِلاً

فيا وَيحَهُ ممَّا تحمَّل واحتَضَن

Our eyes had slept in the face of such peril,

Though fending off wildcats from lambs were easier,

وإِنَّ الفتى تِربُ الحوادثِ ناشئاً

وكهلاً ولكنَّ الشَّقيَّ من استشَن

And storing vipers’ venom in vipers’ dens,

Elevating a flock of sparrows above the bowls’ peaks—

إذا زادَتِ الأَيَّامُ فينا إساءةً

نزيدُ على عِلمِ بِما ساءَ حُسنَ ظَن

I have not seen anything truer than death,

And all, by God, are mortgaged to mortality.

ونُلدَغُ من جُحرٍ مِراراً فَنَغتري

كأَنَّ لُعابَ القاتِلاتِ سَقيطُ مَن

O brothers—and the Gathering is a near meeting with you—

Peace precedes you, while we follow prescriptions.

ولو دَرتِ الأَنعامُ وَهيَ رَوَاتِعٌ

مِنَ المَوتِ ما ندي لَمَا رأَتِ السِّمَن

O brothers, there remains only a greeting

I will use to visit those settlements and abodes.

فكيفَ على ذا الخَطبِ نامَت عُيونُنا

وأَيسَرُهُ ذادَ القَطاةَ عَنِ الوَسَن

O brothers, can you hear my greetings to you

While, below you, what hides and reveals remains?

وأَودَعَ حيّاتِ اللِّصابِ لصابَها

ورفَّع سِربَ العُصمِ فَوقَ ذرى القُنَن

So oh my heart, what did you repay the son of Mālik with?

And oh my lesson, what did you study, Abū l-Ḥasan?

وَلَم أَرَ مثلَ المَوتِ حقّاً كَباطِل

وكلٌّ فَياللهِ بالموتِ مُرتَهَن

Two boon friends in Damascus, succeeding

Each other with no respite from sadness for me.

أَإخوانَنا والحَشرُ أَدنى لقائِكُم

سلامٌ تقدَّمتُم ونحنُ على السَّنَن

I sought pretext in this wound, this chronic suffering,

And fooled this heart away from the blessings of graceful Yemen.

أَإِخواننا لم يبقَ إلا تحيةٌ

أَزورُ بها تلكَ المعاهِدَ والدِّمَن

So he singled me out with the burden—and profound is the burden—

And surrendered me to Time—that which possesses power.

أَإِخوانَنا هل تسمَعُونَ تحيَّتي

ودونَكُم ما يَحجُبُ السِّرَّ والعَلَن

Had I lost the pleasure of those I lost,

It would have eased their succession's effect on people of delusions.

فيا كبدي ماذا جَزيتِ ابنَ مالِكٍ

ويا عبرتي ماذا قَريتِ أَبا الحَسَن

Who consoles me in my consoler that falters?

And who mediates for me in my mediator I cannot find?

خليلا صَفاءٍ في دِمشقَ تتابعا

على فترةٍ لم أَخلُ فيها من الحَزَن

He was the deliverance of people in every adversity,

And the joy of the loyalist, the compassion of the sympathizer.

أَسَوتُ بهذا جُرحَ هذا تعلُّلاً

وخادَعت هذا القلبَ عن خيرِ ذي يَمَن

So many praiseworthy deeds have they accomplished,

So many perduring favors bestowed and gifts granted!

فأَفردَني بالعبءِ والعِبءُ فادِحٌ

وأَسلَمني للدَّهرِ والدَّهرُ ذو أَرَن

How many a severe anxiety they have relieved,

How many an exceedingly heavy burden they have undertaken,

وَلَو فَقَدَت رَضوى الذين فَقَدتُهُم

أراحَ تداعيها أُناساً من الظِّنَن

If they sensed an emptiness, the two were gentle with it

However its complaining voice desired—with rest or structure.

فَمَن مُسعِدي في مُسعِدي غَيرَ مؤتَلٍ

وَمَن مُنصِفي في مُنصِفي لا أَخالُ مَن

Abū l-Ḥasan, rest in the Gardens, made blissful

In return for the fair efforts you offered forth.

وكانَ غياثَ الناسِ في كلِّ شدَّةٍ

وفرحةَ مَن أَوفى وتَرحةَ مَن ظَعَن

My heart leaps in fright but, upon seeing

Your place in the Abode of Richness and Pleasure, is calmed.

فكَم لهُما من مَكرُماتٍ مَواثِلٍ

وكم مِن أَيادٍ خالداتٍ ومِن مِنَن

You used to frequent the appointed places when

The Merciful granted you His Paradise for a home.

وكَم فَرَّجا مِن كُربَةٍ مدلهمَّةٍ

وكَم حَمَلا مِن باهِظٍ يقطَعُ المُنَن

A concern of mine has remained with exile—a breach occurred

And for all its urging toward weakness, it clung on.

إذا ما أَحسّا خَلَّةً لَطَفا لَها

بما شاءَ شاكيها مِنَ الرِّفِ والطّبَن

It was pleased with none save the earth of your exile

That you chose for the saints despite the discord:

أبا الحَسنِ اخلُد في الجِنانِ مُنَعمَّاً

جزاءً بما أَسلَفتَ من سَعيكَ الحَسَن

As the Messenger himself was saddened for Saʿd

And shrouded him in the Noblest Enclosure.

يَطيرُ فؤادي رَوعَةً فإِذا رأى

محلَّكَ في دارِ الغِنى والرِّضى سَكَن

Even if ʿAbdullah were given a choice among plots,

He would opt for Qutham, nor feel deprived.

وقد كنتَ تَرتادُ المواطِنَ إذ نَبَت

فبوأكَ الرحمنُ فردَوسه وَطَن

For you are summoned from every land:

“Come to us! Below you remain barriers and forms of madness!”

وبِتَّ مُعنّى بالجلاءِ فَفُتّهُ

وقد كانَ حاديهِ تشبَّتَ بالظَّعَن

He Who has pleased you among those servants you pleased

And for whom you struggled in duties and rites will please you.

ولَم يرضَ إلا أرض هجرتك الَّتي

تخيَّرها للأَولياء على الفِتَن

And for those whose pact with you remained

There will always be, whenever panic seizes them, tranquility.

وفي مثلِها رقَّ الرَّسولُ تَحَزُّناً

لِسَعدٍ وقَد واراهُ أكرَمُ مُدَّفَن

They will be protected as two orphans—reinforced

With a wall raised after its edifice was ruined and enfeebled.

وَلَو أنَّ عبداللَهِ خُيِّرَ في الثَّرى

على قثم لاختارَهُ ولَما اغتَبَن

And that is no righteousness in the wall and its height

But for a treasure buried underneath that was stored away!

على أَنَّكَ المدعوُّ مِن كلِّ بَلدَةٍ

هَلُمَّ فإنَّا دُونَكَ الحُجبُ والجُنَن

Abū Ḥasan, the distance, after it appeared,

Is vast, and amounts not to the hidden future.

سَيُرضيكَ من أَرضيتَهُ في عِبادِهِ

وجاهَدتَ فيهِ بالفُروضِ وبالسُّنَن

The easiest of my agonies upon your loss

Is that longing for you will endure as long as time remains.

وتبقى لِمَن أَبقَيتَ عهدَكَ إنَّهُ

لَهُم كلَّما استهوَتهُمُ رَوعَةٌ سَكَن

May God—and those who serve Him with both hands—water a

Blessed soil that gathered you, effusive in its love!

وتحفظُهم حِفظُ اليتيمَينِ أَيِّدا

بِرَفعِ جدارٍ قد تَداعى وَقَد وَهَن

Unceasing dew perpetually begins there,

Where if the wind races it, pillars form to brace it.

وَما ذاكَ بِرّاً بالجِدارِ وعُلوهِ

ولكن لكنزٍ تحتَهُ كان مُختَزَن

You remain in a garden, spirit, mercy,

And forgiveness, bundled within that profusion.

أَبا حَسَنٍ إنَّ المدى بَعدَما بَدا

طويلٌ ولا يُعتدُّ في جَنبِ ما بَطَن

وأَيسَرُ وَجدي في فِراقِكَ أَنَّهُ

سيبقى عليكَ الوَجدُ ما بقيَ الزَّمَن

سَقى اللَهُ والسُّقيا بكفَّيهِ تُربَةً

مُباركةً ضمّتك أَمرَعَ ما هَتَن

وَلا بَرَحتها دِيمَةٌ مستهِلّةٌ

إذا رَكَضتها الرّيحُ قامَ بها حَرَن

وَلا زِلتَ في رَوضٍ وروحٍ وَرَحمَةٍ

وَمَغفِرَةٍ تَترى عَلى ذلكَ الجَنَن