ذرا السعي في نيل العلا والفضائل

مضى من إليه كان شد الرواحل

You two, abandon the pursuit of eminence and virtues.

He has passed away, toward whom the riding mounts were once urged.

فقولا لساري البرق إني معينه

بنار أسىً أو سحب دمعٍ هواطل

So tell the night-roaming lightning: I am its helper,

with a fire of grief or clouds of pouring tears,

وتمزيق جلباب العزاء لفقده

بزفرة باكٍ أو بحسرة ثاكل

and by tearing the cloak of consolation for his loss,

with a weeper's sigh or a bereaved parent's anguish.

فأعلن به للركب واستوقف السرى

لقصاده من قبل طي المراحل

So announce it to the caravan, and halt the night journey

for those seeking him, before they traverse the journey's stages.

وقل غاب بدر التم عن أنجم الدجى

وأشرق منهم بعده كل آفل

And say: the full moon has vanished from the stars of night,

and after him every faded star among them shines.

وما كان إلا البحر غار ومن يرد

سواحله لم يلق غير الجداول

He was the very sea, now receded; whoever reaches

its shores finds only rivulets.

وهبكم رويتم علمه من رواته

فليس عوالي صحبه بنوازل

Even if you transmit his learning from its transmitters,

the lofty ranks of companionship with him are not lowly ones.

فقد فاتكم نور الهدى بوفاته

ونور التقى منه ونجح الوسائل

For with his death you have lost the light of guidance,

and his light of piety, and the efficacy of the means of approach.

وما حظ من قد غره نصل صارمٍ

رجا نصره من غمده والحمائل

What gain has one beguiled by a keen sword's blade,

who hopes for its aid from its sheath and carrying straps?

ليبك عليه من رآه ومن حوى

هداه بأيامٍ لديه قلائل

Let whoever saw him weep for him, and whoever gained

his guidance through a few days in his presence.

ويقض أسىً من فاته الفضل عاجلاً

برؤيته والفوز في كل عاجل

Let him die at once of grief who missed the blessing

of seeing him, and success in every present concern.

أسفت لإرجائي قدوم أعزةٍ

عليه وتسويفٍ إلى عام قابل

I regretted postponing the arrival of dear ones

to him, and putting it off until the coming year.

ولو أنهم فازوا بإدراك مثله

لأزروا على سن الصبا بالأمائل

Had they been fortunate enough to encounter his like,

they would, despite their youth, have eclipsed the eminent [uncertain reading].

فيا لمصائبٍ عم سنة أحمدٍ

وأحرم منها كل راوٍ وناقل

Alas for calamities that engulfed Ahmad's Sunnah,

and deprived every narrator and transmitter of it.

خلا الشام من خيرٍ خلت كل بلدةٍ

بها من نظيرٍ للإمام مماثل

Syria is emptied of goodness; every town

within it is bereft of a peer who could match the imam.

وأصبح بعد الحافظ العلم شاغراً

بلا حافظٍ يهذي به كل باقل

After the Hafiz, learning stands vacant,

without a guardian, while every Baqil babbles about it.

وكم من نبيهٍ ضل مذ مات جاهه

وقدم لما أن مضى كل خامل

How many a distinguished man's standing has vanished since he died,

and every obscure man has been advanced since he passed away.

خلت سنة المختار من ذب ناصرٍ

فأيسر ما لاقته بدعة جاهل

The Chosen One's Sunnah is bereft of a champion's defense;

the least it has suffered is an ignorant man's innovation.

نمى للإمام الشافعي مقالةً

فأصبح يثني عنه كل مجادل

He attributed a teaching to Imam al-Shafi‘i,

and thus turned every disputant away from him.

وأيد قول الأشعري بسنةٍ

فكانت عليه من أدل الدلائل

He supported al-Ash‘ari's doctrine with the Sunnah,

which became one of the clearest proofs for it.

وكم قد أبان الحق في كل محفلٍ

فأورى بما يروي ظماء المحافل

How often he made the truth plain in every assembly,

and with his narrations kindled those thirsty in the assemblies.

وسد من التجسيم باب ضلالةٍ

ورد من التشبيه شبهة باطل

He shut a gate of error arising from attributing a body to God,

and refuted a specious doubt arising from likening God to creation.

وإن يك قد أودى فكم من أسنةٍ

مركبةٍ من قوله في عوامل

Though he has perished, how many spearheads,

drawn from his words, are mounted upon spear-shafts!

وإن مال قوم واستمالوا رعاعهم

بإضلالهم عنه فلست بماثل

Though some have strayed and drawn their rabble

away from him by misleading them, I will not take their stand.

أرى الأجر في نوحي عليه ولا أرى

سوى الإثم في نوح البواكي الثواكل

I see reward in my lament for him, and I see

only sin in the wailing of weeping, bereaved mothers.

وليس الذي يبكي إماماً لدينه

كباكٍ لدنياه على فقد راحل

One who weeps for an imam for the sake of his faith

is not like one who weeps for worldly reasons over someone departed.

فيا قلب واصله بأعظم رحمةٍ

ويا عين فاسقيه بأغزر وابل

O heart, keep your bond with him through the greatest mercy,

and O eye, water him with the most abundant downpour.

وحيي ثراه الدهر أهنى تحيةٍ

مكررةٍ عند الضحى والأصائل

And greet his grave's soil forever with the most blissful greeting,

repeated at midmorning and in the late afternoons.

أعني على نوحي عليه فإنه

قريب ثواءٍ في الثرى والجنادل

Help me lament him, for he

is newly lodged among earth and stones.

ولو لم يكن بالدمع سيل لحبه

لضن على لحدٍ به كل باخل

Had tears not flowed in torrents for love of him,

every miser would have withheld them from a grave.

مضى من حديث المصطفى كان شاغلاً

له باجتهادٍ فيه عن كل شاغل

He has passed away, whom the Chosen One's traditions kept occupied,

through diligent study of them, excluding every other distraction.

لقد شمل الإسلام فيه رزية

وكان له بالنصح أفضل شامل

Surely, in him, a calamity has overtaken Islam,

while through sincere counsel he had been its finest guardian.

وفضل بين السالفين اطلاعه

عليهم فذب النقص عن كل فاضل

His knowledge excelled among the predecessors,

his knowledge of them; thus he shielded every worthy man from disparagement.

وأصبح في نقد الرجال مميزاً

بغير نظيرٍ في الورى ومساجل

In evaluating transmitters, he became a discerning judge,

without peer or rival among humankind.

وأكمل تاريخاً لجلق جامعاً

لمن جلها من كل شهمٍ وكامل

He completed a comprehensive history of Jilliq,

of those who honored it, every gallant and accomplished man.

فأزرى بتاريخ الخطيب وقد عدا

بخطيته في الكتب أخطب قائل

He eclipsed al-Khatib's history, and indeed outstripped,

with his lance, the most eloquent voice in books.

طوى الموت منه العلم والزهد والنهي

وكسب المعالي واجتناب الرذائل

Death folded away his learning, asceticism, and reason,

his attainment of noble heights, and his avoidance of vices.

وأفجع فيه العالمين بمقدمٍ

صبورٍ على حرب الضلال حلاحل

And in him it bereaved all people of a leader,

steadfast in warfare against error, a mighty chief.

وكان غيوراً ذب عن دين أحمدٍ

وأدفع عنه من شجاعٍ مقاتل

He was zealous, defending Ahmad's religion,

and more forceful in its defense than a brave warrior.

وأحرم منه الدين أشرف صائنٍ

له ولدفع الزيغ أعظم صائل

And in him religion lost its noblest guardian,

and its fiercest champion in driving back deviation.

ولم أر نقص الأرض يوماً كنقصها

بموت إمامٍ عالمٍ ذي فضائل

Never have I seen the earth diminished as it is diminished

by the death of a learned imam endowed with virtues.

أبا القاسم الأيام قسمة حاكمٍ

قضى بالفنا فينا قضية عادل

O Abu al-Qasim, the days are the allotment of a judge

who decreed our perishing with a just man's judgment.

بماذا أعزي المسلمين ولا أرى

عزاءً سوى من قد مضى من أفاضل

With what shall I console the Muslims, when I see no

solace except in the virtuous men who have passed away?

عليك سلام الله ما انتفع الورى

بعلمك واستعلى على المتطاول

God's peace be upon you as long as humankind benefits

from your learning and gains ascendancy over the presumptuous.