لا تأمنن غدر الزَّمان العادي

من بعد نازلةٍ بخير عماد

Never feel safe from the treachery of hostile time,

after a calamity befell the finest pillar.

هيهات أن يصفو الزمان وخلقه

سقم الكرام وصحة الأوغاد

How could time be fair, when its nature is

the sickness of the noble and the health of scoundrels?

وإذا صفا لذوي المكارم صبحه

أمسى فرنق صفوه لنكاد

And if its morning dawns clear for people of virtue,

by evening it has muddied that clarity with adversity.

عادي الكرام من الأنام كأنه

والحتف قد كانا على ميعاد

It assails the noble among mankind, as though it

and death had arranged a meeting.

شلت يد الدهر الخؤون فإنها

ذهبت من العلياء بالأمجاد

May treacherous time's hand be paralyzed, for it

has carried the illustrious away from the heights.

بمحمد أودى الردى فكأنما

أودى الوجود بمقلة الإيجاد

Death has carried Muhammad off, as though

all existence had perished with creation's very eye.

وانجاب عن أفق الهداية بدرها ال

موفي السنا فخبا ضياء النادي

And guidance's full moon withdrew from its horizon,

abundant in radiance; the gathering's light went out.

لا الروض والماء المعين خلافه

عذباً إلى الرواد والوراد

Neither meadow nor flowing water, after him,

was sweet to pasture-seekers or those coming to drink.

كلا ولا عين الهدى من بعده

عن سهدها اكتحلت بميل رقاد

No; nor has guidance's eye, since his passing,

applied sleep's kohl-stick to relieve its wakefulness.

أسفاً على علم الإمامة والتقى

يسري الذبول لقده المياد

Alas for the beacon of spiritual leadership and piety,

whose swaying stature is overtaken by withering.

نفذت سهام الدهر فيه وليتها

من قبل معطفه أحس فؤادي

Time's arrows pierced him; would that they

had touched my heart before they reached his side.

يا ناعي الشرع الشريف ومعدن الد

دين الحنيف ومقصد الوقاد

O herald of the death of noble sacred law, and of the wellspring of

the upright faith and the goal of keen minds,

أوحشت ربع العلم حتى لم يكن

من رائح فيه ولا من غاد

you left knowledge's dwelling so desolate that there was

no evening visitor there, nor any morning caller.

ونعيت للأفق الرفيع كواكب الش

شرف المنيع وكل بدر هادي

And you announced to the lofty horizon the death of the stars of

unassailable honor, and every guiding full moon.

وقرت سمع المكرمات بنعي من

أضحى لبيت المجد خير سناد

You deafened virtue's ear with the death-tidings of him

who was the finest support of glory's house.

يا من به إبل الرجاء تناقلت

في هذهب الأوهام والأنجاد

O you through whom hope's camels journeyed

amid the [unclear word] of fancies and the uplands,

أربع على ضلع فقد ذهب الردى

من آمريه ببغية المرتاد

ease your limping pace, for death has carried off

from those directing it the object of the seeker's quest.

من بعده لولا الندى لبقي الرجا

كرماً وينقع من غليل الصاد

After him, were it not for bounty, hope would have remained

a kindness, and would quench the parched one's burning thirst.

فهو الذي كانت مواهب فضله

للناس كلأطوق في الأجياد

For he was the one whose bounteous gifts

were to people like necklaces upon their necks.

لمعت بأفق الفضل غر صفاته

شهباً لها الجوزا من الحساد

His radiant qualities shone on virtue's horizon

as bright stars, with al-Jawza among their enviers.

فيه تزينت المنابر واغتدت

من قبله مخضرة الأعواد

Through him the pulpits were adorned and grew

green in their timbers through his influence.

وتدفقاً من علمه ونواله

بحران للطلاب والوفاد

And from his knowledge and his bounty flowed

two seas for students and visiting guests.

ما انفك ما بين البرية مفرداً

سام على الأشباه والأنداد

He never ceased to be peerless among humankind,

towering above counterparts and equals.

يحكي النسيم بخلقه لكنه

بالحلم كالجبل المنيف العادي

In character he resembled the breeze, yet

in forbearance he was like a lofty, age-old mountain.

قد ساد بالتقوى العباد وإنه

زين العباد وزينة العباد

Through piety he surpassed all people; indeed, he is

the adornment of worshippers and the ornament of mankind.

إن كان جيد الدهر أضحى عاطلاً

حلاه من كفيه بالأرقاد

If time's neck had become bare,

he adorned it with gold from his two hands.

أودى من العليا فما سلك الورى

من بعد غيبته سبيل رشاد

He departed from the heights, and humankind has not trodden,

since his departure, the path of right guidance.

ومضى نقي العرض غير مدنس

حسن الخلائق طيب الأبراد

He passed with honor pure and unstained,

fine in character and fragrant in his robes.

يا بدر أوج العلم عن أفق العلى

كيف انتقلت لدارة الألحاد

O full moon at knowledge's zenith! From glory's horizon,

how did you pass into the precinct of graves?

ورمت سنا علياك وهو مشعشع

كف المنايا السود بالإخماد

And your lofty radiance, still blazing,

the hand of dark fates sought to extinguish.

فعليك يا زاكي النقيبة لم أزل

دون الورى أرقاً حليف سهاد

For you, O pure in nature, I have ever remained

apart from all others, sleepless, bound to wakefulness.

أنى وددت بأن يكون على الثرى

من دون شخصك مضجعي ومهادي

How I wished that upon the earth

my bed and resting-place had lain instead of yours!

صاب شربت به المنية قد غدا

مستعذب الإصدار والإبراد

The bitter sap with which you drank death has become

sweet in its quenching and cooling.

يا منقذ الأحكام بعدك لم يكن

في الناس للأحكام من نقاد

O rescuer of the law, after you there has been

no discerning critic of rulings among mankind.

ما خص فادحك الغري وإنما

سارت نوادبه بكل بلاد

The grievous loss of you was not al-Ghari's alone;

its lamentations spread through every land.

أبكي إلى المحراب بعدك يكتسي

من بعد زهرته ثياب حداد

I weep toward the prayer-niche, which after you wears

mourning clothes in place of its former bloom.

يا ميتاً أحيى تقاه وعلمه

علم الأثمة في تقي السجاد

O dead man whose piety and knowledge revived

the imams' learning [reading uncertain], in al-Sajjad's piety.