ذكراك تبقى مدى الأيام يا عمر

ما دام للناس سمع أولهم بصر

Your memory endures through all the days, O Umar,

as long as people have hearing or sight.

وكيف ننسى فتى حاكت عزيمته

حد المهند وهو الصارم الذكر

And how could we forget a young man whose resolve matched

the edge of an Indian-steel sword—a keen, hard-tempered blade?

ومن تجرد للسعي الكريم

والمفعل العظيم وللمظلوم ينتصر

And one who devoted himself wholly to noble endeavor

and great deeds, and championed the wronged?

ومن أهاب بنا واليأس قاتلنا

لنصبرن وفضل الله ننتظر

And one who urged us, while despair was killing us,

to persevere steadfastly and await God's bounty?

ومن تعلم شبان البلاد به

حب البلاد فكان الفعل والخبر

And one through whom the country's young men learned

love of country, so he was both deed and report?

كلا فلا الموت ينسينا فضائله

ولا الزمان وما يأتي به القدر

No! Death will not make us forget his virtues,

nor time, nor whatever fate brings.

تظل ذكراه في الأذهان ماثلة

وكل نفس بها من فضله أثر

His memory remains vivid in our minds,

and every soul bears a trace of his goodness.

يا غارسا في شباب الجيل نزعته

سقيا لغرسك ها قد أثمر الشجر

O you who planted your aspiration in the generation's youth,

may your planting be watered! Behold, the trees have borne fruit.

ويا رسولا أفدنا من رسالته

كيف الجهاد إذا ما داهم الخطر

And O messenger, from whose message we learned

how to struggle when danger strikes.

أحييت فينا شعورا كاد يقتله

حكم الطغاة فلا عادوا ولا ظفروا

You revived in us a feeling nearly killed by

the tyrants' rule—may they neither return nor triumph!

وكنت فينا طبيبا للنفوس إذا ما

مسها الجرح أو ما هدها الكدر

And among us you were a physician to souls whenever

a wound touched them or distress wore them down.

وكنت فينا صحافيا له وطن

وإن تحكم أعداء له وطر

And among us you were a journalist with a homeland,

and even if enemies held sway, you had a purpose.

تلك الدروس أحذنا عنك أكثرها

وعلمتنا صروف الدهر والغير

Those lessons—most of them we took from you,

and time's vicissitudes and reversals have taught us:

إنا بلا وطن حر كماشية

في سمنها مدية الجزار تنتظر

without a free homeland, we are like cattle,

awaiting the butcher's knife as they grow fat.

يبكي البريد إذا ناحت مصورة

وللصحائف دمع كله عبر

Al-Barid weeps when an illustrated sheet laments,

and the papers have tears, every one a lesson,

على المحيشي من كانت صحائفه

فخر البلاد إذا ما القوم قد فخروا

for al-Muhayshi, whose newspapers were

the country's pride whenever the people boasted.

سبحانك الله ربي هذه صحف

تيتمت بعده ما أن لها خبر

Glory be to You, God, my Lord! These are papers

orphaned after him, with no news at all.

وهي التي عرفت من جهد صاحبها

ما لا يقوم به جن ولا بشر

And they are the very papers that knew, from their owner's toil,

what neither jinn nor humans could accomplish.

فلا تلام إذا ما الذكر هيجها

إن تبكه أحرف بالدمع أو صور

So they are not to be blamed when remembrance stirs them,

if letters or pictures weep for him with tears.

أو يبكه أدب قد كان ينشره

في كل ناد لأهل الفن محتكر

Or let literature mourn him, which he used to spread

in every gathering reserved for practitioners of art.

أو يبكه الشعر عل الدمع يسعفه

بأبحر من عروض غير ما ذكروا

Or let poetry mourn him; perhaps tears will furnish it

with seas of prosody beyond those they have named.

أو يبكه النشر في ألفاظه سلس

كأنه جدول ينساب أو درر

Or let published writing mourn him, fluent in its wording,

as though it were a flowing stream, or pearls.

أو يبكه قلم كالسيف عادته

يوم الكريهة لا يبقى ولا يذر

Or let a pen, like a sword, mourn him—its habit

on the day of battle is to spare nothing and leave nothing.

أو يبكه الدين والأخلاق تندبه

وكل ذي حاجة أزرى به الضرر

Or let faith weep for him, while morals lament him,

and every person in need whom harm has brought low.

وليبك من شاء ما في الدمع متسع

على الفقيد فلا لوم ولا ضرر

And let whoever wishes weep, so long as there is room for tears,

for the departed; there is neither blame nor harm.

أما أنا فدموعي كنت أعرفها

ثجاجة عند ذكر البين تنهمر

As for me, I knew my tears

to be copious, pouring down at the mention of parting.

ما با لها اليوم لا ينهل وابلها

كي تنطفي زفرة في القلب تستعر

What is wrong with them today, that their downpour does not fall,

so a sigh blazing in the heart might be quenched?

ثم أيها الليث فالأشبال ساهرة

على حماها فلا سهو ولا ضجر

Then, O lion, the cubs are keeping vigil

over their domain, with neither heedlessness nor weariness.

وقر عينا بقرب الله في دعة

واهنأ عليك سلام الله يا عمر

And let your eyes find comfort near God, at rest,

and be at ease; God's peace be upon you, O Umar.