نفوسُ البرايا لِلْمَنَايَا مَنَاهِلُ

نفوسُ البرايا لِلْمَنَايَا مَنَاهِلُ

وأيّامُها منها لهنّ مراحلُ

وأيّامُها منها لهنّ مراحلُ

The souls of humankind are watering places for death,

The souls of the wilderness are springs for death,

And their days are stages in death's journey among them.

And their days from it are stages for them.

فكيف النّجا والموت أظفر طالب

فكيف النّجا والموت أظفر طالب

وكيف البقا والدّهرُ بالخَلق راحل

وكيف البقا والدّهرُ بالخَلق راحل

How, then, can one escape, when death is the surest pursuer?

So how can one be saved when death is the victor?

And how can one endure, when time carries humankind away?

And how can one remain when time makes all creatures depart?

وفي صالح الأعمال زادٌ مبلّغ

وفي صالح الأعمال زادٌ مبلّغ

وذكرٌ به يبقى الذي هو عامل

وذكرٌ به يبقى الذي هو عامل

And in righteous deeds lies provision to carry one to the journey's end,

Yet righteous deeds provide provisions conveyed,

And remembrance through which the doer lives on,

And the remembrance of them remains for the doer.

كما خلّدت نشرَ ذكرها

كما خلّدت نشرَ ذكرها

وإن أوحشت بالفقد منها منازل

وإن أوحشت بالفقد منها منازل

Just as she made her remembrance endure far and wide,

Just as she immortalized the spreading of his fame,

Though homes grew desolate at her loss.

Though parting from her left homes desolate.

مضت وعليها للقلوب مدامعٌ

مضت وعليها للقلوب مدامعٌ

جرت من جفونٍ وهي حُمْرٌ هوامل

جرت من جفونٍ وهي حُمْرٌ هوامل

She passed away, and hearts shed tears for her,

She has gone, with tears in hearts flowing

That flowed from eyelids, crimson and freely streaming,

From eyes that weep red torrents.

كما أضحكت سِنًّا بخالص بِرِّها

كما أضحكت سِنًّا بخالص بِرِّها

لمن دمعه من نكبة الدّهر سائل

لمن دمعه من نكبة الدّهر سائل

Just as she made teeth laugh with her pure kindness,

Just as she brought joy to one grown old through her sincere devotion,

For one whose tears flowed from a calamity of time.

When his tears of time's calamities poured forth.

مضت ولها من صالح الفعل مُؤْنِسٌ

مضت ولها من صالح الفعل مُؤْنِسٌ

إذا أَوْحَشتْ سُكَّانَهُنَّ جنادلُ

إذا أَوْحَشتْ سُكَّانَهُنَّ جنادلُ

She passed away, with righteous deeds as a comforting companion,

She went on, with righteous deeds as her companion,

When stones leave their dwellers desolate.

When the dwellers were left lonesome by her loss.

وقد نزلت من جانب الجود مَنْزِلاً

وقد نزلت من جانب الجود مَنْزِلاً

تقَرُّ به عينُ الذي هو نازل

تقَرُّ به عينُ الذي هو نازل

And she has settled in an abode in the realm of bounty,

She alighted in the abode of generosity,

That brings delight to the eye of whoever dwells there.

Where the eye of the lodger finds rest.

فدرّت عليها من مراحم جوده

فدرّت عليها من مراحم جوده

سحائبُ للعفو الجميل حوامل

سحائبُ للعفو الجميل حوامل

So, from the mercies of His bounty, poured down upon her

So upon her rained from the mercies of His bounty,

Clouds laden with gracious pardon.

Clouds bearing pardons most beautiful.

لذاك تأتّى أن يقول مؤرّخ

لذاك تأتّى أن يقول مؤرّخ

سقى رمسَها مُزْنٌ من الجود هاطل

سقى رمسَها مُزْنٌ من الجود هاطل

Thus a chronicler was able to say:

Thus it befits the chronicler to say:

May rain-clouds of bounty shower her grave.

Her tomb was watered by showers of generosity pouring down.