فجع المشرقين خطب جليل

وعرى المغربين حزن طويل

A grievous calamity bereaved the two Easts,

and lasting sorrow overtook the two Wests.

مات في الغرب سيد الشرق ضيفا

واذا الغرب بالأسى مشمول

The lord of the East died as a guest in the West,

and behold, the West is enveloped in sorrow.

واذا الشرق من نعي زعيم الشرق

ولهان فكره مشلول

And behold, the East, at news of the East's leader's death,

is distraught, its mind paralyzed.

فوق ذي اللجتين موج مثار

وعلى الساحلين منه ذيول

Over the sea of two deeps a wave is stirred,

and upon its two shores trail its skirts.

أسى الشرق للفجيعة لما

غار برهان الشرق عنه يزول

The East grieved at the calamity when

the East's proof sank, vanishing from it.

ذهبت كلها الزعامة في الشر

ق فلا منقذ ولا تعويل

All leadership in the East has vanished;

there is no deliverer, no one to rely on.

ان رزء البلاد بالملك الرا

حل من غير اوبة لثقيل

The country's loss of the king who has departed

without return is indeed grievous.

حمل الشرق منه شطرا ومنه الغرب

شطرا فلم يخف الحميل

The East bore half of it, and the West

half, yet the burden grew no lighter.

عندما مات فيصل انشق عنه

لعيون ستاره المسدول

When Faisal died, there was torn from him

before watching eyes, his hanging curtain.

فرأوه على الحقيقة وتا

داً كشمس ضياؤها موصول

So they saw him as he truly was, radiant

as a sun whose light is unbroken.

كان يرنو لوحدة العرب الغر

بعين شعاعها التأميل

He aspired to the unity of the illustrious Arabs,

with an eye whose ray was hope.

رب آثار كالنجوم وضاء

هي للدهر غرةوحجول

Many are his deeds, radiant as stars;

they are Time's white blaze and white stockings.

فيصل مات فالعروبة ثكلى

مالها للسلو عنه سبيل

Faisal has died; Arabdom is a bereaved mother,

with no path to solace for his loss.

فعلى فيصل العروبة تبكي

وعلى فيصل البكاء قليل

So Arabdom weeps for Faisal,

and weeping for Faisal is all too little.

وعزيز على العروبة ان يغمد

في قبر سيفها المسلول

And it pains Arabdom that there be sheathed

in a grave her drawn sword.

فيصل قد قضى ففي كل بيت

بالفراتين رنة وعويل

Faisal has died; in every house

by the two Euphrates there is lamentation and wailing.

قد مضى بالحامي الزماع عجولا

ونأى بالراعي يحث الرحيل

It swiftly carried off the resolute protector,

and bore the shepherd far away, urging his departure.

بعد ان بلغ الرسالة بالحق كما

يفعل النبي الرسول

After he had delivered the message in truth, as

the prophet-messenger does.

فبكاه الفرقان حزنا عليه

وبكاه التوراة والانجيل

So the Qur'an wept for him in sorrow,

and the Torah and the Gospel wept for him.

كان كالكوكب الذي قد عراه

قبل ان يأتي الاوان افول

He was like a star overtaken

by a setting before its time had come.

او كسيف مجرد للتقاضي

من قراع الاحداث فيه فلول

Or like a sword unsheathed to seek redress,

bearing notches from its clashes with adversity.

كان يسعى الى اعادة مجد

فقدته العراق وهو اثيل

He strove to restore a glory

that Iraq had lost, a glory rooted in antiquity.

يوم لم يبق في العراق لصرح

المجد مجد الآباء الا طلول

When nothing remained in Iraq of the edifice

of glory—the forefathers' glory—but ruins.

خر من جوه شهاب المعالي

وهوى طود اللاجئين الطويل

From its sky fell the meteor of lofty honors,

and the refugees' towering mountain collapsed.

كان اما رفعت طرفاً اليه

يرجع الطرف عنه وهو كليل

Whenever you lifted your gaze toward him,

your gaze returned from him weary.

كان ان قال خاطباً يحسب

السامع منه ان السماء تقول

Whenever he spoke in address, it seemed

to the listener that heaven itself was speaking.

لم يكن في ظنى ولا ظن غيري

ان ضوء الشعرى العبور يزول

Neither I nor anyone else had thought

that Sirius's light could fade.

غير ان المنون في كل نفس

سنة الله ما لها تبديل

But death, in every soul,

is God's law, which cannot be changed.

كان والعزم يملأ الصدر منه

عنده المستحيل لا يستحيل

With resolve filling his breast,

the impossible was not impossible to him.

تخذته لها اماما شباب

تتسامى الى العلا وكهول

Youths took him for their leader,

aspiring to the heights, and elders too.

رأيه مثل سيفه قاطع عند

التلاحي ومثله مصقول

His judgment, like his sword, was decisive in

disputes, and just as polished.

يقرأ الحادثات في حلكة الشك

بعين منها لها قنديل

He read events amid the darkness of doubt,

with an eye that supplied that darkness with a lamp.

عرجت روحه الى الموطن الاعلى

بليل يدله جبريل

His spirit ascended to the highest abode,

by night, Gabriel showing him the way.

وبه رحبت ملائكة العر

ش كما ينبغي له التبجيل

The angels of the Throne welcomed him

with the reverence that was his due.

ان يوما قد مات فيصل فيه

هو يوم فيه العزاء قليل

Truly, the day on which Faisal died

is a day when consolation is scant.

ان خطبا هز الشآم ومصرا

والعراقين والحجاز جليل

Truly, a calamity that shook Syria and Egypt,

the two Iraqs and the Hejaz, is grievous.

لو سألت البلاد ايكم الثا

كل قال الجميع اني التكول

If you asked the lands, 'Which of you is bereaved?'

all would answer, 'I am the bereaved one.'

مثلما نبكي فيصل اليوم تبكي

بعدنا جيل فيصل ثم جيل

Just as we weep for Faisal today, so will weep

after us a generation for Faisal, then another.

اندبي يا قريش سيدك الصقر

فقد غاله من الليل غول

Lament, O Quraysh, your lord, the falcon;

a ghoul of the night has treacherously slain him.

آه يا نفسي قد تقلص ظل

كان للاجئين فيه مقيل

Ah, my soul! The shade has shrunk

beneath which refugees found their noonday rest.

امروا بالصبر الجميل ومن اين

لدامي الفؤاد صبر جميل

They enjoined gracious patience—but where

can a bleeding heart find gracious patience?

كيف اسلوا وكيف لا اترك لد

مع من العين حيث شاء يسيل

How can I find solace? How can I not let tears

flow from the eye wherever they wish?

ثم جاؤا به خفافاً على طيارة

في جناحها تعجيل

Then they brought him swiftly upon an airplane,

with haste in its wing.

فاحطت به الجماهير افرا

جا وعبت كما تعب السيول

The crowds surrounded him in throngs,

and surged as torrents surge.

فعيون من المدامع شكرى

وصدور للحزن فيها غليل

Eyes were brimming with tears,

and breasts held sorrow's burning thirst.

ورؤس نواكس ورقاب

في خشوع منها الى الغش ميل

Heads were bowed, and necks

in humility, some verging on a swoon.

وعلى ظهر مدفع حملوه

انما يحمل الجليل الجليل

Upon a cannon's back they carried him;

only the mighty bears the mighty.

وكأن الجموع بحر خضم

قد اثارته شمأل او قبول

It was as though the crowds were a vast sea,

stirred by a north wind or an east wind.

لمن النعش خلفه الناس يبكون

عليهم كآبة وذهول

Whose is the bier behind which people weep,

with gloom and bewilderment upon them?

ولمن هذه البنادق والاعلام

منكوسة وهذا المويل

And for whom are these rifles and flags

lowered, and this wailing?

كنت لاستشفاء نزلت ببرن

مؤثراً طبها وانت عليل

You had come to Bern to seek healing,

preferring its medicine, for you were ill.

ومللت البقاء فيها غريباً

تشتكي الداء والمريض ملول

You tired of remaining there a stranger,

complaining of illness; the sick are restless.

فتيممت دار ملكك محمو

لا وقد لاقى حتفه المحمول

So you made for the seat of your kingship, borne

there, though the one they bore had met his death.

وشجاني بالليل في كل بيت

من حماماته عليك الهديل

At night, in every house, I was saddened

by its doves' cooing in mourning for you.

دفن الشعب جسم فيصل في قبر

كما يدفن الخليل الخليل

The people buried Faisal's body in a grave,

as one dear friend buries another.

وابتغى نظرة الوداع اليه

واذا دونها التراب يحول

And they sought a farewell look at him,

but behold, the earth stood in its way.

موقف فيه ادمع القوم صرعى

دمها فوق ارضه مطلول

A scene where the people's tears lay slain,

their blood upon its ground, shed without redress.

موقف تنطق العواطف فيه

بتباريحها وتعيا العقول

A scene where emotions spoke

with their agonies, while reason failed.

سيدي قم من قبرك الضنك واخطب

فالجماهير حاشدون مثول

My lord, rise from your cramped grave and speak!

The crowds are massed, standing before you.

عد الينا فما فراغك ذا يملؤه

الا شخصك المأمول

Return to us: this emptiness you left can be filled

only by your longed-for self.

انت ما مت بل رحلت سليما

ومن العين للقلوب الرحيل

You have not died, but departed unharmed,

a journey from the eyes into the hearts.

ثابت انت والليالي توالى

خالد انت والسنون تدول

You remain steadfast while the nights succeed one another;

you remain immortal while the years turn.

كان منا لك الهتاف طويلا

واذا ذلك الهتاف عويل

Long had our acclamations risen for you,

and behold, those acclamations are wailing.

ينشأ المرء من تراب وماء

واخيراً اليهما يستحيل

Man comes into being from earth and water,

and finally turns back into them both.

قلت للدهر عاتبا انت عمّا

هو يؤذى قلوبنا المسؤول

I said to Time in reproach: 'For whatever

hurts our hearts, you are responsible.'

قال اني من الوجود كغيري

بنواميس صعبة مكبول

It said: 'Like others, I belong to existence,

bound by harsh laws.'

ايها القلب لا يهولنك موت

ليس في هذا الموت شيء يهول

O heart, let no death terrify you;

there is nothing in this death to terrify.

قد بلوت الحياة وهي بلتني

فكلانا من الفه مملول

I have tried life, and it has tried me;

each of us has become tiresome to the other.

يا لها من رواية كلما مثلها

الدهر هاجني التمثيل

What a drama! Whenever it is staged

by Time, the performance stirs my grief.

يا لها من رواية ذات شجو

ملئت بالدماء منها الفصول

What a drama, full of sorrow,

its acts filled with blood!

وكأني كوخ عفته الاعاصير

فلم تبق منه الا طلول

I am like a hut effaced by hurricanes,

of which nothing remains but ruins.

انا مهد اليك فيصل شعري

فتقبله انه اكليل

I offer you my poetry, Faisal,

so accept it: it is a wreath.

غير شعري الذي سيبقى ندّيا

ايّ دمع على ثراك اذيل

Apart from my verse, which will remain dewy,

what tears can I shed upon your dust?

هو من رقة كدمعي في الحز

ن على نفسه يكاد يسيل

In tenderness it is like my tears in grief;

it almost streams over itself.

افرحي بعد الحزن نفسي وطيبي

ان غازي من فيصل لبديل

Rejoice after sorrow, my soul, and be glad:

Ghazi is indeed a successor to Faisal.

لمعت نارهم وقد عسعس الليل

ومل الحادي وتاه الدليل

Their fire shone when night had grown dark,

the camel-driver had wearied, and the guide had lost his way.

فيصل الباني مات فليحى غازي

انه ذو الجلالة المأمول

Faisal the builder is dead; long live Ghazi!

He is His Majesty, in whom we place our hopes.

ملك ان تزره يعجبك منه

نظر نافذ ورأى اصيل

A king who, if you visit him, will impress you with

penetrating vision and sound judgment.

سر بالتاج فهو تاج ابيك الفرد

والعرش عرشه المكفول

Rejoice in the crown: it is your peerless father's crown,

and the throne is his safeguarded throne.

انت فرع له واكرم بفرع

وسليل له ونعم السليل

You are his branch—and how noble a branch!

And his scion—and what an excellent scion!