بحر الفصاحة غاض يا إخواني — Maawali Omani

بحرُ الفصاحةِ غاضَ يا إخواني

وأخو الإبانة لفَّ في الأكفانِ

The sea of eloquence has ebbed, O my brothers,

and the brother of lucid speech was wrapped in shrouds.

جبلٌ من الأجبال أضحْىَ ساقطاً

متهدمَ الأرجاءَ والأركانِ

A mountain among mountains has fallen,

its sides and pillars crumbling.

كلا هو البحرُ الغزيرُ عَنَت له

فصحاء هذا الدهرِ بالإذْعَانِ

No—he is the abundant sea before whom

the eloquent of this age bowed in submission.

لا زالَ مفتاحاً لكلِّ غريبة

تُتْلى من الآثارِ والقرآن

He never ceased to be a key to every obscure expression

recited from the traditions and the Quran.

ولقد شغلتَ عيونَنا وقلوبنا

مُذْ هِمتَ بالهمَلانِ والخفقَانِ

Indeed, you have kept our eyes and hearts occupied,

since you wandered away—with flowing tears and throbbing.

وعمرتَ أفئدةَ الرجال وأهلها

بالهم والأوصاب والأحزانِ

And you filled men's hearts and those who bear them

with worry, afflictions, and sorrows.

ولقد نزلتَ بمنزلٍ فرداً به

مع جيرة متقاربي الأوطان

Indeed, you descended to a dwelling, alone within it,

among neighbors whose abodes lie close together.

لو يعلمون بأن شخصك عندهم

فرحوا بما تحويه من تِبيانِ

If they knew that your person was among them,

they would rejoice in the clear exposition you hold.

عجباً لقبر يحتويك بلحدِه

ويضيقهِ وبصدرِكَ البحرانِ

How wondrous, a grave that contains you in its burial niche

and constricts it, while your breast holds two seas!

أبكى فراقُك كلَّ حبرٍ عالمٍ

من جملةٍ الزهّادِ والرَّهْبانِ

Your departure made every learned scholar weep,

from the ranks of ascetics and monks.

من حيثُ إنَّك للفصاحةِ مَعْدِن

وملخِّص لغرائبِ الفرقان

For you are a mine of eloquence,

and an elucidator of the Criterion's obscure passages.

وغدَا محيّا العلمِ أعمى بعدما

قد كانَ تحت جبينه عينانِ

The face of learning grew blind, after

it once had two eyes beneath its brow.

وصممُ علمِ النحو أصبحَ ذاوياً

بعد اخضرارِ العودِ والأغْصانِ

And the deafness of grammatical learning grew withered,

after the greening of its trunk and branches.

يَا نَازلاً بعد التنعمِ والغنى

في برزَخٍ ما عنده من ثانِ

O you who descended, after luxury and wealth,

into an intermediate realm, with no other beside you,

من قبل كنت منعماً بلذاذةِ

مع رتبة الأصحابِ والخلانِ

before, you lived in comfort and delight,

with your standing among companions and dear friends.

هل بعدك الدنيا تطيب لهمْ وهم

كالرأسِ أحياءٌ بغيرِ لسانِ

Can the world be sweet to them after you, when they are

alive like a head without a tongue?

لو يقبلُ الموت الفداءَ فدوْك

بالأموالِ والأولادِ والوِلْدَانِ

If death accepted ransom, they would ransom you

with wealth, children, and young boys.

يا غائبَ الجثمانِ ذكرك حاضرٌ

من سابقٍ في أعصرِ الأزْمانِ

O you whose body is absent, your remembrance is present,

from times past, through the epochs of time.

هلْ من فصيح في الورى كمحمدٍ

نسلِ الصفىّ ابن الفتى عمرانِ

Is there anyone eloquent among humankind like Muhammad,

descendant of al-Safi, son of the young man Imran?

هجمت عليه الحادثات بكلكل

فطواه صرفُ حوادِثِ المَلَوانِ

Calamities bore down on him with their breast,

and the shifting calamities of night and day folded him away.

إنّ المنيَّةَ لا تردّ إذا أَتَتْ

مأمورةً مِنْ ربنا المنَّانِ

Death cannot be turned back when it comes,

commanded by our Lord, the Bountiful Giver.

إخواننا ى تحزنوا واستَمسِكوا

وتوثَّقُوا بِعُرى عظيمِ الشانِ

Our brothers, [do not] grieve, and hold fast,

and bind yourselves securely to the bonds of the One of great majesty.

صبراً فإن اللهَ جلَّ جلالهُ

قد قالَ أجمعُ من عليها فانِ

Be patient, for God—exalted is His majesty—

has said: 'All who are upon it perish.'

حقّاً ويبقَى وجه ربك ذُو العلى

والطولِ والآلاء والإحسانِ

Truly, the face of your Lord remains, possessed of sublimity,

and bounty, blessings, and beneficence.

إنا خلقنا للتصبرِ والأسَى

والنوحُ والأحزانُ للنِّسْوَانِ

We were created for patient endurance and sorrow,

while wailing and sorrows are for women.

أعداءَنا لا تشمتوا بمصابِنا

فالموت مورد جملةِ القُطَّانِ

Our enemies, do not gloat over our calamity,

for death is the watering place of all inhabitants.

إنا لنلهو والمنايا شُرَّعٌ

لا بدَّ تأتينا على الغَفَلانِ

Indeed, we amuse ourselves while deaths stand poised;

they must come upon us while we are heedless.

إن كنتَ ذا عقلِ فلا تنسَ المُنَى

واذكر فراقَ الأهلِ والسكَّانِ

If you possess reason, do not forget your hopes,

and remember parting from family and fellow dwellers.

واتركْ هواكَ فإن عمركَ منقضٍ

وترقبنَّ لحادثِ الحدَثانِ

Abandon your desire, for your lifetime is passing away,

and watch closely for the calamity of time's vicissitudes,

من قبلِ أنُ يلقوكَ في بيتِ البلى

في برزخِ الأهوالِ والديدانِ

before they cast you into the house of decay,

into the intermediate realm of terrors and worms.

ماذا تقولُ إذا حللتَ بِبَلْقَعٍ

فرداً به إما أتى المَلَكانِ

What will you say when you alight in a barren waste,

alone there, should the two angels come?

وهما النكيرُ ومنكرٌ حتى إذا

ما أقصداك وأقبَلا يَسَلاَنِ

They are al-Nakir and Munkar; when at last

they make for you and approach, asking:

إن كنتَ من أهل السعادة بُشْرا

ك برحمةٍ ومسرةٍ وجنانِ

If you are among the blessed, glad tidings

to you of mercy, joy, and gardens,

وبراحةٍ ولذاذة وحلاوةٍ

وبرأفة من ربنا وأمانِ

and of repose, delight, and sweetness,

and of compassion from our Lord, and safety.

أو كنتَ من أهلِ الشقاوة بش

راك بغصة ومذلةٍ وهَوانِ

Or, if you are among the wretched, glad tidings

to you of choking anguish, humiliation, and abasement,

وبِكُرْبةٍ وبحسرةٍ وندامةٍ

وإقامةٍ في جَاحِمِ النَّيرانِ

and of distress, bitter regret, and remorse,

and of dwelling in the raging blaze of the fires.

ثم الصلاةُ على النبيِّ محمدٍ

خيرِ الورَى المبعوثِ مِنْ عَدْنَانِ

Then blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad,

the best of humankind, sent forth from Adnan's line.

صلّى عليه ما وسقَ الدُّجَى

أو لاحَ في خضرائها القَمرَانِ

May He bless him as long as darkness gathers,

or the two moons gleam in its green sky.