لقد لامني عند القبور على البكا

لقد لامني عند القبور على البكا

رفيقي لتذرافِ الدموع السوافكِ

رفيقي لتذرافِ الدموع السوافكِ

Indeed, at the graves I was reproached for weeping

My friend blamed me for weeping at the graves

By my companion, for pouring out streaming tears.

For shedding copious tears

أمِن أجلِ قبرٍ بالملا أنت نائحٌ

أمِن أجلِ قبرٍ بالملا أنت نائحٌ

على كلّ قبرٍ أو على كلّ هالك

على كلّ قبرٍ أو على كلّ هالك

Is it for a grave at al-Malā that you lament

Do you weep for a certain grave stuffed with treasures

Over every grave, or over everyone who has died?

Or for every grave and everyone who's perished?

فقال اتبكي كل قبرٍ رأيته

فقال اتبكي كل قبرٍ رأيته

لقبرٍ ثوى بين اللّوى فالدكادك

لقبرٍ ثوى بين اللّوى فالدكادك

Then he said: Do you weep over every grave you have seen

He said: weep for every grave you see

Because of a grave where he lies between al-Liwā and al-Dakādik?

For one interred between waves then tossed about

فقلتُ له ان الشجا يبعثُ الشجا

فقلتُ له ان الشجا يبعثُ الشجا

فدعني فهذا كلُّه قبر مالكِ

فدعني فهذا كلُّه قبر مالكِ

So I said to him: Indeed, grief awakens grief;

I said: anguish brings on more anguish

So leave me be, for all this is Mālik's grave.

So leave me be - this is the grave of Mālik

ألَم تَرَه فينا يقسِّمُ مالَهُ

ألَم تَرَه فينا يقسِّمُ مالَهُ

وتأوى اليه مرملاتُ الضرائك

وتأوى اليه مرملاتُ الضرائك

Did you not see him among us, sharing out his wealth,

Don't you see him dividing his wealth amongst us?

While the needy women of the poor sought refuge with him?

As the sand grouses flock to him

فآخِرُ آياتٍ مُناخ مطيةٍ

فآخِرُ آياتٍ مُناخ مطيةٍ

ورحلٍ علافيّ على متن حارك

ورحلٍ علافيّ على متن حارك

And the final traces were a riding camel's kneeling-place,

The final verses of a mounted poet

And an ʿUlāfī saddle upon the ridge of the withers.

With saddlebags atop a noble steed

فلما استوى كالبدر بين شعوبه

فلما استوى كالبدر بين شعوبه

وأمَّت بهاديها فجاج المهالك

وأمَّت بهاديها فجاج المهالك

Then, when he sat upright like the full moon between the saddle's forks,

When he rose like the full moon amongst his people

And she headed, neck foremost, toward the passes of death,

And guided them with his light amidst perils

بعينيّ قطاميّ تأوَّبَ مَرقباً

بعينيّ قطاميّ تأوَّبَ مَرقباً

فبات به كانّهُ عين فارك

فبات به كانّهُ عين فارك

To my eyes he was a falcon, returning at dusk to a lookout,

With my wide awake eyes I kept watch

Then spending the night there like the eye of a wife who loathes her husband.

As if my eyes were those of a wakeful guardian

أطفنا به نستحفظ الله نفسه

أطفنا به نستحفظ الله نفسه

نقولُ له مصاحباً غير هالك

نقولُ له مصاحباً غير هالك

We gathered around him, asking God to preserve his life,

We shrouded him, beseeching God to spare his soul

Saying to him: May you be well accompanied, and not perish.

And said, as his companion without death:

يثير قطا القنعاء في كل ليلةٍ

يثير قطا القنعاء في كل ليلةٍ

اذا حنَّ فحلُ الشولِ وسط المبارك

اذا حنَّ فحلُ الشولِ وسط المبارك

He startles the sandgrouse of al-Qanʿāʾ every night,

He rouses, every night, the spotted lynx

When the dry she-camels' stallion groans among the kneeling-places.

When it wails, ruling the valleys amidst the blessed