الله يَعْلَمُ والأنام شهودُ

أنَّ الَّذي فَقَد الورى لفريدُ

God and all people know

That the one who left this world was unique

كانَ الإمام به الأئمة تقتدي

فَلَه الهدى ولغيره التقليد

He was the imam whom all imams emulated

So he had guidance while others followed his lead

ظلاًّ على الإسلام كانَ وجوده

حتَّى تقلّص ظِلُّه الممدود

His existence was a shade over Islam

Until his extended shade shrank

فَلِفَقْده في كلِّ قلب لوعة

ولذكره في حمده ترديد

So for his loss every heart grieves

And remembering him, his praise is repeated

فزوال ذاك الطود بعد ثباته

ينبيك أنَّ الراسيات تبيد

The disappearance of that towering mountain after its firmness

Shows you that even firm things will perish

هَيْهات يُرفَعُ للمدارس بعده

عَلَمٌ ويورقُ بالمكارم عود

Alas, after him no banners will be raised for schools

And a tree of virtues will not grow and flourish

سِمْط الفضائل والفواضل كلّها

نُثِرَتْ عليه من الدموع عقود

All the highest virtues and merits

Were strewn over him, necklaces of tears

أسدٌ من الآساد يصرعه الرّدى

ومن الرِّجال بهائمٌ وأُسودُ

A lion among lions whom fate laid low

While among men there are beasts and hyenas

عجباً لمن ضاق الفضاءُ بعلمه

أنّى حَوَتْهُ من القبور لحود

It is strange that the vast universe was too small for his knowledge

Yet how can the narrowness of graves contain him?

وإذا الملائك بُشّرت بقدومه

فَعَلام تنتحب الرِّجال الصيد

And if angels rejoiced at his coming

Why do eminent men weep and wail?

لا جاز قَبرَك صَوبُ غادته الحيا

تسقي ثراك بصوبها وتزيد

No tomb could contain your flow of life

Watering your grave and increasing it

وجُزيت خيراً بعدها عن أُمَّةٍ

علماؤها مما أفَدْتَ تفيد

And you were rewarded well for a nation

Whose scholars benefit from what you offered

فمقامك المحمودُ فوقَ مقامهم

وعلى الجميع لِواؤك المعقود

So your praised station is above their station

And over all, your banner is planted

أظهَرْتَ بالآيات ما بظهورها

يُخفى النفاق ويُعلن التوحيد

You showed clearly through signs that when apparent

Hypocrisy is hidden and monotheism proclaimed

وكشَفْتَ غامضَ ما تشابه فانجلَتْ

شُبَهٌ على وجه الحقيقة سود

And you unveiled the ambiguity of what was ambiguous

So doubts on the face of truth became dark

يا أيُّها الثاوي بأكرم تُربَةٍ

تالله أَنْتَ الصارم المغمود

O you who rest in the most hallowed earth

By God, you are resolute and steadfast

يا شدَّ ما دهم العراق بساعة

خشناء يُصدعُ عندها الجلمود

Oh how suddenly Iraq was shaken

At a harsh hour that splits even the stubborn

إذ حان حَينُ أبي الثناء وجاءه

بين الأكارم يومُه الموعود

When the time came for the Father of Praise and he was given

Among the generous, his promised day

ونعماه ناعيه وقال مؤَرِّخاً

قد مات ويك أبو الثنا محمود

His elegy was his eulogy, and the historian said

Alas, Father of Praise Abu al-Thana' has died