رِضاً بِحُكمِ اللَهِ لا سُخطا
بِعَدلِهِ يَأخُذُ ما أَعطى
I accept God’s decree with contentment, not resentment; in His justice, He takes back what He bestowed.
Fate has not betrayed nor hindered me; it is God who tests and decrees the just measure.
ما عَقَّني الدَهرُ وَلا عاقَني
اللَهُ أَبلى وَقَضى القِسطا
Others, when struck by misfortune, claim the nights have dealt a cruel and unjust blow.
If you have exceeded all bounds in blaming me, O critic, know that my sorrow, too, has surpassed all limits.
غَيري إِذا غَيَّرَهُ حادِثٌ
قالَ اللَيالي أَحكَمَت قسطا
Jacob’s own sons reproached him, yet he heeded not a single one of them in his grief.
Look at my tears and fear their deluge; look at my sighs and beware their scorching heat.
إِن جزتَ إِفراطَكَ يا لائِمي
الحُزنَ أَيضاً جاوَزَ الفَرطا
Death assaulted Abd al-Ghani, proving fiercer than the lions of the wild thicket.
I parted from my sweet basil, and with him went my soul, my lifeblood, my kin, and my tribe.
قَد عَذَلتَ يَعقوبَ أَسباطُهُ
فَلَم يُطِع في حُزنِهِ سِبطا
To a bereaved one in the darkness I cried: "Who has snuffed out the candle?"
She replied, "It is a star that has set and fallen," and I was overwhelmed by a covering flood of tears.
اِنظُر دُموعي وَاِخشَ طوفانَها
وَاِنظُر زَفيري وَاِحذَرِ القَنطا
The horizon turned dark, yet through him, the heart of the cemetery was set aglow.
The gravedigger wailed when he saw what radiant meteor he was covering with dust.
سَطا عَلى عَبدِ الغنيّ الرَدى
وَكانَ مِن أسدِ الشَرى أَسطى
I cried, "Woe to you, and woe to me! How has such a star fallen and crashed to earth?"
"Do not bury Jupiter beneath the soil; let our faces serve as the ground for him to rest."
فارَقت ريحاني وَروحي بِهِ
وَمُهجَتي وَالأَهل وَالرَهطا
He replied, seeing what I saw, "What God has prepared for him suffices."
"Rejoice in God’s good pleasure; whoever offers up such a one is safe from Divine wrath."
وَثاكِلٌ قُلتُ لَهُ في الدُجى
قَد أَطفَأَ الشَمعَةَ من قَطّا
I said, "He is innocent, while I am a sinner; can the deprived and the gifted ever be equal?"
A branch of youth, lathed from pure gold—glory to the One who perfected his form!
قالَت هُوَ النَجمُ هَوى آفِلاً
فَغَطَّني الدَمعُ الَّذي غَطّى
Upon its summit the full moon was set, and the stars were fashioned into his earrings.
Kept close within the curtained rooms; when he appeared not, he was wrapped in the cloak of seclusion.
وَأَظلَمَ الأُفقُ وَلكِن بِهِ
أَنارَت المَقبَرَةُ الوسطا
When he recited, how eloquent his tongue; and when he wrote, how exquisite his script!
Whenever his handwriting is praised to me, my cheek stains red with the drops of my blood.
وَأَعوَلَ القابِرُ لَمّا رَأى
أَيَّ شِهابٍ بِالثَرى غَطّى
It was a marvel that he taught precision to the very tutors who sought to instruct him.
For many are called scholars, yet know neither the deep waters nor the shore.
فَقُلتُ يا وَيحَكَ وَالوَيحُ لي
كَيفَ هَوى الكَوكَبُ وَاِنحَطّا
Through him, I defied Fate while he was young, even as the days crept upon me with gray hair.
But when Death passed its judgment upon him, I was left powerless, unable to move a hand.
لا تَضعَنَّ المُشتَري في الثَرى
وَاِجعَل لَهُ أَوجُهَنا بُسطا
Do not speak his name, lest you spill my blood and scatter the pearl-string of my tears.
At the mention of him, the moisture dries in my mouth, and I cannot swallow for grief.
فَقالَ لي وَهوَ يَرى ما أَرى
يَكفيهِ ما اللَهُ لَهُ وَطّا
If he were gone but the blink of an eye, I would cry out that he had tarried too long.
How then can I bear patience, knowing for certain he will never draw near now that he has departed?
أَبشِر بِرضوانٍ مِنَ اللَهِ مَن
قَدَّمَ هذا أَمِنَ السُخطا
I weep when I see his traces, like Imru' al-Qais gazing upon the sands of the Siqt.
How often has the viper bitten me since he left, though once I charmed the speckled snakes with his name.
قُلتُ بَريءِ وَأَنا مُذنِبٌ
هَل يَستَوي المَحرومُ وَالمعطى
O traveler who has pitched camp beneath the dust, taking my heart in the saddlebags you unloaded!
Had your mother known she would never see your face again, she would never have harbored anger.
غُصنُ الصِبا المَخروطُ مِن عَسجَد
سُبحانَ مَن أَحكَمهُ خَرطا
She kept a lock of your hair to console herself, a tress that once left fragrance on the comb.
Your scent remains within it; when its perfume wafts, it binds the wounds of her grieving heart.
رُكِّبَ في أَعلاهُ بَدرُ الدُجى
وَصَيَّرَ النَجم لَهُ قُرطا
Today I envy her that keepsake; were she to grant it to me, she would fulfill our bond.
But she sought other children in your place—may God grant no replacement nor gift!
قَرَّبَهُ الخِدرُ إِذا عَن لَم
يَهتَدِ إِن يَشتَمِلِ المَرطا
She crossed the sea, but had she been punished for her sin, she would never have reached the shore.
She chose the Berbers over her own Arabs; soon she will fancy the Romans and the Copts.
يقرا فَما أَفصَحَ فاهُ وَإِن
يَكتُب فَما أَحسَنهُ خَطّا
Like the people of Sheba, she exchanged her two gardens for bitter fruit and tamarisk.
She found relief in distance; would that she had only moved from Tinnis to Qift!
أَكُلَّما يوصفُ لي نَقطُهُ
يَحمَرُّ خَدّي بِدَمي نَقطا
Yet I ask God to forgive her sin; for were humans infallible, they would never err.
I followed her steps into error, and perhaps it was I who was the more mistaken.
وَكانَ فيهِ عَجَبُ أَنَّهُ
عَلَّمَ مَن أَدَّبَهُ الضَبطا
She remained young while I grew old, and beautiful women despise the sight of gray at the temples.
It is the sigh of a heavy heart; were its breath to rise, it would scorch the desert scrub.
وَرُبَّ مَن يَدعونَهُ مُقرِئا
وَما دَرى الغَرقَ وَلا الشَطّا
I am one who complains that Death snapped his branch just as it grew lush and tall.
Death hastened to strike him down, quick as an envious hand snatching a fallen prize.
صُلتُ عَلى الدَهرِ بِهِ يافِعاً
وَدَبَّت الأَيّامُ لي شمطا
The thirsty one sought rain in the tomb, but found there only drought.
Could he be ransomed—he who was pure gold while all others are base alloy—
حَتّى إِذا حُكِّمَ فيهِ الرَدى
لَم أَستَطِع قَبضاً وَلا بَسطا
Then radiant stars would pay his ransom, stars that guide the blind wanderer stumbling through the night.
Noble ones who never left their homeland, though their gaze reached India and the lands of war.
لا تَذكُروهُ فَتُريقوا دَمي
وَتَنثُروا مِن أَدمُعي سِمطا
They are God's lions; it is as if He created shields solely for their defense.
The rhyme of 'Zha' failed me in your elegy, my only one; how then shall I manage the 'Ta'?
حَديثُهُ جَفَّ بِهِ في فَمي
ريقي فَما اِسطَعتُ لَهُ سَرطا
Yet I see that death is the path of every youth, a rugged steed that must inevitably be ridden.
كُنتُ إِذا ما غابَ مقدارَ ما
يَرتَدُّ طَرفي قَلتُ قَد أَبطا
فَكَيفَ صَبري وَأَنا موقِنٌ
أَن لَيسَ يَدنو بَعدَما شَطّا
أَبكي إِذا أَبصَرتُ آثارَهُ
مِثلَ اِمرئِ القَيسِ رَأى السِّقطا
كَم لَدَغَتني حَيَّةٌ بَعدَهُ
وَكُنتُ أَرقي بِاِسمِهِ الرُقطا
يا راحِلاً عَرَّسَ تَحتَ الثَرى
وَالقَلبُ في الرَحلِ الَّذي حَطّا
لَو عَلِمَت أُمّكَ أَلّا تَرى
وَجهَكَ ما أَزمَعتِ السُخطا
تَزَوَّدَت مِنكَ لِتَعليلِها
ذُؤابَةً عَطَّرتِ المشطا
رَيّاكَ فيها فَإِذا ضُوِّعَت
كانَت عَلى القَلبِ الشَجي رَبطا
حَسَدتها اليَومَ عَلَيها فَلَو
جادَت بِها وَفَّت لي الشَرطا
بَل اِبتَغَت غَيرَكَ وُلداً فَلا
عَوَّضَهُ اللَهُ وَلا أَنطى
أَجازَتِ البَحرَ وَلَو عوقِبَت
بِذَنبِها لَم تَبلُغ الشَطّا
وَالبَربَر اِختارَت عَلى عُربِها
وَسَوفَ تَهوى الروم وَالقِبطا
كَأَنَّها مِن سَبَأٍ بُدِّلَت
بِجَنَّتَيها الأَثلَ وَالخَمطا
لَقَد شَفَت بِالبُعدِ لَو أَنَّها
مِن تنَّسٍ صارَت إِلى قِفطا
وَاللَه أَستَغفر مِن ذَنبِها
لَو عُصِمَ الإِنسانُ ما أَخطا
خَطَوتُ لِلغَيِّ لِخَطواتِها
وَرُبَّما كُنتُ أَنا أَخطا
شَبَّت وَشِبتُ وَبِغَيض الدُمى
مَن أَبصَرَت في فَودِهِ الوَخطا
نَفثَةُ مَصدورٍ إِذا صَعَّدَت
أَنفاسَهُ أَحرَقَتِ الأَرطى
وَمُشتَكي مِن قَصفَت فرعهُ
شُعوب لما أَثَّ وَاِشتَطّا
وَأَسرَعَت في صَرعِهِ مِثلَما
تَأخُذُ كَفّك الحاسِد اللَقطا
فَاِنتَجَعَ الظَمآنُ غَيثَ البِلى
وَإِنَّما يَنتَجِعُ القحطا
لَو كانَ يُفدى وَهوَ مِن جَوهَر
مَحضٍ إِذا كانَ الوَرى خَلطا
فَداهُ زهرٌ بِهِم تهتدي
عَشواءُ تسري لَيلها خَبطا
أَعَزَّةٌ لَم يَبرَحوا مِصرَهُم
وَهُم يَرونَ الهِندَ وَالخُطّا
كَأَنَّما اللَهُ وَهُم أسدُهُ
لِلدَّفعِ عَنهُم خَلق اللَمطا
غابَت لِتَأبينِكَ يا واحِدي
قافِيَةُ الظَاء فَكَيفَ الطّا
لكِن أَرى المَوتَ سَبيل الفَتى
وَصَعبُهُ لا بُدَّ أَن يُمطى
