اِذهَب لَكَ اللَهُ جارُ

وَجَنَّةُ الخُلدِ دارُ

Go, for God is your protector,

And the Garden of Eternity is your abode.

اِذهَب بِحُسنِ عَزائي

فَلَيسَ عَنكَ اِصطِبارُ

Go, taking the beauty of my solace with you,

For there is no patience to be found in your absence.

حَلالُ صَبري حَرامٌ

وَسِرُّ ثَكلي جهارُ

The patience once lawful to me is now forbidden,

And the secret of my bereavement is openly revealed.

هَيهاتَ كَيفَ أواري

ما البَردُ مِنهُ أوارُ

Alas! How can I conceal my grief

When its very coldness burns like a blazing fire?

يا قُرَّةَ العَينِ ما لي

حَتّى أَراكَ قَرارُ

O coolness of my eye, I can find no rest,

No settlement until I gaze upon you again.

ذا الأُنسُ بَعدَكَ وَحشٌ

وَذي المَغاني قِفارُ

Familiar company has become a desolate beast without you,

And these dwellings are but barren wastelands.

نَهارُ ثُكلِكَ لَيلٌ

لا كانَ ذاكَ النَهارُ

The day of your loss is the darkest night;

Would that that day had never been!

وَكَيفَ مُتَّ وَلَم يَش

مَلِ النُجومَ اِنكِدارُ

How did you die without the stars

Being shrouded in dimness and gloom?

وَلَم تُسَيَّر جِبالٌ

وَلَم تُعَطَّل عِشارُ

Without the mountains being set in motion,

And without the pregnant camels being abandoned?

وَهيَ القِيامَةُ قامَت

فَعِبرَةٌ وَاِعتِبارُ

It is the Resurrection itself that has risen,

A lesson and a warning for all to see.

أَنا الحُسامُ المُحَلّى

وَأَنتَ مِنّي الغِرارُ

I am the adorned sword,

And you were my cutting edge.

وَأَنتَ قُطبُ المَعالي

عَلَيكَ كانَ المَدارُ

You were the pole star of high virtues,

Around which all things revolved.

أَمسَت عَلَيكَ قُلوبُ ال

أَحرارِ وَهيَ حِرارُ

The hearts of the free have turned toward you,

Burning with the intense heat of grief.

لَو كُنتَ تُفدى لَكانَت

لَكَ الفِداءَ نِزارُ

If you could be ransomed, then all of Nizar

Would have offered themselves as your ransom.

وَدارَأَت عَنكَ أسدٌ

أَنيابُهُنَّ الشِفارُ

And lions would have defended you,

Their fangs sharp as slaughtering blades.

لكِن مَقاديرُ رَبّي

ما لي عَلَيها اِقتِدارُ

But these are the decrees of my Lord,

Over which I have no power or command.

الحَمدُ لِلَّهِ شُكراً

ما في القَضاءِ اِختِيارُ

Praise and thanks be to God;

There is no choice against what is ordained.

وَنَحنُ قَتلى المَنايا

فَكَيفَ يُدرَكُ ثارُ

We are the victims of Destiny,

So how can any vengeance be exacted?

وَما عَلى الدَهرِ ذَنبٌ

فَيُلزَمُ الإِعتِذارُ

Time bears no guilt,

That it should be compelled to apologize.

اِنظُر إِذا المَوتُ أَوفى

هَل لِلهمامِ اِنتِصارُ

Observe: when Death arrives to claim its due,

Can even the valiant hero triumph?

لا يَشمَتَنَّ الأعادي

فَلَيسَ بِالمَوتِ عارُ

Let not the enemies gloat,

For there is no shame in death.

لِكُلِّ حَيٍّ مَماتٌ

وَكُلِّ عُمرٍ مُعارُ

For every living being, there is an end,

And every life is but a borrowed thing.

أَعمالُ شيبٍ وَطِفلٍ

كَأَنَّهُنَّ اِختِصارُ

The lives of the elder and the child alike

Are but a fleeting brevity.

قَدِ اِستَوَت في التَناهي

طوالُها وَالقِصارُ

In their finitude, they are equal:

The long lives and the short.

لا يفتننَّ بَياضُ ال

خُدودِ وَالإِحمِرارُ

Let not the whiteness of cheeks

Nor their rosy hue deceive you.

لا الياسَمينُ المُندّى

يَبقى وَلا الجلَّنارُ

Neither the dew-kissed jasmine remains,

Nor the pomegranate blossom.

وَالآسُ إِن كُلُّ نَورٍ

ذَوى وَفيهِ اِخضِرارُ

Even the myrtle, though lush and green,

Must see its blossoms wither.

فَإِنَّهُ سَوفَ يَذوي

وَيَعتَريهِ اِصفِرارُ

For it, too, shall fade away,

And yellowing decay shall seize it.

يا بَدرُ كُنتَ مُنيراً

حَتّى مَحاكَ السّرارُ

O full moon, you were shining bright,

Until the dark phase erased your light.

يا غُصنُ أَصبَحتَ يَبسا

فَأَينَ تِلكَ الثِمارُ

O bough, you have withered and dried;

Where now are those fruits you bore?

أَينَ الذَكاءُ الَّذي كُن

تَ جَنَّةً وَهوَ نارُ

Where is that brilliance? You were a garden of grace,

While your wit was a blazing fire.

أَينَ الحَياءُ وَأَينَ ال

حَيا وَأَينَ الوقارُ

Where is the modesty? Where is the vitality?

And where is that solemn dignity?

شُقتَ اللداتِ فَلَولا

تَزورُهُم أَو تُزارُ

Your peers yearn for you; why then

Do you not visit them, nor receive their visits?

فَوَعدكَ اِستَنجَزوهُ

هَل عَودَةٌ فَاِنتِظارُ

They seek the fulfillment of your promise:

Is there a return, that we should wait?

ما زالَ مِنكَ رَواحٌ

إِلى العُلا وَاِبتِكارُ

You were ever journeying toward the heights,

Striving early for greatness.

حَتّى وَعَيتَ صَغيراً

ما لا تَعيهِ الكِبارُ

Until, though young, you grasped wisdom

That even elders fail to comprehend.

فَضيلَةٌ كَلَّفَتهُم

أَن يَحسِدوا أَو يَغاروا

A virtue that compelled them

To feel envy or jealous zeal.

وَكُنتَ في الرَأيِ أَهدى

مِن كُلِّ مَن يُستَشارُ

In judgment, you were a truer guide

Than all those consulted for advice.

يَجلو سَناكَ الدَياجي

فَيَهتَدي مَن يَحارُ

Your radiance dispelled the darkest gloom,

Guiding the one who had lost his way.

لِم لا وَأَنتَ اِبنُ بَحرٍ

تَمتارُ مِنهُ البِحارُ

And why not? For you are the son of a vast ocean

From which other seas draw their bounty.

يُهدي إِلى السَمعِ دُرّاً

يَهونُ فيهِ النُضارُ

Who gifts pearls of speech to the ear,

Beside which pure gold seems of little worth.

يا مَن إِلَيهِ اِرتِياحي

وَمَن عَلَيهِ الحذارُ

O you in whom I found my comfort,

And for whom I held my deepest fears.

لَو عِشتَ قامَ لِمَجدي

في كُلِّ أُفقٍ مَنارُ

Had you lived, a beacon for my glory

Would have risen on every horizon.

وَكانَ لي وَلِفِهر

بِمُنتَماك اِفتِخارُ

And I, along with the tribe of Fihr,

Would have taken pride in your kinship.

عَبد الغنيّ تَأَوَّب

حَتّى مَتى ذا السِفارُ

O Abd al-Ghani, return to us!

How long must this journey last?

فَقَدتُ مِنكَ يَميني

هَلّا فَدَتها اليَسارُ

In losing you, I have lost my right hand;

Would that my left had been the ransom!

فَبِتُّ قَد بُتَّ مِنّي

حَبلُ الرَجاءِ المُعارُ

I pass the night with the rope of hope,

Once lent to me, now severed and gone.

وَعادِياتُ اللَيالي

لَها عَلَيَّ مغارُ

While the calamities of the nights

Launch their raids upon me.

لا مَرحَباً بِحياتي

ماتَ الكِرامُ الخيارُ

There is no welcome left in my life,

Now that the noble and chosen have died.

وَلا سَقَتني الغَوادي

حَسبي الدُموعُ الغِزارُ

Let no rain-clouds water me;

My own abundant tears suffice.

سَبَقتني وَعَداني

عَنِ اللِحاقِ العِثارُ

You have gone before me, while I

Am held back from following by my stumbling.

كَبَّت أَباكَ الخَطايا

وَلِلكَريمِ اِغتِفارُ

Sins have weighed your father down,

But the Generous One grants forgiveness.

فَاِشفَع لَهُ عِندَ رَبٍّ

إِلَيهِ مِنهُ الفِرارُ

So intercede for him before a Lord,

To Whom we flee to escape His wrath.