Sol 5.6

  1. My heart melted at a calamity that befell it,

    when they said, “The young man has died”—they spoke truly.

  2. And my eye streamed blood for him,

    so it became drowned in its own tears.

  3. Ah, my soul’s grief for him—what a man!

    As though my Lord had fashioned him from intelligence itself:

  4. possessed of an intelligence that matched the sun in brilliance,

    and of a modesty that left the pupil of his eye dewy;

  5. devoted to grammar, wholly engrossed

    in its subtleties, and in transmitted learning a trusted authority.

  6. When the first down of his beard adorned his cheek

    and clothed it in basil and leaf,

  7. he shone among his companions like a moon,

    and his radiance lit the horizon.

  8. He became a renowned paragon among his people;

    God ennobled his circle through his name.

  9. Then a decree came to him from his Lord,

    and death gave him its turbid draught.

  10. Together with his two companions, I am in anguish

    and sorrow, while hearts burn.

  11. Three companions kept me company in succession,

    through years of unbroken diligence.

  12. Their study was in the Book of al-Tashīl;

    what a study! Therein they became a cohort of peers.

  13. Then one of them departed on his destined way,

    having walked the paths of goodness.

  14. No doomed mortal’s appointed hour is postponed;

    this, indeed, was the lifespan allotted him.

  15. Though his body has come to rest in a grave,

    his spirit had gone before it to Eden,

  16. amid bliss and in a dwelling on high,

    among houris who cherish love for him there.

  17. May God sanctify the mystery of his grave-dust,

    and water him abundantly from His clouds.

Sol 5.6