هُو المَوتُ صَمصَامةٌ مُنتَضَى

يُلَبِّ القَضَاءَ عَلَى مُتَضَى

Death is irrevocable fate condensed to strike,

Enforcing destiny upon the doomed to die.

ويَجرِيَ علَى مُقتضى جَريِهِ

فَفِي جَرِيهِ مُقتَضَى المُقتَضَى

And destiny flows in the way that it must flow;

In flowing thus it follows destiny's decree.

وبِالسَّيِّدِ المُرتَضَى مُولَعٌ

كَأنَّ لَهُ الثَّأرَ في المُرتَضَى

The beloved master death holds much in thrall,

As though avenging all whom death has claimed.

وللِدَّهرِ في أهلِهِ صَولَةٌ

ورَمىٌ مُصِيبٌ بِسَهمٍ مِضَا

Through all its people time wields savage power,

Its arrows strike, unerring, through the throng.

فَلاَ تَأمَنِ الدَّهرَ في صَرفِهِ

فَلَم يَامنِ الشَّاءُ سِيدَ الغَضَا

So do not trust time's turning, for it grants

No safety, sparing not the high or low.

فَكَم غَرَّ غِراًّ بِاقِبَالِهِ

فَلَمَّا تَيَقَّنَهُ أعرَضَا

Often it lures with favor, then betrays,

Once confident, it turns from men and spurns.

قَضَى الحَبرُ عَينِينَا في دَارِهِ

ولاَ غَروَ في دَارِه إِن قَضَى

Our asset lost his eyesight in his land,

No wonder in his land though it be gone.

وقَد قَادَ لِلصَّبرِ إِسلاَمُنَا

وقَاد لِنهجِ الرِّضَا بِالقَضَا

Submission led our Islam, wise of soul,

To walk the path of fate and acquiescence.

ولَيسَ يَرُدُّ البُكَا والعَويلُ

وفَرطُ التَّبَارِيحِ خَطباً مَضَى

No wailing, tears or wild lament can wrest

The fortunes fixed that inexorably passed.

يُصَيِّرُ مُسوَدَّ رَأسِ الوَلِيدِ

وإِنّ كَانَ في مَهدِهِ أبيَضَا

Grey heads once black as jet it forces now,

Although but babes first cradled snowy-fair.

وأني تَصُونُ الدُّمُوعَ العُيُونُ

وعَينُ القُضَاةُ وَيبكِى القَضَا

Would you two eyes withhold your streaming tears

While fated judges weep and fate decrees?

سَتَبكي النَّوادي وَيَبكي النَّدى

وَتَبكي القُضاةُ وَيَبكي القَضا

Both grove and dew shall weep as fate ordains,

While judges weep, and fate itself doth mourn.

ويَبكِى القُرَانُ وَيبكِى القِرَى

وتَبكِى عَلَيهِ القُرَى والفَضَا

The Koran weeps; the villages weep on;

The villages weep, meadows weep around.

وتبكِى العُلُوم وتبكِى الحُلُومُ

وتَبكِى البِحَارُ وتَبكِى الإِضَا

All knowledge weeps; the rivers weep, the plains;

The oceans weep, horizons weep beyond.

فلا يَفرَحِ الشَّامِتُ مِن فَقدِهِ

فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَنزِلاً مُرتَضَى

Let no malicious joy in him be shown,

For his is habitation sweetly graced.

وقَد عوِّضَ الخَيرَ مِن أهلِهِ

وخَيراً مِنَ الدَّارِ قَد عُوِّضَا

The good he had was recompensed with good,

Good for good was given him in place.

يُلِينُ السَّنِينَ على المُسلِمينَ

إِذَا أجحَفَ الخَطبُ أو أجَهَضَا

Hard years will gentle turn for Muslims when

Misfortune strikes or hopes run dry or waste.

فَتًى يَهَبُ الحَاجَ مَن جَاءَهُ

وصَرَّحَ بالحَاجِ أو عَرَّضَا

A youth who gives to all who beg their needs,

Declaring want, or in his bounty blessed.

فِدَاءٌ لَهُ كُلُّ وَجهٍ عَبُوسٍ

إِذَا مَا أتَتهُ الوُجُوهُ الوِضَا

Ransom for him each frowning countenance

Should faces come to him in brightness drest, -

وجُوهُ الرِّجَالِ الكِرَامِ الألى

إِذَا مَا تَلَقَّوا ظَلاَماً أضَا

The faces of the honored generous elite

Should they meet darkness, and dispel night's shade.

وبَارَك فِيهِم وفي دارَهِم

ونَالوا من الله حُسنَ القَضَا

For them, their house, God's blessing did descend,

And from God's will they gained the best accolade.