نعيمٌ تقضّى مسرعاً في اِنقلابهِ

تولّى ولم يسمح لنا باِلتفاتهِ

Naeem's delight quickly passed in its reversal

He turned away and did not allow us a glance

نَعيم تملّيناه في غفلةٍ مضت

بهِ وَقضى حكم الرّدى بفواتهِ

We took Naeem lightly in a past heedlessness

And the sentence of doom took him in his prime

فَمن لاِمرئ يا قوم أَصبحَ وارثاً

مدى عمرهِ يعقوب في حسراتهِ

So for a man, O people, who became an heir

All his life long Jacob in his regrets

يهيمُ بأرض المحلِ طوراً وتارةً

يُباكي حمام الأيكِ في وكناتهِ

He wanders in the land of the camp now and then

Crying over the doves of the grove in their nests

تجلجل عيناه الدموع وقلبُه

يُقاسي عذاب الحزن في وقداتهِ

His eyes spill tears and his heart

Suffers the torment of sorrow in its flames

فَمن لائمي إِن زرت قبراً تفجّرت

شؤوني لمن قد حَلّ في ظلماتهِ

So blame me if I visited a grave from which

My affairs burst forth for one dwelling in its darkness

أَطوفُ به وجداً وألثمُ تربهُ

لأحظى جَزيل الفضل من بركاتهِ

I go around it in earnest and kiss its soil

To gain abundant merit from its blessings

أَتاني زماني كلّ ما كان خافيا

وَأَسمعني ما قال من كلماتهِ

My time brought me all that was hidden

And let me hear what words he said

وَأَنهلني من بؤسهِ وأعلّني

بكأسِ أجاج بعد كأس فراتهِ

And let me drink from his misery and told me

With a cup of bitter aloes after his cup of joy

فَرعياً لأيّام بها كنت مسعداً

بعيش سعيد منعماً بحياتهِ

Remembering days in which I was happy

With a joyful life, blissful in its life

وَلَم أنسهُ يومَ الوداع ومدمعي

يظلّ ملثّ الدمع في وجناتهِ

I did not forget him the day of farewell, with my tears

Remaining ceaselessly flowing down my cheeks

وَأَسمعه يوماً وقلبي كأنّه

تقلّبهُ في الجمر أيدي طهاتهِ

And I heard him one day while my heart was as if

His hands turned it about in embers

وَكانَ إِذا ما لاح لي خلتُ أَنّه

هلالُ تمامٍ لاحَ في درجاتهِ

And if he appeared to me, I felt he was

The full moon rising in his spheres

أَريب يرى ماء الحياءِ ممازجاً

بماء الشباب الغضّ في قسماتهِ

I wonder, did he see the water of shyness

Mixed with the tender, green water of youth in his features

إِذا غضّ دست وهو فيه تحيّرت

بصائر أهليه لتكييف ذاتهِ

When his hand covered it, I was confused

By the perceptions of his companions regarding his essence

وَيُسعدهم منه طلاقة وجههِ

وَحُسن أَياديه ورسب حصاتهِ

And they were made happy by his eloquent face

The softness of his hands and porridge of his meals

وَلَو لَم يكن غالي المحلّ لما بكت

عَليه بواكي الجنّ قبل مماتهِ

And if he were not of high station, the Jinn would not

Have wept over him before his death

وَليلة أركى جاءني هاتفٌ وقد

تَجلّى ضياء الصبح في بهواتهِ

And on a pitch-black night, a voice came to me when

The dawn's light had appeared in its expanse

وَقال إلهُ العرشِ يوصيك آمراً

بِحُسن الغرافات عمل بما في وصاتهِ

And the God of the Throne commanded you, insisting

On good burial rites, act according to his bequests

فَأصبحت ملهوفَ الحشا مشفقاً

فؤادي يذوب الصخرُ من حرقاتهِ

So I became frantic with fear, my heart melting -

The rock from its burning

وقلت ما هذا العزاءُ وما الّذي

سَيجري بهذا الدهر في نكباتهِ

And I said, “What is this consolation and what is

That which will happen in this life in its adversities?”

إِلى أَن جرى هذا وهذا الّذي أنا

أحاذرُ قبل اليوم من رهفاتهِ

Until this occurred, and this which I

Feared before today from its tremors