يا خير أُسرته وإن رغموا

إني عليك لمثبت أسف

O best of his family, though they resented,

Indeed I am steadfast in my grief over you

الله يعلم أن لي كبدا

حرى عليك ومقلةً تكف

God knows my liver has become

Worthy of you, and tearful enough

ولئن شجيت لما رزئت به

إني لأضمر فوق ما أصف

And if I were hurt by what befell you

Indeed, I harbor more than I express

هلا بقيت لسد فاقتنا

أبداً وكان لغيرك التلف

If only you had remained to fill our deficit

Forever, and ruin had come to others

قد كان فيك لمن مضى خلفٌ

ولسوف يعوزُ بعدك الخلف

There was in you a successor for those passed

And after you, a successor will be lacking

لا بات رهطك بعد هفوتهم

إني لرهطك بعدها شنف

Your comrades do not spend the night after losing you

Indeed, I am your comrade after them, sleepless

هتكوا لحرمتك التي هتكت

حرم الرسول ودونها السجفُ

They violated your sanctity which was violated

The sanctity of the Messenger, and besides it sacrilege

ونبت أقاربك التي خذلت

وجميعها بالذل معترف

And your treacherous kinsfolk sprouted

All admitting being humiliated

لم يفعلوا بالشط إذ حضروا

ما تفعل الغيرانةُ الأنفُ

They did not do at the riverbank when they came

What the jealous do, full of rage

تركوا حريمَ أبيهمُ نفلاً

والمحصناتُ صوارخٌ هتف

They left the women of their father prey

While the chaste cried loudly

أبدت مخلخلها على دهشٍ

أبكارهن ورنت النصفًُ

Their untouched maidenhood showed through their clothes

As their anklets rang

سلبت معاجرهن واجتليت

ذات النقابِ ونوزع الشنف

Their quarters were looted and stripped

Of veiled ladies, as if they were prey

فكأنهن خلالَ منتهبٍ

دُرٌّ تكشفَ دونه الصدفُ

As though they were midst pillaged ruins

Pearls exposed, no longer cloistered

ملكٌ تخونَ ملكه قدرٌ

فوهى وصرفُ الدهر مختلفُ

A kingdom whose king betrays, inevitably

It and the turns of fate differ

هيهات بعدك أن يدوم لنا

عزٌّ وأن يبقى لنا شرفُ

Alas, after you, glory will not endure for us

Nor honour remain for us

لا هيبوا صحفاً مشرفةً

للغادرين تحثها الجدفُ

They did not revere noble pages

That spur the oarsman on

أفبعد عهد اللَه نقلته

والقتلُ بعد أمانهِ سرفُ

After the covenant of God you conveyed

And killing, after safety, is sin

فستعرفون غداً بعاقبةٍ

عز الإله فأوردوا وقفوا

So tomorrow you will know the consequence

Of God's might―advance, then halt

يا من تخون نومه أرقٌ

هدت الشجون وقلبه لهفُ

O you who betray his sleep, anguished

Grief has awakened, and his heart burns

قد كنت لي أملاً غنيتُ به

فمضى وحلَّ محلَّه الأسفُ

You were my abundant hope, I gloried in you

But you went, and grief took your place

مرج النظام وعاد منكرنا

عرفاً وأنكر بعده العرفُ

The order is in turmoil, and our shame

Is custom, while custom after you is obscure

والشملُ منتشرٌ لفقدك والدنيا

سُدى والبابُ منكسِفُ

And the family you held together now scattered

The world vacant, the door eclipsed