برِّد لَظاكَ فَقَد شَجاكَ المصرعُ

وَأَكفف بُكاكَ فَقَد كَفاكَ المدمَعُ

Calm your agony, for death has pained you,

And restrain your tears, for weeping has sufficed you.

ماذا عركَ وَقَد عَهدتُكَ في المَلا

بَطَلاً عَظيم الجَأشِ لا يَتروَّعُ

What ails you, when I knew you amidst perils

A great hero, undaunted, intrepid?

فَلَقَد رَأَيتَكَ في الكَآبة وَالأَسى

ضُعفاً مِن البَلوى تَأَنُّ وَتَجزَعُ

I’ve seen you collapse in grief and sorrow,

Succumbing feebly to tribulation and woe.

مَهلاً عَلَيكَ بِما اِرتَعَدتَ بِهِ لَقَد

حكم الإِلَهُ فايّ شَيءٍ تَصنَعُ

Patience with what makes you tremble! God has ruled-

What can you do? Fate has willed it to be so.

وَأَرادَتِ الأَقدارُ أَمراً فَاِنقَضى

وَجَرى القَضا حَتماً فَمَن ذا يَدفَعُ

You who guide resolve with enlightened thought

And lofty purpose that cannot be bent low,

أَنتَ المُجَرِّبُ لِلرمانِ بِفكَرَةٍ

تَهدي الرَشادَ وَهِمَةٍ لا تَدفَعُ

If the world narrows around you in bereavement,

Sorrow descends with it, but your heart is more vast.

إِن ضاقَتِ الدُنيا عَلَيكَ بِفَجعَةٍ

نَزَلَ الأَسى مَعَها فَصَدرُكَ أَوسَعُ

You are kind towards a youth you tenderly raised,

A fruit protected by ribs that embed and enfold.

لَكنَّما أَنتَ الشفوق عَلى فَتىً

هُو ثَمرَةٌ حَنَّت عَلَيها الأَضلُعُ

Your beloved loss was a radiant pearl

Snatched away, while its owner bids adieu.

وَفَقيدُكَ المَحبوبُ أَبهى دُرَّةٍ

سُلِبَت فَصاحبها الفوادُ يودِّعُ

A moon set in Damascus, eclipsed and veiled

Below the soil - what sun can hope to rise anew?

قَمَرٌ بِبَطنِ دِمَشقِ غابَ محجَّباً

تَحتَ التُراب فأَيُّ شَمسٍ تَطلَعُ

My bewilderment - its eclipse befell

Before fullness. Why shouldn’t we shudder and rue?

وَأَحيرَتي إِنَّ الخُسوفَ أَصابَهُ

قَبلَ التَمامِ فَكَيفَ لا نَتَروَّعُ

The light in him transformed, turned sickly yellow

After whiteness, erupting in putrid spew,

وَقَد اِستَحالَ النور مِنهُ مَغيّراً

بَعدَ البَياض فَصارَ أَصفرَ يَفقعُ

Limp lips conceal beneath them

The pearl of speech, the sheen of a beaming mouth

وَتَراخَتِ الشَفتانِ تَحجُبُ تَحتَها

دُرَّ الكَلامِ وَدُرَّ ثَغرٍ يَسطَعُ

I envied the dawns the dawn of his forehead,

So arrows from it struck him down.

حَسدتُ عُيونُ الصُبح صُبحَ جَبينهِ

فَأَصابَهُ مِنها سِهامٌ تَصرَعُ

Good tidings to him! He left behind fantasies

For which wise minds are squandered and misconstrued,

بُشرى لَهُ تركَ الخَيالات الَّتي

بِإزائِها رشد العُقول يُضيَّعُ

And found relief from the world of villainy; he marched on

Unswayed by the valley of delusion and untrue,

وَإِرتاحَ مِن دُنيا الشُرور وَلَم يَجزِ

وادي الغُرور فَسارَ وَهُوَ ممنَّعُ

Your sublime did not entice him in this refuge,

So lofty principles shunned all that was base and crude,

لَم يَستملهُ علاكَ في هَذا المَلا

فَأَشاقَهُ ذاكَ العَلاءُ الأَرفَعُ

He was no mortal who strode to the heavens

Where angels gleam with beams of light anew,

ما كانَ مِن بَشَرٍ فَسارَ إِلى السَما

حَيث المَلائِكُ بِالأَشعَّةِ نَلمَعُ

His name intimated this, for he remains

A victor in the heights exulting in grace imbued.

كانَ إِسمَهُ يَنبي عَلَيهِ فَإِنَّما

هُوَ في الأَعالي غالِبٌ يَتَمتَّعُ