أَأَطلالَ دارٍ بالنِياعِ فَحُمَّتِ
سَأَلتُ فَلَمّا اِستَعجَمَت ثُمَّ صُمتِ
Ruins of an abode which lamentations have made desolate,
I asked of them, but when they were foreign they were dumb.
عَجِبتُ لِأَنّ النَائِحاتِ وَقَد عَلَت
مُصِيبَتُهُ قَهرًا فَعَمَّت وَأَصمَتِ
I wondered, for when disaster was hard upon them
The mourners had become many, yet they were mute.
نَعَينَ وَلَو أَسمَعنَ أَعلامَ صِندِدٍ
وَأَعلامَ رَضوى ما يَقُلنَ اِدرَهَمَّتِ
They would chant elegies if they heard a strain of music
And melodies of flutes, but they said not a word.
وَلِلأَرضِ أَمّا سُودُها فَتَجَلَّلَت
بَياضًا وَأَمّا بِيضُها فاِدهَأَمَّتِ
The blackened earth shone white,
And the white earth was dyed black.
نَمَت لِأَبي بَكرٍ لِسانٌ تَتابَعَت
بِعارِفَةٍ مِنهُ فَخَصَّت وَعَمَّتِ
There grew for Abu Bakr an eloquent tongue
That it might speak of him with exactitude and embrace all.
كَأَنَّ اِبنَ لَيلى حِينَ يَبدو فَتَنجَلي
سُجُوفُ الخِباءِ عَن مَهِيبٍ مُشَمَّتِ
Like the son of Layla when the interiors of the litter are unveiled
From the terror that has made the stout-hearted tremble.
إِذا ما لَوَى صِنعٌ بِهِ عَرَبِيَّةً
كَلَونِ الدِهانِ وَردَة لَم تَكَمَّتِ
When a well-shaped product is dyed with an Arabic dye
Like the hue of paint—an unopened rose.
مُقارِبُ خَطوٍ لا يُغَيِّرُ نَعلهُ
رَهيفُ الشَراكِ سَهلَةُ المُتَسَمَّتِ
Slippered feet that do not change their sandals,
Soft, plaited, that leave no trace.
إِذا طُرِحَت لَم تَطَّبِ الكَلبَ رِيحُها
وَإِن وُضِعَت في مَجلِسِ القَومِ شُمَّتِ
Cast away, it pleases not even the dogs with its smell,
But, set down in an assembly, it perfumes the general air.
هُوَ المَرءُ لا يُبدي أَسى عَن مُصيبَةٍ
وَلا فَرَحًا يَومًا إَذا النَفسُ سُرَّتِ
He is the man who shows no grief for a misfortune
Nor joy on a day when the soul feels happy.
قَلِيلُ الأَلايا حَافِظٌ لِيَمِينِهِ
فَإِن سَبَقَت مِنهُ الأَليَّةُ برَّتِ
Few failings, observant of his oath,
And if failings come from him, excellent.
حَلِيمٌ كَريمٌ ذُو أَناةٍ وَأُربَةٍ
بَصِيرٌ إِذا ما كَفَّةُ الحَبلِ جُرَّتِ
Forbearing, generous, of great deliberation and calm,
Discerning when the rope of trial grows taut.
وَشَعثاء أَمرٍ قَد نَزَت بَينَ غالِبٍ
تَلافَيتَها قَبلَ التَنائي فَلُمَّتِ
You rectified an unkempt situation which occurred between two disputants
Before they separated, and gathered it together.
وَأَبرَأَتَها لَم يَجرَحِ الكَلمُ عَظمَها
وَلَو غِبتَ عَنها رُبِّعَت ثُمَّ أُمَّتِ
You healed it: the word did not injure its bone,
Had you been absent from it, it would have festered and rotted.
غَمُومٌ لِطَيرِ الزَاجِرِيها أُرِيبَةٌ
إِذا حَاوَلَت ضُرًّا لِذِي الضِغنِ ضَرَّتِ
Gloomy cares for the pruning bird if it attempts
Harm against the wronged - you repelled it.
يَؤُوبُ أُولُو الحاجاتِ مِنهُ إِذا بَدا
إلى طَيبِ الأَثوابِ غَيرِ مُؤمَّتِ
Those in need come back from him when there appears
Nothing to hope for but fine raiment.
تَأَرَّضُ أَخفافُ المُناخَةِ مِنهُمُ
مَكانَ التي قَد بُعِّدَت فإِزلأَمتِ
The roaming camels feel at home with him
Instead of those who have been sent far away.
فَلَستُ طِوالَ الدَّهرِ ما عِشتُ ناسيًا
عظامًا وَلا هَامًا لَهُ قَد أَرَمتِ
So I shall not, as long as I live, forget
Bones, nor one who has been reduced to bones.
جَرى بَينَ بابِليونَ والهَضبِ دونَهُ
رِياحٌ أَسَفَّت بالنَقا وَأَشَمَّتِ
Between Babylon and Hathb there blew because of him
Winds that carried fragrance and wafted perfumes.
سَقَتها الغَوادِي وَالرَّوائِحُ خِلفَةً
تَدَلِّينَ عُلوًا والضَريحَةَ لَمَّتِ
The valleys and the winds sent in his wake
A successor lofty of ascent when the tomb gathered itself together.
