كَيفَ السَبيل إِلى دَفع المَنيّاتِ

عَن أَنفُس الناس مِن ماضٍ وَمِن آت

How can one ward off adversities

From people, past and future?

رَفاعةٌ عالم الدُنيا وواحدها

وَخَير مَن كانَ يُرجى للملمات

Rifa'a, scholar of the world and its sole one,

And the best from whom hope was expected for adversities,

وَبَحرُها الزاخر الجاري بِأَودية

فيها دَوامُ اِنتِفاع للبريات

Whose abundant sea flows in valleys

Wherein is lasting benefit for people,

وَبرُّها في فُنون لا نَظير لَه

في نَشر مطويها بَينَ السجلات

And whose land has arts that have no equal

In spreading its contents among registries,

وَطودُها في عُلوم لَيسَ يلحقه

مِنا بِمضمارها سبّاق غايات

And whose mountains are in sciences unmatched,

Which none of us can compete with in its arenas,

لا أَوحش اللَه بَعد الأُنس أَندية

كانَت مَصابيحها مِنهُ مُنيرات

May God not make his gatherings lonely after their conviviality,

Their lamps having been lit by Him,

وَلا أَتى يَوم بُؤس فيهِ قَد محيت

سُعود أَوقاته مِن بَعد إثبات

Nor may a day of misery come wherein

The joys of its times were blotted out after establishment,

وَلا رَماه الرَدى مِنهُ عَلى عجل

بِأَسهُمٍ وَرِماح سَمهريات

Nor may fickleness cast him down hastily

With arrows and spears of fate,

وَلانعتهُ القَوافي في الطُروس بِما

أَبكى عُيون الفُصول الفاضليات

Nor did metrics lament him in poems

Which made the eyes of the virtuous seasons weep,

فَإِنَّهُ كانَ حبراً عَن مَدائحه

بِالعَجز مُعترف رَب البَلاغات

For he was an ink that acknowledged inability

To praise the Lord of eloquence,

وَكانَ مَجلسه في كل آونة

مَع السكينة يَزهو بِالمَسرات

And his assembly was, at all times,

Joyous with tranquility,

وَكانَ يَعفو عَن الجاني وَلَو كثرت

في حَقه مِنهُ أَنواع الإساآت

He would pardon the offender even if numerous

Types of wrongdoing against him increased,

وَكانَ يَفرَح بِالعافي وَيَغمره

مِن غَير سؤل بَغَيث مِن مَبرّات

And he would rejoice in well-being and it would overwhelm him

With unasked for showers of blessings,

لَما قَضى نحبه ناحَت لفرقته

تراجمٌ زانَها حُسن العِبارات

When his star set, his biographies wept for parting with him,

Adorned with excellent diction,

وَالأَرض قَد عَمَّها في يَوم مَصرعه

حزنٌ تَصاعد مِنها لِلسَموات

And on the day of his death, grief permeated the land,

Ascending from it to the heavens,

وَرُوحُه قابلتَها الحُور مُذ فصلت

عَن جسمه بِالتَحيات الزَكيات

And his soul was met by the houris when it parted

From his body with pure greetings,

وَباتَ في لَيلة الإِسرا بِها فرحاً

منعّم البال مسروراً بِلَذات

And he spent the night of ascension joyfully,

With a delighted heart, luxuriating in pleasures,

وَكانَ لَما تَوارى بِالضَريح رُؤي

كَأَنَّهُ في رِياض سندسيات

And when he was interred in the tomb, he appeared

As if in gardens of brocade,

وَحَولَهُ مِن بَني الزَهراء جدّته

بدور تَم تَناهت في الكَمالات

And around him were the People of the House, his ancestry,

In circles that attained perfection,

وَكانَ يَتلو عَلَيهم وَهوَ بَينَهُمُ

مُتَوّجٌ بِوَقارٍ بَعض آيات

And he recited over them, while between them,

Crowned with dignity, some verses,

وَقال يا لَيت قَومي يَعلَمون بِما

أوتيت مِن رَفع مِقدار وَخَيرات

And said: would that my people knew what

I was given of exalted worth and bounty!

هُناكَ طِبنا نُفوساً بِالَّذي سَمعت

آذاننا عَنهُ مِن أَبناء سادات

Therein our souls found rest in that which we heard

From the descendants of the Masters,

وَفي رَبيع غَدا مَجدي يُؤرّخه

رفاعة حاله حال بجنات

And in the coming springtime, my glory will be dated

By Rifa'a whose state is that of the gardens.