أَتاني سِنانٌ بِالوَداعِ لِمُؤمِنٍ

فَقُلتُ لَهُ إِنّي إِلى اللَهِ راجِعُ

Sinān came to me bearing word of Muʾmin’s farewell.

And I told him, “Indeed, I shall return to God.”

وَكَيفَ بُكائي مُؤمِناً وَلَقَد أَرى

بِأَنّي لَهُ يا نَفسُ لا بُدَّ تابِعُ

And how can I weep for Muʾmin, when I see

that I myself must inevitably follow him?

أَلا أَيُّها الحاثي عَلَيهِ تُرابَهُ

تَعِستَ وَشَلَّت مِن يَدَيكَ الأَصابِعُ

O you who cast his earth upon him,

may you perish, and may the fingers of both your hands be palsied!

يَقولونَ لا تَجزَع وَأَظهِر جَلادَةً

فَكَيفَ بِما تَحنى عَلَيهِ الأَضالِعُ

They say, “Do not grieve; display fortitude.”

But what, then, of what the ribs enfold?