يا موت طرفى رهانٍ لم تكن ببطى
لو انتظرت أوان الشيب والشمط
O Death, the two contenders in your wager were not slow.
If only you had waited for the season of gray hair and hoariness.
أخذت بدرى كمال في سما حرم
كانا على نمط قد راق من نمط
You took my two full moons, perfected in the sky of a sanctuary—
two fashioned to one pattern, surpassing every pattern.
كانا على حسن ما بعنيهما عملا
في زينة الأدب المطبوع في القمط
In all that concerned them, they acted beautifully,
adorned with innate refinement, stamped into their very nature.
محمدانا أديبا العصر سيرهما
سنّ الشباب مسير الشيب والوخط
Our two Muhammads, the age’s two men of letters—their course
through youth was the course of gray age and hoary streaks.
محمدانا فريدا الدهر قد جمعا
مما تفرق في الآباء والرهط
Our two Muhammads, the age’s peerless pair, had gathered
what was scattered among forefathers and kindred.
ولو تفرق في الأقران ما جمعا
لادركوا كلّ مطلوب ومغتبط
Were what they had gathered dispersed among their peers,
those peers would attain every object sought and every joy desired.
ما ضم أفعل ممدوح السجية من
هما إلى حسن قول شطّ عن شطط
No finest subject of praise, by natural character, encompassed more
than those two, along with fine speech far removed from excess.
ما كدرا مجلسا يوماً على أحد
لا في الرضا منهما كلا ولا السخط
Never did they trouble a gathering on anyone’s account,
whether pleased or angry—neither one of them.
قد طال ما أطرقا لا مكثران هما
ولا هما من ذوي التغليط والغلط
How long they would bow their heads, both unconcerned;
nor were they given to harshness or error.
شتان ما بين من يأسو الكلوم وكا
لم ببادرة من قوله السقط
How far apart are one who heals wounds and one
whose rash utterance is a slip!
أين الظرافة بل اين الخطابة بل
أين الكتابة بالالات والبسط
Where now is wit? Indeed, where is oratory?
Where is writing, with its instruments and spacious scope?
أين الحكاية والمحكي ينشد أو
ينشا واين حسان الخط والخطط
Where are the tale and the thing told, whether recited or
composed—and where the beauties of script and design?
ما لابن مقلة والحرّاق خطّهُما
لا شكل للحرف والأشكال والنقط
How could the script of Ibn Muqla or al-Harrani compare with theirs—
in the forming of letters, figures, and dots?
للّه سودٌ وحمرٌ من حروفهما
والصفر والخضر في مخطوطة الصرط
How wondrous the blacks and reds among their letters,
and the yellows and greens in the written line!
للّه بيض خلال السطر نقرؤها
من بين مختلف الالوان مختلط
How wondrous the whites within the line we read,
mingled amid the many colors!
بيضٌ بدت من خلال السطر دانيةً
من كفئها وسواه عنه في شحط
White forms appeared within the line, brought near
to their equals, while all besides stood far away.
ما ريىء جامع نبل قط جمعهما
لو جاء عوض به من بعد بخل قط
Never were noble gifts seen gathered as they were in those two—
and if a replacement for them should come afterward, it would come only after utter withholding.
تقارنا في طلاب العلم وامتطيا
إلى عوالي المعالي متن كل مطى
Together they sought learning, mounting
toward the heights of excellence the back of every noble steed.
سارا وما افترقا في اسم ولا سمة
ولا حياة وموت سيرَ مغتبط
They journeyed, never divided in name or mark,
nor in life or death: theirs was a blessed course.
زمّا إلى زمزم نجب العزائم لا
تخشى كلالا من التصدير والمرط
Toward Zamzam they urged the noble steeds of resolve, which
feared no weariness from setting out or hard driving.
مناهما بمنى والمروتين وفي
أم القرى خير موطوء هناك وطى
Their desire was Mina, the two Marwas, and
Umm al-Qura—the finest ground they trod there.
سارا إلى الحرم المأمون حيث مزا
دات الدموع غدت منحلة الربط
They journeyed to the secure Sanctuary, where there mingled
tears with tears, becoming a gift of steadfastness.
أثارة العلم والمأثور من حسن
تثير ما شاق عنه كلّ متبسط
A remnant of learning and an inherited legacy of grace
awakens all for which every expansive speaker yearns.
أندى دعاة البكا داع بكاهُ يرى
دينا فكم ضارع يبكي ومختبط
The most bountiful summons to weeping is that of one who sees his tears
as a debt—how many a suppliant weeps, how many a distraught soul!
فليغتنم أجره ذو الصبر بعدهما
وليخش ذو جزع من أمره الفرط
Then let the steadfast seize his reward after their passing;
and let the anguished fear excess in his grief.
فإن ذا السكر من كأس المحبة في
موت وطيب حياة غير معتبط
For this intoxication from love’s cup, whether in
death or the sweetness of life, affords no delight.
فكن على ثقة باللّه كل فتى
وقف على النعش بين الجنب والإبط
So let every young man trust in God
when he stands beside the bier, bearing it between flank and armpit.
فحسبنا اللّه انا راجعون له
وقدني الرب من مربوبه وقطى
God is enough for us; surely to Him we return.
The Lord suffices me for the one He nurtured—He alone suffices.
عوضهما رب خيرا من شبابهما
وحط أوزارنا والطف بنا وحط
Lord, recompense them both with better than their youth;
lift our burdens, deal gently with us, and absolve.
واحفظ لنا ربنا في ابن وحاشية
وذي وداد بحبل الشيخ مرتبط
Preserve for us, Lord, a son and a household,
and one of affection, bound to the shaykh’s cord.
أزكى الصلاة إلى أزكى السلام على
من فضله منه فضل الامة الوسط
The purest blessings upon the purest one, and peace upon
him from whose bounty came the excellence of the middle nation.
