يا راغباً نزعت به الآمالُ

يا راهباً قذفتْ به الأوجالُ

O you whose hopes were plucked away,

O you made desolate by tribulation,

ذهب النوالُ فما يُحسُّ نوالُ

وعفا الفعالُ فَما يحسُّ فعالُ

Bounty has gone, so bounty is not felt,

Deeds have ceased, so deeds are not accomplished,

أودى الزمانُ بمن يعلّم أهلهُ

كيف النعيمُ فكيف ينعم بالُ

Time has destroyed those who teach their people

What bliss is, so how can they enjoy comfort?

سلبَ الزمانُ جمالَه عن نفسهِ

فغدا وراحَ وما عليه جمالُ

Time has robbed his beauty from himself,

So he came and went with no beauty left,

ذهَب الذي ذهبتْ يداهُ وفيهما

للراغبين مناله ومصالُ

Gone is he whose hands the hopeful grasped,

And found through them attainment and rest,

ذهب الذي نالتْ يداه من العلا

ما لا ينالُ من المديحِ مقالُ

Gone is he whose hands grasped the heights,

That none can grasp in praise however expressed,

يا سوءتا للأرض كيف تماسكَتْ

وقد استُزيلَ وحقُّها الزلزالُ

Oh how base is the earth that it still holds firm!

Though rightfully it should shake and quake,

وكفَى من الزلزالِ بعد محمدٍ

أنْ لَيْسَ يُعْرَفُ بعده إفضالُ

After Muhammad, enough earthquake to know,

No favor comes that to his can compare,

ذهب الذي كان الصيامُ شعارَه

ولضيفهِ الإنزالِ والآكالُ

Gone is he who fasts were his banner raised,

Food for guests poured down, gifts unstinting,

فكأنه رمضانُ في إخباتِه

وكأنه في جوده شوّالُ

So that he was Ramadan in his seclusion,

And in his generosity like Shawwal’s feast,

ذهب الذي أوصاه آدمُ إذ مضَى

بعياله فهمُ عليه عيالُ

Gone is he whom Adam advised ere he died,

To care for his household, his dear dependents,

ذهب الذي ما كان يمطل وعدَه

وله إذا جارى السماحَ مِطالُ

Gone is he who never delayed his promise,

Who, when moved to kindness, had gifts overflowing,

أودى محمدٌ بنُ نصرٍ بعدما

ضُربت به في سروه الأمثالُ

Muhammad ibn Nasr, after whom were modeled,

In his nobility, morals and manners excelling,

ملكٌ تنافست العلا في عمرهِ

وتنافستْ في يومِه الآجالُ

A king whose life all heights strove to outvie,

Whose day contended with fates intervening,

من لم يعاين سيرَ نعشِ محمدٍ

لم يدرِ كيف تسيَّرُ الأجبالُ

Who saw not his bier as it moved along,

Knows not how mountains themselves walked in mourning,

يا حفرةً غلبتْ عليه جَنّةً

كانت به وبنفسِها تختالُ

Oh grave that triumphed over a garden!

With him it boasted and preened in its glory,

الآن أيقن من يشكُّ ويمتري

أن البقاعَ من البقاعِ تُدالُ

Now all doubters and waverers are sure,

Sites themselves shift in their rising and falling,

إمّا أصيب فللنجومِ مغاورٌ

تغتالُهُنّ وللجبالِ زوالُ

The stars have hiding places if misfortune strikes,

And mountains themselves cannot avoid their crumbling,

ولقد يُعزّينا عليه أنَّهُ

وافى كمالَ العُمرِ منهُ كمالُ

We're consoled that he met his full life's span,

For life's completeness from him was not stolen,

أسدٌ مضى وتخلفتْ أشبالُه

وعليَّ أن تستأسِدَ الأشبالُ

A lion has gone and his cubs remain,

And the cubs must now become lions emboldened,

ولمَا حَظيتُ بعُرفه ولقد جَرَتْ

بوفاتِه مِحنٌ عليَّ ثِقالُ

When I gained his companionship, though his loss,

Brought hardships heavy upon me that linger,

وخلوتُ ممّا نالهُ من مالِه

غيري وقد شقيتْ به الأموالُ

I was left out of wealth he dispensed,

While through it others were lavished with riches,

ولمَا عرضتُ له فخاب تعرُّضي

لكن عففتُ وألحف السؤَّالُ

When I sought from him, disappointed went I,

Yet I was patient, no begging or taking,

وذخرتُه للدّهرِ أعلمُ أنه

كالحصنِ فيه لمنْ يؤول مآلُ

I stored him for fortune, knowing for sure,

Like a fortress he'll be for whoever comes after,

وتمتعتْ نفسي بروحِ رجائه

زمناً طويلاً والتمتعُ مالُ

My soul enjoyed the life breath of his care,

For so long, and to gain satisfaction is wealth,

فرأيتُه كالشمسِ إن هي لم تُنل

فضياؤها والرفقُ فيه يُنالُ

I saw him as the sun—if it you never grasp,

Its radiance gently, subtly comes forward,

والحقُّ يأمرُ أن يقال وحقُّه

أنْ لا يخالفَ أمره القُوّالُ

Truth commands I speak—and truth of him—

No speaker should oppose what truth has commanded,

لهفي لفقدِكَ يا محمدُ إنه

فُقدت به النفحات والأنفالُ

My longing for you, O Muhammad,

Has taken fragrant sighs and bounty left barren,

باللَّهِ أقسم أن عُمرك ما انقضى

حتّى انقضى الإحسانُ والإجمالُ

By God I swear, your life had not yet ceased,

When kindness and favor completely retreated,

صلّى الغُدوُّ عليك والآصالُ

وتغمدتكَ بظلّها الأظلالُ

Dawn's first light sends its blessings always to you,

And the darkest shadows guard you in your grave clothes,

وبكتك أوعيةُ الدموع وتارةً

غيثٌ كعَرفك مُسبلٌ هطَّالُ

The earth showed clemency to your radiant cheek,

Meeting requests, however difficult, gently,

وعفا الثَرى عن حُرّ وجهٍ لم يزلْ

حُرَّ اللقاء إذا عرا السؤّالُ

Your hand's limbs stayed composed, which forever,

Through its gifts, composed all beings' limbs,

وتماسكت أوصال كفّ لم تزلْ

بنوالها تتماسك الأوصالُ

O jewel of the world and its inhabitants,

Orament of one who else no jewel could summon,

يا زينةَ الدنيا وزينةَ أهلِها

وثمالَ من أعيا عليه ثمالُ

After you affairs spun out of control,

And ruin crept forward to seize and to maim,

حالتْ بدارِك بعدَك الأحوالُ

وتغوّلتْ بقطينها الأغوالُ

Your palace garden weeps for your voice,

For the shapes your breaths gave its blooms' praising,

وبكاك مِنْ بستانِ قصركِ زاهرٌ

لثناك من نفحاتِه أشكالُ

Your doves weep, their songs turned to laments,

Such as makes the hoopoe join in their grieving,

وبكت حمائمُه وعاد غناؤها

نوحاً يُهاجُ بمثلِهِ البلبال

Help me bear it that your dwellings now lie waste,

While for others still stand, peopled and graced,

أعزِرْ عليَّ بمنزلاتِك أن غدتْ

ولهنَّ دونك عامرٌ وحلالُ

Help me bear it that your horses now weep,

Saddles and bridles weep for them in turn,

أعزِزْ عليَّ بصافناتك أن غدتْ

تبكي السروجُ لهنّ والأجلالُ

Help me bear it that your intimates weep,

Hope itself weeps for them and yearns,

أعززْ عليَّ بعارفاتك أن غدتْ

يبكي الرجاءُ لهنَّ والتأمالُ

Help me bear it that your friends are aggrieved,

While through them your dear self was disgraced,

أعززْ عليَّ بأصدقائك أن غدوا

ولشخصكَ الغالي بهم إخلالُ

The weights of all noble deeds, now cast off,

When you set, O sun, all weights were misplaced!

أصِقالَ كل مروءةٍ مجفوةٍ

ما للمروءةِ مذ أَفَلْتَ صِقالُ

After one who fought and boldly contended,

You've become dust, heaped up or scattered,

أصبحتَ بعدَ منَافح ومَجامرٍ

لثرىً يُهالُ عليك أو ينهالُ

As for your degraded grave goods laid bare,

Let them go, all hidden things will be bared,

أمَّا وحليتُك المُذالةُ للبِلى

فاذهبْ فكلُّ مصونةٍ ستُذالُ