أَغَدَتْ زِيَادَتُنَا إِلَى النُّقْصَانِ

أَمْ نُقْصُنَا قَدْ صَارَ لِلرُّجْحَانِ

Has our increase faded into diminution,

or has our loss become a greater weight?

أَمْ كَانَ كُلٌّ مِنْهُمَا فِي حَقِّ مَا

جَلَبَ الأُجُورَ وَفَادِحَ الأَشْجَانِ

Or were both of them, in truth, the cause

that brought about rewards and grievous sorrows?

الأَجْرُ وَالْوَجْدُ الْعَظِيمُ هُمَا هُمَا

قَدْ أَوْقَفَانِي مَوْقِفَ الْحَيْرَانِ

The reward and the immense anguish are one and the same,

they have brought me to a standstill in sheer bewilderment.

فَإِنِ الْتَفَتُّ لِذَا عَرَفْتُ بَهَاءَهُ

وَبَقَاءَهُ لَوْلاَ عُلُوُّ الثَّانِي

For if I turn to the former, I recognize its splendor

and its permanence, were it not for the dominance of the latter.

فَإِذَا رَكَنْتُ لَهُ وَذَلِكَ غَايَتِي

سَالَتْ غُرُوبُ الدَّمْعِ مِنْ أَجْفَانِي

And when I lean toward it, and that is my ultimate goal,

torrents of tears stream from my eyelids.

وَصَرَخْتُ مُحْتَرِقاً وَصِحْتُ مُوّلَّهاً

يَا دَمْعُ زِدْ سَيْلاً عَلَى زَيْدَانِ

I cried out in burning pain, and shouted in distraction:

O tears, pour forth a greater flood for Zaydan!

زَيْدَانَ نَجْلِ أَبِيهِ سِرِّ مَلِيكِنَا

سَمْشِ الْمُلُوكِ وَبَاهِرِ السُّلْطَانِ

Zaydan, the son of his father, the secret of our king,

the sun of kings and the dazzling sultan.

زَيْدَانَ زَيْدِ الْخَيْلِ وَالْفُرْسَانِ

وَالْخَيْرِخَيْرِ الْمُفْضِلِ الْمَنَّانِ

Zaydan, the Zayd of steeds and cavaliers,

and the essence of goodness, the gracious, the benevolent.

وَأَبِي الثَّنَاءِ الْحُرِّ يُنْبِتُهُ لَهُ

حَقْلُ السَّخَاءِ بِوَابِلِ الإِحْسَانِ

The father of noble praise, cultivated for him

by the field of generosity with the pouring rain of charity.

نَبْكِيهِ مَا دَامَتْ عُصُورُ الْفَانِي

نَبْكِيهِ مَا دَامَتْ غُصُونُ الْبَانِ

We weep for him as long as the ages of this mortal world endure,

we weep for him as long as the branches of the ban-tree sway.

نَبْكِيهِ مِلْءَ عُيُونِنَا وَقُلُوبِنَا

نَبْكِيهِ بِالإِسْرَارِ وَالإِعْلاَنِ

We weep for him to the brim of our eyes and our hearts,

we weep for him in secret and in the open.

نَبْكِي السَّخِيَّ بِكُلِّ مَضْنُونٍ بِهِ

نَبْكِي الْمُهَيْمِنَ الْعَيْنِ لِلْأَعْيَانِ

We weep for the generous one who gave all that others withheld,

we weep for the watchful guardian over the eminent ones.

نَبْكِي الْمُصِرَّ عَلَى مَبَرَّةِ أُمِّهِ

وَأَبِيهِ خَيْرِ أَبٍ بِذِي الأَزْمَانِ

We weep for the one who persisted in devotion to his mother,

and his father, the finest father of these times.

نَبْكِي الْمُعَظِّمَ أَجْرَ كُلِّ مُؤَمِّلٍ

لِعَطَائِهِ ذِي الْوَابِلِ الْهَتَّانِ

We weep for the one who magnified the reward of every hopeful soul,

for his gifts that fell like pouring, incessant rain.

نَبْكِي الشَّرِيفَ الْمَحْضَ كُلُّ خِلَالِهِ

جَلَلٌ وَكُلُّ شُؤُونِهِ ذُو شَانِ

We weep for the pure noble, all of whose traits

are majestic, and all of whose affairs hold great significance.

نَبْكِي عُلاَهُ وَمَا لَنَا مِنْ طَاقَةٍ

تُوفِي عُلاَهُ بُكَاءَهَا بِبَيَانِ

We weep for his eminence, though we lack the strength

to fulfill the weeping his eminence deserves through mere eloquence.

نَبْكِيهِ تَبْرِيداً لِحَرِّ قُلُوبِنَا

بِمُحَبَّرِ الأَلْحَانِ وَالأَوْزَانِ

We weep for him to cool the burning heat of our hearts,

through embellished melodies and poetic meters.

وَنَقُولُ إِثْرَ تَنَهُّدٍ يُغْرِي الْجَوَى

طَلَباً لِمَا يُرْضِيهِ مِنْ رِضْوَانِ

And we say, following a sigh that stirs our deepest sorrow,

seeking the divine pleasure that would satisfy him:

أَهْدَى الإِلَهُ إِلَيْكَ كُلَّ تَحِيَّةٍ

مَحْفُوفَةٍ بِالرَّوْحِ وَالرَّيْحَانِ

May God bestow upon you every greeting,

enveloped in tranquility and sweet basil.

وَهَفَتْعَلَيْكَ نَوَاسِمُ الْغُفْرَانِ

تُزْجِي لَكَ الرَّحَمَاتِ مِنْ رَحْمَانِ

And may the gentle breezes of forgiveness flutter over you,

driving mercies toward you from the Most Merciful.

وَبَكَى عَلَيْكَ الْفَضْلُ حَقَّ بُكَائِهِ

وَالْفَضْلُ مَنْ يَبْكِيهِ لَيْسَ بِفَانِ

And grace itself has wept for you with its truest tears,

and he for whom grace weeps shall never truly perish.