سَرَّكَ الدَهرُ وَساءَ

فَاقنَ شُكراً وَعَزاءَ

Time brought you joy and sorrow

So be grateful and patient in your plight

كَم أَفادَ الصَبرُ أَجراً

وَاِقتَضى الشُكرُ نَماءَ

How much reward patience brings

And gratitude yields growth

أَنتَ إِن تَأسَ عَلى

المَفقودِ إِلفاً وَاِجتِباءَ

If you grieve what is lost

A loved one, a possession

فَاسلُ عَنهُ غَيرَةً

وَاِحتَمِل الرُزءَ إِباءَ

Then seek solace for your grief

And bear adversity with resolve

أَيُّها المُعتَضِدُ المَنصورُ

مُلّيتَ البَقاءَ

O al-Mu'tadid, al-Mansur

You have secured survival

وَتَزَيَّدتَ مَعَ الأَيّامِ

عِزّاً وَعَلاءَ

And with days accumulated

Honor and supremacy

إِنَّما يُكسِبُنا الحُزنُ

عَناءً لا غَناءَ

For sorrow yields us

No joy, but only toil

أَنتَ طَبٌّ أَنَّ داءَ المَو

تِ قَد أَعيا الدَواءَ

You are blessed that death’s illness

Has wearied of a cure

فَتَأَسَّ إِنَّ ذاكَ

الخَطبَ غالَ الأَنبِياءَ

So grieve, for that misfortune

Has pained the prophets too

وَسَيَفنى المَلَأُ الأَع

لى إِذا ما اللَهُ شاءَ

And the highest nobles will perish

When Allah decrees it so

حَبَّذا هَديُ عَروسٍ

دَفنُها كانَ الهِداءَ

Praiseworthy is the guidance

Of a bride laid to rest

عُمِّرَت حيناً وَماءَ ال

مُزنِ شَكلَينِ سَواءَ

For a time she lived, and the water

Of Muzn was perfectly still

ثُمَّ وَلَّت فَوَجَدنا

أَرَجَ المِسكِ ثَناءَ

Then she passed, leaving behind

The sweetest musk's fragrance

جَمَعَت تَقوى وَإِخبا

تاً وَفَضلاً وَذَكاءَ

She gathered piety, wisdom,

Virtue and intellect

سَتُوَفّى مِن جِمامِ الكَو

ثَرِ العَذبِ رَواءَ

She will sip from the cup

Of Kauthar’s sweet water

حَيثُ تَلقى الأَتقِياءَ السُ

عَداءَ الشُهَداءَ

Where she will meet the righteous

The martyrs and the devoted

هانَ ما لاقَت عَلَيها

أَن غَدَت مِنكَ فِداءَ

It was trivial what she endured

To become your ransom

غُنمُ أَحبابِكَ أَن تَب

قى وَإِن عُمّوا فَناءَ

Your loved ones are privileged

To live on, though death comes to all

فَاِلبَسِ الصَنعَ مُلاءً

وَاسحَبِ السَعدَ رِداءَ

So wear your deeds as a mantle

And drag prosperity as a cloak

وَرِثِ الأَعداءَ أَعما

رَهُمُ وَالأَولِياءَ

And inherit your enemies’

Lifespans, and those of your allies