وراءَ كُما إنَّ المُصَابَ جَليلُ

وإنَّ البُكَا في مِثْلِهِ لَقَلِيلُ

Behind you, indeed the calamity is great,

And indeed, crying over the likes of it is little.

ألا فاتركَاني والبُكَاءَ ولو غَدَتْ

لِذَلِكَ رُوحي في الدُّمُوعِ تَسِيلُ

So leave me to weep even if

My soul in tears starts flowing for it.

فَأَيْسَرُ ما يُقْضَى بِهِ حَقُّ هَالِكٍ

دُمُوعُكَ لو يُطْفَى بِهِنَّ غَليلُ

The easiest thing to fulfill the right of the perished

Is your tears if they could extinguish agony.

أَسىً لبني أُمٍّ مَضَوْا لسبيلِهِمْ

كَما استرحلَ الرَّكْبَ البُطَاءَ عَجُولُ

Sorrow for the sons of a mother who passed away on their path

As the slow group hurried at dawn.

قد استُؤْصِلَتْ بالأَمْسِ شَأْفَةُ جَمعِهِمْ

فأودَتْ نساءٌ منهُمُ وبُعُولُ

Their elite were uprooted yesterday,

So women from them became widowed.

شبابٌ كما شَاءَ الصِّبَا ومَشَايخٌ

قضَى الشَّيبُ منهم حقَّهُ وكُهُولُ

Youths as the morning willed, and elders

Whom old age took its right and they became frail.

جَرَى ذا على آثَارِ هَذَا وهَذِهِ

على إِثْرِ هَذِي والحديثُ يطُولُ

This walked in the footsteps of that, and this in the footsteps of those,

And the tale becomes long.

بني هاشمٍ هل للمَنُونِ طَوَائِلٌ

لديكمْ وهل للحادِثاتِ ذُحُولُ

O Banu Hashim, does death have long ropes

With you? And do events have burdens?

لأعوزَ يومٍ أن يَمُرَّ وما لكُمْ

عَلَى غَيرِ أصحَابِ القُبُورِ نُزُولُ

I doubt a day will pass without you

Descending upon other than the people of graves.

إذا ماوَضَعتُمْ نَعْشَ مَيْتٍ رَفَعْتُمُ

جَنَازَةَ ثَانٍ إِنَّ ذَا لَيَطُولُ

Whenever you bury a corpse, you hold

The funeral of another. Indeed, this is lengthy.

أَأَبغضتُمُ الأَحْيَاءَ طُرّاً فما لكُمْ

علَى غَيْرِ أصْحَابِ القُبُورِ نزولُ

Have you hated the living intensely? Why is it

That you do not descend upon other than the people of graves?

فلم تَتْركُوا في الأَرضِ مِمّا دَفَنْتُمُ

بها قَدْرَ ما يُلْقِي عَصاهُ نَزِيلُ

You have not left in the earth you buried in,

As much as what a resident's stick can toss.

أَيأكلُ منكُمْ حَادِثُ الدَّهرِ خَمْسَةً

لخمسينَ يَوْماً إنَّهُ لأَكُولُ

Does it devour five of you in fifty days?

Indeed, it is gluttonous.

وأَنتُم أُناسٌ قَطْرَةٌ من دِمَائِكُم

يَؤدُّ البَرايَا حَمْلُها ويَهُولُ

While you are people - a drop of your blood

Carrying it leads to perishing and falling.

ولا كالذي بالأمسِ قِيْدَ إلى الرَّدَى

وكلُّ عزيزٍ للحِمَامِ ذَليلُ

Not like yesterday's captive bound to ruin

And every dear person to the pigeons is disgraced.

فَتىً لو وزنَّا الناسَ كلَّهم بِهِ

لَخَفُّوا على الميزَانِ وَهْوَ ثَقيلُ

A youth - if the people altogether were weighed against him

They would be light on the scale while he is heavy.

فشُلَّتْ أَكُفُّ الحَامِلِيهِ إلى البِلَى

أتعلمُ مَنْ ذا للقُبُورِ تشيلُ

So the palms carrying him to doom faltered,

Do you know who this one interred is?

تُهيلُ عليهِ التُرْبَ جَهْلاً وإنَّها

لتحثُوهُ في أَحْدَاقِنَا وتُهيلُ

Ignorantly, the soil is heaped upon him, yet it

Shovels him in our eyes and pours.

شكرنا يَدَ الأَيّامِ في جُودِها بِهِ

ومَوْقِعُ إحْسَانِ اللئامِ جَليلُ

We thanked the hands of time in its generosity with it

And the place of favor from the wicked is great.

فما هو إلاَّ أَنْ تَقَاضَاهُ صَرْفُها

لها ومُحَالٌ أن يَجُودَ بَخِيلُ

It is nothing but its turns claiming it back,

And it is impossible for a miser to be generous.

فإنْ سَبَقَ الآمالَ فيهِ فَطَالَما

عَدَا الحَيَّ صَوْبُ المَحْلِ وَهْوَ مُحِيلُ

If hopes surpassed it, often,

The living roam the place of death and become barred.

أَمَا وأَيَاديهِ الجِسَامُ وإنَّها

لأَنفَسُ ما يُعْطي امرؤٌ ويُنيلُ

By his life and helping hands, they are indeed

The most precious that a man can give and attain.

مَعَارفُ لو نَاجَى بها الصخرَ مُفْهِماً

لأَوشَكَ أن يدري وكادَ يقُولُ

Knowledge - if whispered to the rock comprehending

It almost realizes and nearly speaks.

تُفَتَّحُ أَبْصَارٌ بِها وبَصَائِرٌ

وتَلْقَحُ أَذْهَانٌ بها وعُقُولُ

Eyes open and insights mature through it,

And minds are pollinated and intellects.

فَقَدْنَاهُ فَقْدَ الرَّوْضِ رِيْعَ سَقِيُّهُ

فخوّى بهِ بَعْدَ النُّمُوِّ ذُبُولُ

We lost him - loss of the garden's greenery after growth

So it became empty after flourishing and withered.

عَفَاءٌ على من يَطْلُبُ العِلْمَ بعدَهُ

وغَالَتْ بني أُمِّ الفضائِلِ غُولُ

Dearth to whoever seeks knowledge after him,

And darkness has come over the children of the mother of virtues.

إذَا مَاتَ فحلٌ مِثْلُ هَذَا فإنَّهُ

على ضَعْفِ حَظِّ المسلمينَ دَليلُ

When one like this Chieftain dies, then he is

Clear proof of the bad fortune of Muslims.

وأنَّى لأَرْضٍ أن تُوافِقَ مثلَهُ

ولو بَعْدَ حِينٍ بالخَرَابِ كَفِيلُ

And how can a land find one matching him

Even after time with ruin can suffice?

فللّهِ ما أَسْنَى حُظُوظَ مَعَاشِرٍ

حَوَاهُ مَبيتٌ عندهُمْ ومَقيلُ

To Allah - how excellent are the fortunes of groups

Whose night’s rest and nap were in his presence.

متى كُلِّفَ الأَمواتُ في عَرْصَةِ البِلَى

وكانَ لأَصْحَابِ القُبُورِ رَسُولُ

Whenever the deceased are tasked in the court of doom

And there is a messenger for the people of graves

أَوَالِدَهُ ما أَنْتَ في الثَّكْلِ واحداً

شَريكُكَ فيهِ عالِمٌ وَجَهُولُ

To his children - You are not alone in bereavement,

The scholar and the ignorant are partners with you.

فإنْ قُلْتَ قد أَوْدَى سَلِيلي فإنَّهُ

لِسَائرِ هَذَا العَالمينَ سَليلُ

If you say, “My lineage has been lost,” then he is

The lineage of all the people of both worlds.

أبَى فضلُهُ أَنْ يستَخِصَّ برُزْئِهِ

بنُو بيتِهِ كلٌّ عَليهِ ثَكُولُ

His merit refused to be exclusive to his descendants -

Everyone relies and depends on him.

أَأُسْرَتَهُ والناسُ أَجْمعُ سَيْرُهُمْ

وَجِيفٌ إلى دَارِ البِلَى وذَميلُ

His family and all mankind - their life's journey

And a corpse to the abode of doom and decay.

عَزَاؤكُمُ والدهْرُ يا ربَّمَا ارْعَوَى

فَأحْسَنَ والأَحوَالُ سَوفَ تَحُولُ

Your solace - Time may one day pastoralize

So it does good while situations change.

ضَمِنْتُ لكم عن ذي الجَلالِ بِعَطْفِهِ

يَزُولُ بِها ضُرٌّ وتُدرَكُ سُولُ

I guarantee you from The Lord of Majesty in His kindness -

Harm will disappear and goals will be reached.

سَقَى قَبرَهُ من وَاكِفِ الغَيْثِ رَبُّهُ

وجَرَّ عَلَيهِ للنسيمِ ذُيُولُ

His Lord watered his grave from the rain clouds,

And allowed the breeze to pull curtains over him.

ولا زَالَ تسليمُ الإلهِ يسوقُهُ

له غدوةً ما تنقضِي وأَصِيلُ

And the safety of God continues to lead him

Every morning endlessly and every evening.