أَخٌ طالَما سَرَّني ذِكرُهُ
فَقَد صِرتُ أَشجى لَدى ذِكرِهِ
A brother whose memory oft brought me delight
Now the thought of him fills me with grief and blight
وَقَد كُنتُ أَغدو إِلى قَصرِهِ
فَقَد صِرتُ أَغدو إِلى قَبرِهِ
To his palace I’d hasten with steps day and night
But now ‘tis his grave where my visits alight
وَكُنتُ أَراني غَنِيّاً بِهِ
عَنِ الناسِ لَو مُدَّ في عُمرِهِ
With him I felt wealthy, of people in spite
If only his life could have been prolonged outright
وَكُنتُ مَتى جِئتُ في حاجَةٍ
فَأَمري يَجوزُ عَلى أَمرِهِ
Whenever I came with a need or a plight
My affairs on his hands would turn out alright
فَتىً لَم يُخَلِّ النَدى ساعَةً
عَلى يُسرِهِ كانَ أَو عُسرِهِ
A youth pure of heart, from dawn until night
In good times or bad, he’d stand up for what’s right
تَظَلُّ نَهارَكَ في خَيرِهِ
وَتَأمَنُ لَيلَكَ مِن شَرِّهِ
You’d rest through the night without fear or fright
And spend the day safe ‘neath his power and might
فَصارَ عَلِيٌّ إِلى رَبِّهِ
وَكانَ عَلِيٌّ فَتى دَهرِهِ
To his Lord departed this Ali so bright
The hero, the star of his age and his time
أَتَتهُ المَنِيُّةُ مُغتالَةً
رُوَيداً تَخَلَّلُ مِن سِترِهِ
Death snatched him away without pity or slight
Slipping in through a gap in his armor to smite
فَلَم تُغنِ أَجنادُهُ حَولَهُ
وَلا المُسرِعونَ إِلى نَصرِهِ
His troops gathered round him were useless that night
No aid could be rendered try as they might
وَأَصبَحَ يَغدو إِلى مَنزِلٍ
سَحيقٍ تُؤُنِّقُ في حَفرِهِ
Now he wakes every morn in a dwelling uptight
A narrow, dark hole that’s sealed up airtight
تُغَلَّقُ بِالتُربِ أَبوابُهُ
إِلى يَومَ يُؤذَنُ في حَشرِهِ
Those doors will stay shut until the end of all life
When the trumpet is blown announcing new light
وَخَلّى القُصورَ الَّتي شادَها
وَحَلَّ مِنَ القَبرِ في قَعرِهِ
He left behind castles and mansions bedight
To rot in a grave that is dismal and trite
وَبُدِّلَ بِالبُسطِ فَرشَ الثَرى
وَريحَ ثَرى الأَرضِ مِن عِطرِهِ
For tapestries lush he now has but earth blight
And clay is his scent, once so fragrant and bright
أَخو سَفَرٍ ما لَهُ أَوبَةٌ
غَريبٌ وَإِن كانَ في مِصرِهِ
A brother now gone, never more to unite
An exile, though Egypt was once his delight
فَلَستُ مُشَيِّعَهُ غازِياً
أَميراً يَسيرُ إِلى ثَغرِهِ
No longer I’ll bid him farewell for the fight
As chieftain he marches to frontier outright
وَلا مُتَلَقِّيَهُ قافِلاً
بِقَتلِ عَدُوٍّ وَلا أَسرِهِ
No more will I greet his return from the blight
With news of a vanquished foe, captives in tow
لِتُطرِهِ أَيّامُنا الصالِحاتُ
بِبِرٍّ إِذا نَحنُ لَم نُطرِهِ
May our good days remember him doing what’s right
Though when he was with us, we failed to requite
فَلا يَبعَدَنَّ أَخي ثاوِياً
فَكُلٌّ سَيَمضي عَلى إِثرِهِ
Let not, my dear brother, your memory take flight
For all men must follow the path you did smite
