برق بأنباءِ الأحبّة سارِ

صَدعَ القُلوبَ وطار بالأبصارِ

The lightning brought news of loved ones passing by

It shattered hearts and eyes took flight

بلغ المطار به محلّةَ رازحٍ

نهضت إليه روائعُ الأقدارِ

It reached the airport bearing the abode of Rāziḥ

The finest of fates rose to meet it

قطع الصّلاةَ عليه قبل تَمامِها

فطوى أوائلَها بلا استغفارِ

He interrupted his prayers before their completion

And summarised their beginnings without seeking forgiveness

وأقامَ للأحزانِ من صَلَواتها

نُسْكَ الهُداةِ وسُنّةَ الأبرارِ

And for the sorrows he performed from his prayers

The ritual of the righteous guides and path of the virtuous

صلّوا بني الوطنِ المُصابِ فإنّها

بلوى الشُّعوبِ ونكبةُ الأقطارِ

Pray, O sons of the afflicted nation for it is

The tribulations of nations and calamity of homelands

أودى عليٌّ بعد أحمدَ فانظروا

مَهوى الجبالِ ومَغرِبَ الأقمارِ

After Aḥmad passed away, ʿAlī met his demise

Consider the descent of mountains and setting of moons

وسلوا الكِنانةَ هل لها من ناصرٍ

يُرجَى لِمنعِ حِمىً وصَوْنِ ذِمارِ

Ask the dear homeland, does she have a supporter

To be hoped for to protect sanctuaries and restore glories?

عصف الزّمانُ بها فطاحَ لِواؤُها

وهَوتْ سُيوفُ حُماتِها الأحرارِ

Time has lashed at her, so her banner fell

And the swords of her noble guards collapsed

أَفضَى الجِهادُ بهم إلى مكروهةٍ

تَغتالُ بأسَ الفارسِ المِغوارِ

The jihād led them to an unpleasant end

Where the cunning of a fierce horseman lies in ambush

يُلقِي السّلاحَ وراءها ويحلُّها

كاللّيثِ عاد مُقلَّمَ الأَظفارِ

To throw down his weapon behind him and absolve her

Like a lion who returns with claws retracted

سَلَبَ الجبانُ بها الشجاعَ ذِراعَه

وهَوى الضَّعيفُ بهامةِ الجبّارِ

The coward has robbed the valiant of his arm

And the feeble one felled the plume of the mighty

حُفَرٌ تموتُ بها القُوى ومنازلٌ

تَقرِى الترابَ نَضارةَ الزُوّارِ

There are pits in which strengths die and dwellings

That bring the vigor of visitors down to dust

قُمْ يا عليُّ فأنت أكرمُ قائمٍ

بالأمرِ بعد رِفاقِكَ الأخيارِ

Arise O ʿAlī for you are the noblest to rise

To the command after your excellent comrades

فِيمَ الرُقادُ ومصرُ في أصفادِها

والشّعبُ رَهنُ مَذلَّةٍ وَصغارِ

Why do you slumber while Egypt is in shackles

And the people are hostage to disgrace and humiliation?

أَشَفَيْتَ نفسَك حين مِلتَ إلى الكرى

ونزلتَ منزل هَدْأةٍ وقرارِ

Have you quenched your soul when you inclined towards rest

And took up residence in tranquility and stability?

أين الشّفاءُ لمن تَضمَّنَ قلبُه

ما بالكنانةِ من جوىً وأوارِ

Where is the solace for one whose heart contains

That which befell the dear homeland of torment and calamity?

كنتَ الزّعيمَ الحقَّ في أبنائها

لولا الحياءُ وصالحُ الإِيثارِ

You were the true leader among her sons

If not for modesty and the virtue of altruism

أكرمتَ حزبَك عن مَطامِع عُصبةٍ

شتّى المطامعِ جمّةِ الأوطارِ

You honored your party against the desires of a gang

Of various greedy motives, accumulation of self-interests

عَقدتْ على الغَدْرِ العُهودَ ذميمةً

وَلَوَتْ وُجوهَ مُساومين تجارِ

They made disgraceful pacts of betrayal

And the faces of the bargaining merchants frowned

ووقفتَ جيشاً في طليعة فِتيةٍ

بيضِ الصّحائفِ وُضَّحِ الآثارِ

And you stood an army at the vanguard of youth

White of page and clarity of marks

عَرفوكَ كَنْزَ هُدىً وذُخرَ مُروءةٍ

ورأوك سَيفَ وَغىً ولَيْثَ مَغارِ

They knew you as treasure of guidance and store of manliness

And saw you as sword of ferocity and lion of lair

أسفِي عليكَ ذهبتَ غير مُودَّعٍ

ومَضَيْتَ بين عَشيَّةٍ ونهارِ

Woe to me for you! You left without farewells

And passed in the clarity of wishes and daytime

أسفِي على الجارِ القريبِ يؤمُّه

عادى الرَّدى فيؤمُّ أبعدَ دارِ

Woe to me for the neighbor I knew who would sympathize

The purge of time sympathizes with the furthest house

جارَ الوفاءِ فُجِعْتُ منكَ بنازحٍ

نائي المحلَّةِ مُوحَشِ المُزدارِ

O companion of loyalty, I have been aggrieved by your departure

Remote of place, desolate of frequented abode

أنت الصّديقُ دفنتُ أكرمَ صُحبةٍ

فيهِ وأصدقَ ذِمّةٍ وجوارِ

You are the friend - I buried the most honorable company

The most truthful in alliance and neighborhood

لمّا نُعِيتَ إليَّ في وَضَحِ المُنى

سَدَّ الظّلامُ عليَّ مَطلعَ داري

When the news of you reached me in the morning glow

Darkness covered the horizon of my abode

أمسكتُ دمعي فاستهلَّ وهاجني

تَهطالُ آخرَ دافقٍ مِدرارِ

I held back my tears but they poured forth and flooded me

The torrent of ceaseless cascading tears

فعَرفتُ أبنائي ولستُ لهم أباً

حتّى يُقيموا سُنَّتي وشِعاري

So I knew my sons, but was no father to them

Until they establish my ways and emblems

صحبٌ صِغارُ السِّنِّ ما بِنُفوسِهم

لُؤمٌ ولا أحلامُهم بصِغارِ

Friends junior in years, their souls lack

Resolution, and their dreams are junior

عرفوا الزّعيمَ فغالهم ما غالني

لِفراقهِ وَاسْتَعبروا اسْتِعباري

They knew the leader so what impassioned me impassioned them

For parting with him, and they emulated my lament

يا فارسَ الوادي وحارسَ ضأنِه

الضأنُ فوضَى والذّئابُ ضواري

O horseman of the valley and guardian of its sheep

The sheep are chaos and the wolves are predators

قُمْ غيرَ خوّارِ القناةِ فقد وهت

عَزَماتُ كلِّ مُنكّبٍ خَوّارِ

Arise, unlike the spineless watchmen of the canal

For the resolves of all hunchbacks have become spineless

أنت الجديرُ بأن تُفارقَ أُمّةً

وقع الرعاةُ بها على الجزَّارِ

You are the one worthy to abandon a nation

Whose shepherds have cast it to the butchers

نَمْ غيرَ مكفورِ الجهادِ فإنّها

أيامُ كُلِّ مُشاغبٍ كفّارِ

Sleep not, unlike one who disdains jihad

For these are days of every insolent unbeliever

جَمعٌ يُعظِّمُ كلَّ خَبٍّ ماكرٍ

ويُهينُ كُلَّ مُجاهدٍ صَبَّارِ

A group that esteems every treacherous deceiver

And disgraces every steadfast mujāhid

قُمْ يا خطيبَ النّيلِ في مَرْضَى الهَوى

وَاشْفِ النُّهى ببيانِكَ السحّارِ

Arise, O orator of the Nile, to cure the lovesick

With your enchanting eloquence

رَاعَ المنابرَ خطبُ مِنبركَ الذي

نَسفَ الجبالَ ومال بالأسوارِ

The pulpits were pastured by the sermons of your pulpit

Which brought down mountains and tilted walls

لمّا استبقتَ القولَ في أعوادهِ

سِيقَتْ إليه يدُ القضاءِ الجاري

When you hastened speech through its channels

The hand of fate that flows was led to it

أشرفتَ منه تَهُزُّ شعباً رابضاً

والموتُ خلفَك رابضٌ مُتَوارِ

You emerged from it shaking a seated nation

While death crouched behind you lying in wait

مَيْتٌ على ميتٍ ينوحُ وذاهبٌ

يبكي لِمظْعنِ ذاهبٍ سيّارِ

One dead atop another wails while one passing

Cries for a victim passing in a coffin

لاقيتَ ربَّك قائماً تقضي الذي

يقضي الوفيُّ لأُمّةٍ وديارِ

You met your Lord standing, fulfilling what

The loyal One fulfills for a nation and its homes

مِثلَ الشُّجاعِ هَوَى الحِمامُ بِسَرْجِهِ

تحتَ العَجاجِ فَطاحَ في المضمارِ

Like the valiant dove, it fell in its saddle

Beneath bolts of lightning and crashed in the racing field

أحييتَ سُنّةَ مصطفى ولَقيِتَه

حيَّ المناقبِ خالدَ التَّذكارِ

You revived the way of Muṣṭafā and met Him

The living embodiment of virtues, eternal in remembrance

فاذهبْ جُزِيتَ من الإله مثوبةً

ممّا اصطفى لفريقهِ المختارِ

So go - may you be rewarded by God

With what He has chosen for His elite group