تُسائِلُني كَرمَتي بِالنَهارِ

وَبِاللَيلِ أَينَ سَميري حَسَن

You ask me of my generosity in the day

And at night where is my companion Hasan

وَأَينَ النَديمُ الشَهِيُّ الحَديثِ

وَأَينَ الطَروبُ اللَطيفُ الأُذُن

And where is the eloquent, jesting boon companion

And where is the gentle, pleasing nightingale

نَجِيُّ البَلابِلِ في عُشِّها

وَمُلهِمُها صِبيَةً في الفَنَن

Charmer of nightingales in their nest

And their inspirer, youthful in the arts

فَقُلتُ لَها ماتَ وَاِستَشعَرَت

لَيالي السُرورِ عَلَيهِ الحَزن

So I said to her, he died, and she felt

The nights of joy turn to sorrow for him

لَئِن ناءَ مِن سِمَنٍ جِسمُهُ

فَما عَرِفَت روحُهُ ما السِمَن

If his body grew plump from fat

His soul knew no fatness

وَما هُوَ مَيتٌ وَلَكِنَّهُ

بَشاشَةُ دَهرٍ مَحاها الزَمَن

He is not dead, but rather

The liveliness of an era erased by time

وَمَعنىً خَلا القَولُ مِن لَفظِهِ

وَحُلمٌ تَطايَرَ عَنهُ الوَسَن

And meaning stripped of its words

And dreams that lost their molars

وَلا يَذكُرُ المَعهَدُ الشَرقِيُّ

لِأَنوَرَ إِلّا جَليلَ المِنَن

The eastern school recalls

Anwar only for his great favors

وَما كانَ مِن صَبرِهِ في الصِعابِ

وَما كانَ مِن عَونِهِ في المِحَن

And his patience in difficulties

And his aid in afflictions

وَخِدمَةُ فَنٍّ يُداوي القُلوبَ

وَيَشفي النُفوسَ وَيُذكي الفِطَن

And serving an art that heals hearts

And restores souls and awakens the perceptive

وَما كانَ فيهِ الدَعِيَّ الدَخيلَ

وَلَكِن مِنَ الفَنِّ كانَ الرُكُن

Not merely an opportunist

But pillar of the art was he

وَلَو أَنصَفَ الصَحبُ يَومَ الوَداعِ

دُفِنتَ كَإِسحاقَ لَمّا دُفِن

Had his friends been fair on the day of farewell

He'd have been buried like Isaac when interred

فَغُيِّبتَ في المِسكِ لا في التُرابِ

وَأُدرِجتَ في الوَردِ لا في الكَفَن

So you were enveloped in musk, not dust

And wrapped in roses, not a shroud

وَخُطَّ لَكَ القَبرُ في رَوضَةٍ

يَميلُ عَلى الغُصنِ فيها الغُصُن

And your grave was dug in a garden

Where branch leans over branch

وَيَنتَحِبُ الطَيرُ في ظِلِّها

وَيَخلَعُ فيها النَسيمُ الرَسَن

And birds weep in its shade

And the breeze sheds its petals

وَقامَت عَلى العودِ أَوتارُهُ

تُعيدُ الحَنينَ وَتُبدي الشَجَن

And on the lute his strings

Recall the longing and expose the passion

وَطارَحَكَ النايُ شَجوَ النُواحِ

وَكُنتَ تَئِنُّ إِذا النايُ أَن

And the reed-pipe laments your absence

And you would moan when the reed-pipe did

وَمالَ فَناحَ عَلَيكَ الكَمانُ

وَأَظهَر مِن بَثِّهِ ما كَمَن

And the violin leaned to grieve over you

Revealing what it had concealed

سَلامٌ عَلَيكَ سَلامُ الرُبا

إِذا نَفَحَت وَالغَوادي الهُتَن

Peace be upon you, peace of the meadows

When the valleys blow their scent

سَلامٌ عَلى جيرَةٍ بِالإِمامِ

وَرَهطٍ بِصَحرائِهِ مُرتَهَن

Peace on a neighborhood by the imam

And comrades hostage in its deserts

سَلامٌ عَلى حُفَرٍ كَالقِبابِ

وَأُخرى كَمُندَرِساتِ الدِمَن

Peace on graves like domes

And others like crumbling ruins

وَجَمعٍ تَآلَفَ بَعدَ الخِلافِ

وَصافى وَصوفِيَ بَعدَ الضَغَن

And a group reconciled after conflict

And Sufis purified after rancor

سَلامٌ عَلى كُلِّ طَودٍ هُناكَ

لَهُ حَجَرٌ في بِناءِ الوَطَن

Peace on every hill there

With a stone in the nation's structure