سَأَلوني لِمَ لَم أَرثِ أَبي

وَرِثاءُ الأَبِ دَينٌ أَيُّ دَين

They asked me why I did not eulogize my father

Is eulogizing one's father a duty? What duty?

أَيُّها اللُوّامُ ما أَظلَمَكُم

أَينَ لي العَقلُ الَّذي يُسعِدُ أَين

O blamers, how unjust you are to me

Where is the rationale that brings happiness? Where?

يا أَبي ما أَنتَ في ذا أَوَّلٌ

كُلُّ نَفسٍ لِلمَنايا فَرضُ عَين

O father, you were not the first

Every soul has death as an obligatory duty

هَلَكَت قَبلَكَ ناسٌ وَقُرى

وَنَعى الناعونَ خَيرَ الثِقَلَين

People and villages perished before you

And the bier announced the best of the two burdens

غايَةُ المَرءِ وَإِن طالَ المَدى

آخِذٌ يَأخُذُهُ بِالأَصغَرَين

A person's goal, though the journey be long

Is seized by the most trivial of matters

وَطَبيبٌ يَتَوَلّى عاجِزاً

نافِضاً مِن طِبَّهُ خُفَّي حُنَين

A doctor who busies himself with the incurable

Exhaling from his healing a hidden sigh

إِنَّ لِلمَوتِ يَداً إِن ضَرَبَت

أَوشَكَت تَصدَعُ شَملَ الفَرقَدَين

Indeed death's blow, if it strikes

Would nearly shatter kinship's bond

تَنفُذُ الجَوَّ عَلى عِقبانِهِ

وَتُلاقي اللَيثَ بَينَ الجَبَلَين

It penetrates the air on its heels

And meets the lion between two mountains

وَتَحُطُّ الفَرخَ مِن أَيكَتِهِ

وَتَنالُ البَبَّغا في المِئَتَين

And drops the chick from its nest

And gets the parrot at two hundred

أَنا مَن ماتَ وَمَن ماتَ أَنا

لَقِيَ المَوتَ كِلانا مَرَّتَين

I am the one who died and the one who died is me

We both met death twice

نَحنُ كُنّا مُهجَةً في بَدَنٍ

ثُمَّ صِرنا مُهجَةً في بَدَنَين

We were a fetus in one body

Then we became a fetus in two bodies

ثُمَّ عُدنا مُهجَةً في بَدَنٍ

ثُمَّ نُلقى جُثَّةً في كَفَنَين

Then we returned a fetus in one body

Then we will be a corpse in two shrouds

ثُمَّ نَحيا في عَلِيٍّ بَعدَنا

وَبِهِ نُبعَثُ أولى البِعثَتَين

Then we will live through Ali after us

And through him we will be resurrected the first of the two resurrections

اِنظُرِ الكَونَ وَقُل في وَصفِهِ

كُلُّ هَذا أَصلُهُ مِن أَبَوَين

Look at the universe and describe it

All this originated from two parents

فَإِذا ما قيلَ ما أَصلُهُما

قُل هُما الرَحمَةُ في مَرحَمَتَين

So if it is asked what their origin is

Say they are mercy in two wombs

فَقَدا الجَنَّةَ في إيجادِنا

وَنَعِمنا مِنهُما في جَنَّتَين

They lost Heaven by creating us

And we enjoyed it in two gardens

وَهُما العُذرُ إِذا ما أُغضِبا

وَهُما الصَفحُ لَنا مُستَرضِيَين

And they are the excuse when they get angry

And they are the ones who forgive us appeased

لَيتَ شِعري أَيُّ حَيٍّ لَم يَدِن

بِالَّذي دانا بِهِ مُبتَدِأَين

I wish I knew which living being did not

Worship what we worshipped in the beginning

وَقَفَ اللَهُ بِنا حَيثُ هُما

وَأَماتَ الرُسلَ إِلّا الوالِدَين

And God stopped us where they stopped

And caused the messengers to die except the two parents

ما أَبي إِلّا أَخٌ فارَقتُهُ

وُدُّهُ الصِدقُ وَوُدُّ الناسِ مَين

My father is but a brother I parted from

His affection is honesty and people's affection is disloyalty

طالَما قُمنا إِلى مائِدَةٍ

كانَتِ الكِسرَةُ فيها كِسرَتَين

We have long stood up to a table

On which the piece of bread was split in two

وَشَرِبنا مِن إِناءٍ واحِدٍ

وَغَسَلنا بَعدَ ذا فيهِ اليَدَين

And we drank from one cup

And after that we washed our hands twice in it

وَتَمَشَّينا يَدي في يَدِهِ

مَن رَآنا قالَ عَنّا أَخَوَين

And we walked hand in hand

Whoever saw us said they are two brothers

نَظَرَ الدَهرُ إِلَينا نَظرَةً

سَوَّتِ الشَرَّ فَكانَت نَظرَتَين

Fate looked upon us with one look

Making mischief equal, so it was two looks

يا أَبي وَالمَوتُ كَأسٌ مُرَّةٌ

لا تَذوقُ النَفسُ مِنها مَرَّتَين

O father, and death is a bitter cup

The soul does not taste it twice

كَيفَ كانَت ساعَةٌ قَضَّيتَها

كُلُّ شَيءٍ قَبلَها أَو بَعدُ هَين

How was the hour you spent

When everything before or after was insignificant

أَشَرِبتَ المَوتَ فيها جُرعَةً

أَم شَرِبتَ المَوتَ فيها جُرعَتَين

Did you drink death in it one draught

Or did you drink death in it two draughts

لا تَخَف بَعدَكَ حُزناً أَو بُكاً

جَمَدَت مِنّي وَمِنكَ اليَومَ عَين

Do not fear, after you, sorrow or crying

My eye and your eye froze today

أَنتَ قَد عَلَّمتَني تَركَ الأَسى

كُلُّ زَينٍ مُنتَهاهُ المَوتُ شَين

You taught me to leave grief behind

All beauty, its end is death, disgrace

لَيتَ شِعري هَل لَنا أَن نَلتَقي

مَرَّةً أَم ذا اِفتِراقُ المَلَوَين

I wonder, will we meet again

Or is this the separation of two intimates

وَإِذا مُتُّ وَأودِعتُ الثَرى

أَنَلقَّى حُفرَةً أَو حُفرَتَين

And when I die and am buried

Will I be put in one grave or two