مَضى الدَهرُ بِاِبنِ إِمامِ اليَمَن
وَأَودى بِزَينِ شَبابِ الزَمَن
Time has taken the son of Yemen's Imam,
And destroyed the beauty of the age's youth.
وَباتَت بِصَنعاءَ تَبكي السُيوفُ
عَلَيهِ وَتَبكي القَنا في عَدَن
In Sanaa, swords weep for him,
As does the reed-pipe in Aden.
وَأَعوَلَ نَجدٌ وَضَجَّ الحِجازُ
وَمالَ الحُسَينُ فَعَزَّ الحَسَن
Nejd wails, and the Hejaz cries out,
Al-Husayn leans, so Al-Hasan is honored.
وَغَصَّت مَناحاتُهُ في الخِيامِ
وَغَصَّت مَآتِمُهُ في المُدُن
His tents are crowded with mourners,
And his cities fill with grief.
وَلَو أَنَّ مَيتاً مَشى لِلعَزاءِ
مَشى في مَآتِمِهِ ذو يَزَن
If the dead could walk to condole,
He of grandeur would walk amidst the mourners.
فَتىً كَاِسمِهِ كانَ سَيفَ الإِلَه
وَسَيفَ الرَسولِ وَسَيفَ الوَطَن
A noble whose name matched his being,
Sword of God, the Messenger, and the Nation.
وَلُقِّبَ بِالبَدرِ مِن حُسنِهِ
وَما البَدرُ ما قَدرُهُ وَاِبنُ مَن
Called "Full Moon" for his beauty,
Yet the moon cannot equal him, son of the eminent.
عَزاءً جَميلاً إِمامَ الحِمى
وَهَوِّن جَليلَ الرَزايا يَهُن
Consolation, O noble guardian,
Lessen this great affliction, it is arduous.
وَأَنتَ المُعانُ بِإيمانِهِ
وَظَنُّكَ في اللَهِ ظَنٌّ حَسَن
You are steadfast in his faith,
Your view of God is goodly.
وَلَكِن مَتى رَقَّ قَلبُ القَضاءِ
وَمِن أَينَ لِلمَوتِ عَقلٌ يَزِن
But when did the heart of fate soften?
When did death's reasoning weigh and assess?
يُجامِلُكَ العُربُ النازِحون
وَما العَرَبِيَّةُ إِلّا وَطَن
The Arabs who have left appeal to you,
Yet only Yemen was their homeland.
وَيَجمَعُ قَومَكَ بِالمُسلِمينَ
عَظيمَ الفُروضِ وَسَمحُ السُنَن
They would unite your people with the Muslims,
Of immense duties and easy traditions.
وَأَنَّ نَبِيَّهُمُ واحِدٌ
نَبِيُّ الصَوابِ نَبِيُّ اللَسَن
Their prophet being one,
The prophet of right, the prophet of tongues.
وَمِصرُ الَّتي تَجمَعُ المُسلِمينَ
كَما اِجتَمَعوا في ظِلالِ الرُكُن
Egypt which unites the Muslims,
As they united in the shadows of the Holy House,
تُعَزّي اليَمانينَ في سَيفِهِم
وَتَأخُذُ حِصَّتَها في الحَزَن
Consoles the Yemenis for their sword,
And takes its share in grief,
وَتَقعُدُ في مَأتَمِ اِبنِ الإِمامِ
وَتَبكيهِ بِالعَبَراتِ الهُتُن
Sits in the memorial of the Imam's son,
Weeping for him with intense tears.
وَتَنشُرُ رَيحانَتَي زَنبَقٍ
مِنَ الشِعرِ في رَبَواتِ اليَمَن
Spreading the fragrance of two bunches of lilies,
In the poetry of Yemen's hills,
تَرِفّانِ فَوقَ رُفاتِ الفَقيدِ
رَفيفَ الجِنى في أَعالي الغُصُن
Waving above the departed one’s tomb,
The gentle breeze at the top of the branch.
قَضى واجِباً فَقَضى دونَهُ
فَتىً خالِصَ السِرِّ صافي العَلَن
He fulfilled his duty, so he passed,
A lad of pure heart and public candor.
تَطَوَّحَ في لُجَجٍ كَالجِبالِ
عِراضِ الأَواسي طِوالِ القُنَن
He plunged into deep seas like mountains,
The lofty dunes, the tall waves.
مَشى مِشيَةَ اللَيثِ لا في السِلاحِ
وَلا في الدُروعِ وَلا في الجُنَن
He walked with a lion’s stride, neither in arms,
Nor armor, nor madness.
مَتى صِرتَ يا بَحرُ غُمدَ السُيوفِ
وَكُنّا عَهِدناكَ غِمدَ السُفُن
When did you become, O sea, sheath of swords,
When we knew you as sheath of ships?
وَكُنتَ صِوانَ الجُمانِ الكَريمِ
فَكَيفَ أُزيلَ وَلِم لَم يُصَن
You were protector of the bountiful pearls,
So how were you stripped, and why were you not guarded?
ظَفِرَت بِجَوهَرَةٍ فَذَّةٍ
مِنَ الشَرَفِ العَبقَرِيِّ اليُمُن
You won a rare and unique pearl,
Of glorious and ingenious Yemeni nobility.
فَتىً بَذَلَ الروحَ دونَ الرِفاقِ
إِلَيكَ وَأَعطى التُرابَ البَدَن
A lad who gave his soul for his comrades to you
And gave his body to the earth.
وَهانَت عَلَيهِ مَلاهي الشَبابِ
وَلَولا حُقوقُ العُلا لَم تَهُن
The joys of youth meant little to him,
Were it not for the rights of the sublime, he would not have bowed.
وَخاضَكَ يُنقِذُ أَترابَهُ
وَكانَ القَضاءُ لَهُ قَد كَمَن
He entered you to save his companions,
And fate lay in wait for him.
غَدَرتَ فَتىً لَيسَ في الغادِرينَ
وَخُنتَ اِمرأً وافِياً لَم يَخُن
You betrayed a lad not of traitors,
And betrayed a loyal man who never betrayed.
وَما في الشَجاعَةِ حَتفُ الشُجاعِ
وَلا مَدَّ عُمرَ الجَبانِ الجُبُن
In courage there is no death for the courageous,
Nor did cowardice prolong the coward’s life.
وَلَكِن إِذا حانَ حَينُ الفَتى
قَضى وَيَعيشُ إِذا لَم يَحِن
Rather, when the time of the lad is due,
He dies, though he lives if not due.
أَلا أَيُّها ذا الشَريفُ الرَضي
أَبو السُجَرِ الرَماحِ اللُدُن
O noble agreeable one,
Father of long spears and shining blades.
شَهيدُ المُروءَةِ كانَ البَقيعُ
أَحَقَّ بِهِ مِن تُرابِ اليَمَن
Martyr of manliness, the Baqee’
Was worthier of him than Yemen’s soil.
فَهَل غَسَّلوهُ بِدَمعِ العُفاةِ
وَفي كُلِّ قَلبِ حَزينٍ سَكَن
Did they wash him in the tears of the chaste?
Did he settle in every grieving heart?
لَقَد أَغرَقَ اِبنَكَ صَرفُ الزَمانِ
وَأَغرَقتَ أَبناءَهُ بِالمِنَن
The caprice of time has drowned your son,
And you have drowned his sons in kindness.
أَتَذكُرُ إِذ هُوَ يَطوي الشُهورَ
وَإِذ هُوَ كَالخِشفِ حُلوٌ أَغَن
Do you remember as he spent the months,
As he was sweet as a bud, most melodious?
وَإِذ هُوَ حَولَكَ حَسَنُ القُصورِ
وَطيبُ الرِياضِ وَصَفوُ الزَمَن
As around you he was the beauty of palaces,
Pleasant gardens and the prime of time?
بَشاشَتُهُ لَذَّةٌ في العُيونِ
وَنَغمَتُهُ لَذَّةٌ في الأُذُن
His cheerfulness was a delight to behold,
His voice a delight to hear.
يُلاعِبُ طُرَّتَهُ في يَدَيكَ
كَما لاعَبَ المُهرُ فَضلَ الرَسَن
He would tease his forelock in your hands,
As the skilled horseman teased the horse’s forelock.
وَإِذ هُوَ كَالشِبلِ يَحكي الأُسودَ
أَدَلَّ بِمِخلَبِهِ وَاِفتَتَن
As a cub he would mimic the lions,
Lowering his claw, utterly charming.
فَشَبَّ فَقامَ وَراءَ العَرينِ
يَشُبُّ الحُروبَ وَيُطفي الفِتَن
He grew up, and stood behind the den,
Growing ferocious, extinguishing afflictions.
فَما بالُهُ صارَ في الهامِدينَ
وَأَمسى عَفاءً كَأَن لَم يَكُن
Why did he end up among the fallen?
And become hidden, as if never having been?
نَظَمتُ الدُموعَ رِثاءً لَهُ
وَفَصَّلتُها بِالأَسى وَالشَجَن
I have strung tears in elegy for him,
And elaborated them with anguish and sadness.
