أَرَأَيتَ زَينَ العابِدينَ مُجَهَّزاً
نَقَلوهُ نَقلَ الوَردِ مِن مِحرابِه
Have you seen Zayn al-Abidin prepared for burial?
They bore him as gently as a rose from its sanctuary,
مِن دارِ تَوأَمِهِ وَصِنوِ حَياتِهِ
وَالأَوَّلِ المَألوفِ مِن أَترابِه
from the house of his twin, the counterpart of his life,
his earliest, dearest familiar among his peers.
ساروا بِهِ مِن باطِلِ الدُنيا إِلى
بُحبوحَةِ الحَقِّ المُبينِ وَغابِه
They carried him from the falsehood of this world into
the broad expanse of manifest Truth and its hidden depths.
وَمَضَوا بِهِ لِسَبيلِ آدَمَ قَبلَهُ
وَمَصايِرِ الأَقوامِ مِن أَعقابِه
They took him down the path Adam followed before him,
toward the destinies of the peoples who came after him.
تَحنو السَماءُ عَلى زَكِيِّ سَريرِهِ
وَيَمَسُّ جيدَ الأَرضِ طيبُ رِكابِه
Heaven bends tenderly over his stainless bier,
and the fragrance of his conveyance brushes the earth's neck.
وَتَطيبُ هامُ الحامِلينَ وَراحُهُم
مِن طيبِ مَحمَلِهِ وَطيبِ ثِيابِه
The bearers' heads and palms are perfumed
by the fragrance of his bier and the fragrance of his clothes.
وَكَأَنَّ مِصرَ بِجانِبَيهِ رَبَوَةٌ
آذارُ آذَنَها بِوَشكِ ذَهابِه
It was as though Egypt, on both its banks, were a verdant height
that March had warned of his imminent departure.
وَيَكادُ مِن طَرَبٍ لِعادَتِهِ النَدى
يَنسَلُّ لِلفُقَراءِ مِن أَثوابِه
The dew, delighted by his accustomed generosity, almost
slips from his robes toward the poor.
الطَيبُ اِبنُ الطَيِّبينَ وَرُبَّما
نَضَحَ الفَتى فَأَبانَ عَن أَحسابِه
Pure, the son of the pure—and often
a young man exudes the essence that reveals his lineage.
وَالمُؤمِنُ المَعصومُ في أَخلاقِهِ
مِن كُلِّ شائِنَةٍ وَفي آدابِه
A believer safeguarded in his character,
from every blemish, and refined in all his manners.
أَبَداً يَراهُ اللَهُ في غَلَسِ الدُجى
مِن صَحنِ مَسجِدِهِ وَحَولِ كِتابِه
God always saw him in the darkness before dawn,
in the courtyard of his mosque, beside his Book.
وَيَرى اليَتامى لائِذينَ بِظِلِّهِ
وَيَرى الأَرامِلَ يَعتَصِمنَ بِبابِه
He saw the orphans seeking refuge in his shade,
and the widows clinging for protection to his door.
وَيَراهُ قَد أَدّى الحُقوقَ جَميعَها
لَم يَنسَ مِنها غَيرَ حَقِّ شَبابِه
He saw him discharge every obligation,
forgetting only the claim his own youth had upon him.
أَدّى مِنَ المَعروفِ حِصَّةَ أَهلِهِ
وَقَضى مِنَ الأَحسابِ حَقَّ صِحابِه
He rendered in good works the portion due his family,
and in benevolence the full due of his companions.
مَهويشُ أَينَ أَبوك هَل ذَهَبوا بِهِ
لِمَ لَم يَعُد أَيّانَ يَومُ إِيابِه
A distraught child asks, “Where is his father? Have they taken him away?”
“Why has he not returned? When will his homecoming be?”
قَد وَكَّلَ اللَهُ الكَريمَ وَعَينَهُ
بِكِ فَاِحسِبيهِ عَلى كَريمِ رِحابِه
The bountiful God has appointed His watchful eye
over you; count him sheltered in the Bountiful One's spacious care.
وَدَعى البُكا يَكفيهِ ما حَمَّلتِهِ
مِن دَمعِكِ الشاكي وَمِن تَسكابِه
Let weeping rest; enough for him is what you have laden him with—
your grieving tears and all their outpouring.
وَلَقَد شَرِبتِ بِحادِثٍ يا طالَما
شَرِبَت بَناتُ العالَمينَ بِصابِه
You have drunk from a calamity—ah, how often
the daughters of every world have drunk from its draught.
كُلُّ اِمرِئٍ غادٍ عَلى عُوّادِهِ
وَسُؤالِهِم ما حالُهُ ماذا بِه
Every mortal will one day have his bedside visitors,
asking, “How is he? What is the matter with him?”
وَالمَرءُ في طَلَبِ الحَياةِ طَويلَةً
وَخُطى المَنِيَّةِ مِن وَراءِ طِلابِه
A man seeks to make his life long,
while death's footsteps follow close behind his quest.
في بِرِّ عَمِّكِ ما يَقومُ مَكانَهُ
في عَطفِهِ وَحَنانِهِ وَدِعابِه
In your uncle's loving goodness, no one can take his place,
in his tenderness, compassion, and playful humor.
إِسكَندَرِيَّةُ كَيفَ صَبرُكِ عَن فَتىً
الصَبرُ لَم يُخلَق لِمِثلِ مُصابِه
Alexandria, how can you bear separation from such a youth?
Patience was never fashioned for a loss like his.
عَطِلَت سَماؤُكِ مِن بَريقِ سَحابِها
وَخَبا فَضاؤُكِ مِن شُعاعِ شِهابِه
Your sky has been stripped of the gleam of its clouds,
and your firmament has dimmed without the ray of its meteor.
زَينُ الشَبابِ قَضى وَلَم تَتَزَوَّدي
مِنهُ وَلَم تَتَمَتَّعي بِقَرابِه
The ornament of youth is gone before you could take your provision
from him or delight in the closeness of his kinship.
قَد نابَ عَنكِ فَكانَ أَصدَقَ نائِبٍ
وَالشَعبُ يَهوى الصِدقَ في نُوّابِه
He represented you and was the truest of deputies;
and the people cherish truthfulness in their deputies.
أَعَلِمتِهِ اِتَّخَذَ الأَمانَةَ مَرَّةً
سَبَباً يُبَلِّغُهُ إِلى آرابِه
Did you ever know him to make a public trust, even once,
a means of bringing him to his private desires?
لَو عاشَ كانَ مُؤَمَّلاً لِمَواقِفٍ
يَرجو لَها الوادي كِرامَ شَبابِه
Had he lived, hopes would have rested on him in moments
for which the Valley looks to the nobility of its young men.
يَجلو عَلى الأَلبابِ هِمَّةَ فِكرِهِ
وَيُناوِلُ الأَسماعَ سِحرَ خِطابِه
He would reveal to minds the soaring resolve of his thought,
and offer listening ears the enchantment of his speech.
وَيَفي كَدَيدَنِهِ بِحَقٍّ بِلادِهِ
وَيَفي بِعَهدِ المُسلِمينَ كَدابِه
He would fulfill, as was his constant habit, his country's claim,
and keep the Muslims' covenant, as was his wont.
تَقواكَ إِسماعيلُ كُلُّ عَلاقَةٍ
سَيَبُتُّها الدَهرُ العَضوضُ بِنابِه
Hold fast to your piety, Ismail: every bond
biting Time will sever with its fang.
إِنَّ الَّذي ذُقتَ العَشِيَّةَ فَقدَهُ
بِتَّ اللَيالي موجَعاً لِعَذابِه
The one whose loss you tasted this evening—
you spent the nights aching at his suffering.
فارَقتَ صِنوَكَ مَرَتَينِ فَلاقِهِ
في عالَمِ الذِكرى وَبَينَ شِعابِه
Twice you parted from your other self; now meet him
in the realm of memory and among its mountain paths.
مِن عادَةِ الذِكرى تَرُدُّ مِنَ النَوى
مَن لا يَدَينِ لَنا بِطَيِّ غِيابِه
Memory is accustomed to bring back from afar
those whose absence refuses to be folded away.
حُلُمٌ كَأَحلامِ الكَرى وَسِناتِهِ
مُستَعذَبٌ في صِدقِهِ وَكِذابِه
It is a dream like the dreams and drowsiness of sleep,
made sweet whether it tells truth or falsehood.
اِسكُب دُموعَكَ لا أَقولُ اِستَبقِها
فَأَخو الهَوى يَبكي عَلى أَحبابِه
Pour out your tears; I will not tell you, “Hold them back,”
for one who loves must weep over those he loves.
