اسف مرّ وَآهات أَمر

وَالتِياع مَلأ القَلب شَرر

Regret passed, and sighs of sorrow

And grief filled the heart with embers

وَعَصيّ مائر مُنهَمر

يَتَدلى زمراً بَعد زمر

And a disobedient destiny drips down

Group after group in throngs

كَم عَظيم مَشَت الدُنيا بِهِ

في جَلال وَمَشى فيهِ القَدَر

How great were those whom the world carried

In glory, and fate walked among them

زَهَت الغَبراء مِن وَطأَتِهِ

وَنَهى ما شاءَ فيها وَأَمَر

The dust glowed from their treading

And it prohibited and commanded as it wished

فَإِذا ما اِنقَضَ عَن آخره

قَضي الأَمر عَلَيهِ فَاِندَثَر

So when it ends for the last of them

The order is carried out on him, and he crumbles

اِنظُر الأَيّام في دَورَتِها

نَظر الثاقب رَأياً وَفكر

Look at the days in their cycle

With the gaze of the piercing, thoughtful one

وَاِعرض الأَمس وَأَمسا قَبلَهُ

وَتَقَلب بَينَ أَحضان العَصر

And present the past and the day before it

And move between the laps of the era

تَجد الأَيام في كَثرَتِها

اخوات بَعضها شبه الأَخر

You’ll find the days in their multitude

Are sisters, some like the others

لَيسَ إِلا صُورة واحِدَة

كَررت حَتّى تَراءَت كَالصُور

Merely a single image

Repeated until they appeared like portraits

هِيَ كَف الدَهر وَالدَهر بِها

يوسع الغادة أَخذاً بِالطرر

It is the palm of fate, and with it

Fate expands, seizing shreds

أَسرَعَت دُون عَليم فَمَضى

مُسرِعاً دُون سَميكات الستر

It hastened without a wise one, and so passed

Hastening without thick veils

لَفَهُ المَوت عَلى مدرجة

وَرَماهُ الدَهر في كَف الغَير

Death wrapped him on the staircase

And fate cast him into the grip of others

خَفَقت أَفئدة وَاِضطَرَبَت

يا لِهَول اليَوم أَكباد البَشَر

Hearts throbbed and spirits shook

Oh, the awfulness of the day, the livers of mankind

كُل مَن قيلَ لَهُ ماتَ اِنزَوى

يَعصر القَلب بِكَف مِن حَجَر

All who were told “he died” went into seclusion

Wringing the heart with a fist of stone

لا يَقوم الدَمع بِالدَمع لَهُ

كَيفَما اِنسابَ وَمَهما يَنهَمر

No tear rises for him with a tear

However it flows and however it pours

أمة تَفقد فيهِ امة

وَبِلاد ثَكلت مِنهَ الأَبَر

A nation that lost a nation through him

And countries were bereaved of the righteous

شاعر الفُصحى وَما عودَها

هَذر القَول إِذا عَمَ الهَذر

The poet of eloquence and what accustomed it

To the babble when babble spreads

يَنفث السحر وَمِن مَنطَقه

طالَما اِهتَزَت مُتون وَغَدر

He breathes magic, and from his speech

How often have texts and minds shook

وَصَحافي مَشينا خَلفَهُ

وَاِقتَفَينا في المَواضيع الأَثَر

We journalists walked behind him

And traced the subjects in his footsteps

كَتم كَالآي في مَقطعها

صَعبها سَهل وَمَبغاها عسر

He was silent like wonders in their context

Its difficulty easy, and its purpose complex

أَحكَمت رَصفاً وَمَعنى مِثلَما

أَحكم البناء مَصقول الجدر

As precise as building, smooth as walls

Appearing like the rays of a constant sun

تَتَراءى كَشُعاع مُدمن

قُدرة اللَه عَلى سَطح الزبر

On the surface of the Pleiades

The death of the wise is an admonition

إِنَّما مَوت عَليم عظة

لَيسَ كُل المَوت لِلناس عبر

Not all death makes people take heed

O you standing on the ramshackle spot

أَيُّها الثاوي عَلى بلقعة

وَالمَواري بَينَ هاتيك الحُفَر

And hiding between those pits

Where is the voice that death made hoarse

أَينَ صَوت سامهُ المَوت البَلى

وَيَراع بَينَ كَفيك عَثر

And stumbled between your hands

Death dragged him to his demise

جَره المَوت عَلى شقته

فَتَثنى عَلى الأُخرى اِنكَسَر

Bending him double, broken

You were, son of the white folk, a lad

كُنت يا بن النَفر البيض فَتى

جاءَ لِلكون بِهِ أَي نَفَر

Who came to the universe with any company

Resolves beneath which the darkness of night flashed

عَزمات دُونَها بَرق الدُجى

وَمَضاء دونَهُ لَمح البَصَر

And illumination beneath which sights gleamed

You have the vestiges of the sublime prophets

لَكَ آثار النَبيين الأَلى

مَلأوا العالم ذِكرى وَأَثَر

Who filled the world with memories and traces

You were a precursor, but to the elevated

أَنتَ سباق وَلَكن لِلعُلى

أَنتَ جَبار وَلَكن في الفكر

You were strong, but in thought

You remain, immortalized in memory

أَنتَ باق خالد مدكر

حَيث لا تَبقى مَع المَوت الذكر

Where with death, remembrance does not remain

People raised you in their aspirations

رَفَعته الناس في هاماتهم

وَاِعتَلى عَرش حَياء وَخَفر

And you ascended the throne of modesty and pride

In vain it would be for the vile speaker, evil conduct

عَبَثاً حُلول أَن يَخفضه

مُقذع القَول وَوضاع السَير

To try lowering him

Whenever a tremulous hand reached

كُلَّما مَدَ يَداً رَعاشة

نَحوَ ذاكَ العَرض شاكَتها الإِبَر

Toward that honor, its fingers shook

The most deserving people of sublime eternity

إِن أَحرى الناس بِالخُلد الألى

وَهَبوا العلم شَباباً وَكبر

Are those who gifted knowledge in youth and old age

They were sincere in effort for it and exhausted

أَخلَصوا السَعي لَهُ وَاِستَنزَفوا

كُل ما في ذرعهم مِن مُصطَبر

All that was in their power of the strained

Rise, O wise one, and look how the breaths of sorrow

قُم عَليم انظُر نَفاثات الأَسى

كَيفَ تَشتَق وُروداً وَصَدر

Yearn and miss a breast and bosom

Ideas expand in killing whenever

تَوسع الأَفكار قَتلاً كُلَّما

جالَ بَعض الشَيء مِنها وَخَطَر

One of them wanders and crosses the mind

This is the moral of a sincere friend

هَذِهِ عِبرة خِل صادق

في وِداد وَالاخلاء غَدر

In affection and betrayal of trust

My heart is pressed with anguish, so how

عَصر القَلب مَلياً فَأَنى

بِالَّتي تَعثر في ثَوب الحَصر

Can that which stumbles in the gown of captivity avail?

How loyal you are! You do not twist upon

كَم وَفي لَك لا يَلوى عَلى

زَخرف السَلوى وَيَأبى أَن يَسر

The finery of diversion, and refuse to flow

You wear the night, and when the dawn breaks

يَلبس اللَيل وَأَما سَطَعت

غرة الفَجر فَسَوداء الحبر

You are blacker than ink

Oh, my wish for you, how wonderful

يا لِودي لَكَ ما أَعجبه

مِن وِداد لَم يَطُل حَتّى قَصر

Was an affection that did not last long before it was cut short

What was most terrible is that

شَد ما كانَ رَهيباً إِنَّما

طَوي اليَوم وَبِالأَمس نَشر

Today was folded, and yesterday spread

You are in the safekeeping of the Shaper of creation

أَنتَ في ذمة مَن صاغَ الوَرى

وَتَعالى عَن ذُهول وَخور

Exalted above madness and conceit

We entrusted you to the earth’s bosom

نَحنُ أَودعناكَ في جَوف الثَرى

وَدفناك عَلى ظَهر القَمَر

And buried you upon the moon’s surface

Farewell to the sublime, to restraint

فَوَداعاً لِلمعالي لِلنُهى

لِلغَوالي مِن قَوافيك الغُرر

To the pearls of your lines and couplets

The eternal farewell in

الوداع اللانهائيّ وَفي

كنف اللَه وَفي حفظ المَقَر

The care of God and the protection of the tomb