نَبَأٌ تَقاصَرَ دونَهُ الأنْباءُ
واستَمطَرَ العَبَراتِ وهْيَ دِماءُ
News that surpassed all other news,
That drew tears flowing like blood.
فالمُقْرَباتُ خَواشِعٌ أبصارُها
مِيلُ الرُّؤوسِ صَليلُهُنَّ بُكاءُ
The maidens have downcast eyes,
Their heads bowed, weeping profusely.
والبِيضُ تَقْلَقُ في الغُمودِ كَما الْتَوى
رُقْشٌ تَبُلُّ مُتونَها الأنْداءُ
The white garments flutter anxiously,
Like doves whose wings are stirred.
والسُّمْرُ راجِفَةٌ كأنَّ كُعوبَها
تَلوي معاقِدَها يَدٌ شَلاّءُ
The brown mare trembling, as if
Her fetlocks were bound by a paralyzed hand.
والشَّمسُ شاحِبةٌ يَمورُ شُعاعُها
مَوْرَ الغَديرِ طَغَتْ بهِ النَّكْباءُ
The sun is pale, its rays wavering
Like the shimmer of a flood overwhelmed with grief.
والنَّيِّراتُ طَوالِعٌ رَأْدَ الضُّحى
نُفِضَتْ على صَفَحاتِها الظَّلْماءُ
The morning twilights, appearing at dawn,
Were darkened by shadows cast over them.
يَنْدُبْنَ أحْمَدَ فالبِلادُ خَواشِعٌ
والأرضُ تُعْوِلُ والصّباحُ مَساءُ
They mourn Ahmad while the lands bow down,
The earth wails and the morn turns to eve.
والعينُ تنْزِفُ ماءَها حُرَقُ الجَوى
والوجْهُ تُضمِرُ نارَهُ الأحشاءُ
The eye sheds its waters, scorched with yearning,
While the face conceals its fires in its depths.
فأذَلَّ أعناقاً خَضَعْنَ لفَقْدِهِ
وهْيَ التي طَمَحَتْ بها الخُيَلاءُ
Necks once held high now bent low in his loss,
Necks that ambition itself aspired to possess.
غَنِيَتْ عَواطِلَ بَعْدَما صاغتْ حُلَى
أطواقِها بِنَوالِهِ الآلاءُ
They sang joyfully after adorning themselves
With his peerless necklaces and bracelets.
ما لِلْمَنايا يَجْتَذِبْنَ إِلى الرَّدى
مُهَجاً فهُنَّ طلائِحٌ أنْضاءُ
Why must death snatch the bright stars
When they are radiant brides of perfection?
تُدْهى بِها العَصْماءُ في شَعَفاتِها
وتُحَطُّ عنْ وُكُناتِها الشّغْواءُ
Thereby unveiled are the virtuous in their bowers,
And the veils of their hidden abodes torn away.
عُونٌ تَكَدَّسَ بالنّفوسِ وعِندَها
في كُلِّ يومٍ مُهجَةٌ عَذْراءُ
An affliction amassed in souls, each day
Taking away a chaste, tender maiden.
دُنيا تُرَشِّحُ للرَّدى أبْناءَها
أُمٌّ لَعَمْرُ أبيهِمُ وَرْهاءُ
A world sacrificing its sons to devastation,
A mother, by the life of their father, perfidious!
فالنّاسُ منْ غادٍ علَيهِ ورائِحٍ
ولِمَنْ تأخَّرَ عنهُما الإسْراءُ
People coming and going from his presence,
While reaching him becomes difficult for latecomers.
لا شارِخٌ يَبْقى ولا ذو لِمَّةٍ
ألْوَتْ بعَصْرِ شَبابِها العنْقاءُ
No honored soul remains nor people of conscience,
The lofty-branched tree is stripped bare.
ولكَمْ نَظَرْتُ إِلى الحياةِ وقدْ دَجَتْ
أظْلالُها فإذا الحَياةُ عَناءُ
How often I looked upon life only to find
Its shadows engulfing it, and life but toil and woe.
لا يَخْدَعَنّكَ مَعْقِلٌ أشِبٌ ولَو
حلَّتْ علَيْهِ نِطاقَها الجَوْزاءُ
Let no impregnable fortress deceive you, even if
The fortified citadel be garbed all in emerald.
واكْفُفْ شَبا العَينِ الطّموحِ فَدونَ ما
تَسْمو إليهِ بلَحْظِها أقْذاءُ
Restrain the youthful eye’s ambition, for between it
And its aspirations are many barriers.
ولَوِ اسْتُطيلَ على الحِمامِ بعِزَّةٍ
رُفِعَتْ بِها اليَزَنِيَّةُ السَّمْراءُ
Had the pigeons aspired with pride
To rival the noble hawks,
لَتَحدَّبَتْ صِيدُ المُلوكِ على القَنا
حَيثُ القُلوبُ تُطيرُها الهَيْجاءُ
The prey of kings would have swooped down upon the arrowheads
Where hearts are stirred to madness by passion.
يَطَؤونَ أذيالَ الدُّروعِ كأنّهُمْ
أُسْدُ الشّرَى وكأنّهُنَّ إضاءُ
They tread on the hems of their coats of mail as though they are
Lions in battle, while in truth they are but light itself.
والخَيْلُ عابِسَةُ الوُجوهِ كأنّها
تَحْتَ الكُماةِ إذا انْجَرَدْنَ ضِراءُ
The steeds frowning of face as if they are
Serried ranks when they attack in early dawn,
يَفْدونَ أحمَدَ بالنُّفوسِ وقلَّما
يُغْني إذا نَشِبَ المَنونُ فِداءُ
They ransom Ahmad with their souls, and rarely
Can sacrifice avail when death’s blow has struck.
قادَ الكَتائِبَ وهْوَ مُقتَبِلُ الصِّبا
حتَّى اتّقَتْ غَزَواتِهِ الأعْداءُ
He led the regiments while still a youth,
Until his enemies feared his raids.
ورَمى المَشارِقَ بالمَذاكِي فارْتَدى
بِعَجاجِها المَلْمومَةُ الشَّهْباءُ
He brandished his blades east and west, so that
The afflicted crimson suns retreated.
ولهُ بأطرارِ المَغارِبِ وَقْعَةٌ
تُرضي السُّيوفَ وغارَةٌ شَعْواءُ
In the west he won a victory
Satisfying to swords and a ferocious onslaught.
لمْ يَدْفَعِ الحَدَثانِ عَن حَوبائِهِ
مَجْدٌ أشَمُّ وعِزّةٌ قَعْساءُ
No recent glory has warded off dishonor from his thresholds,
A glory more fragrant, an honor more resolute.
وصَوارِمٌ مَشْحوذَةٌ وأسِنَّةٌ
مَذروبَةٌ وكَتيبَةٌ جَأواءُ
Swords sharpened and blades unsheathed,
A band intrepid and fearless.
لَقِحَتْ بهِ الأرضُ العَقيمُ وأُسْقِيَتْ
سَبَلَ الحَيا فكأنَّها عُشَراءُ
The barren earth was impregnated by him and watered
The paths of life, as if it had turned fertile.
والصّبْرُ في رَيْعانِ كُلِّ رَزيَّةٍ
تَقِصُ الجَوانِحَ عَزْمَةٌ بَزْلاءُ
Patience in the bloom of every calamity
Is an unbending resolve that tries souls.
ولِكُلِّ نَفْسٍ مَصْرَعٌ لا تُمْتَطَى
إلا إلَيهِ الآلَةُ الحَدْباءُ
Each soul has an inescapable fate
To which the twisting threads lead inevitably.
للِّهِ ما اعتْتَنَقَ الثَّرى من سُؤْدَدٍ
شَهِدَتْ بهِ أُكْرومَةٌ وحَياءُ
By God, how excellent is he whom the earth embraced,
Witnessed to by modesty and bashfulness!
وشَمائِلٍ رقَّتْ كَما خَطَرتْ على
زَهرِ الرَّبيعِ رُوَيْحَةٌ سَجواءُ
Of such charm that memories of him
Pass gently as the breath of spring in flower.
عَطِرَتْ بهِ الأرضُ الفَضاءُ كأنَّما
نُشِرَتْ علَيها الرَّوضَةُ الغنَّاءُ
The earth was scented by him as though
The garden's blossoms were scattered over it.
لا زال يَنْضَحُ قبْرَهُ دَمُ قارِحٍ
يَحْبو لدَيْهِ وديمَةٌ وَطْفاءُ
His grave continues to flow with the blood of enemies
Who cower before it, while sorrows ebb and flow.
والبَرْقُ يختلِسُ الوَميضَ كأنّهُ
بَلْقاءُ تَمْرَحُ حَولَها الأفْلاءُ
Lightning steals a glimpse as though it were
A young gazelle frolicking with her companions.
جَرَّ النَّسيمُ بهِ فُضولَ عِطافِهِ
وبَكَتْ عَلَيْهِ شَجْوَها الأنواءُ
The breeze draws along whiffs of his perfume,
While the gales cry over him.
