سلوا هل تروا خلقا وإن عز باقيا

وهل تعلموا دون المنية واقيا

Ask if they have seen a creature remain alive forever,

Or if they know of anyone immune from death.

فهيهات منا سالم وابن سالم

من الموت لو أمسى على النجم راقيا

Far from us, O Salim and son of Salim,

To escape death even if we climbed to the highest star.

يعيش الفتى ما عاش لا بد ساعة

يلاقي المنايا القاطعات الأمانيا

The young man lives only as long as he is destined,

For he will inevitably meet his death which severs all hopes.

فيا عجباً فإن يعزيه مثله

على مثله فانٍ ويجمع فانيا

How strange that one like him consoles another,

When both are doomed to fade and perish.

ألا إننا موتى وأبناء مثلها

وآباء أموات كهولا وناشيا

Behold, we are already dead, children of death itself,

With deceased fathers, elders and youth alike.

فحظ ذليل القوم في قسمة الردى

كحظ الذي في القوم أصبح عاتيا

The lot of the wretched among people in the distribution of ruin

Is like one who turned a rebel among his people.

وكأس الذي يسقى به كل مرشد

سقته المنايا كل من كان غاويا

The cup given to every misguided one to drink

Has been served by death to all who went astray.

وآلة حدباء تحمل أورعا

تحمل حمال الثأي والمساويا

The lame she-camel carries the most pious,

Bearing the loads of good and evil alike.

وكم ذي ثراء صار في هامد الثرى

ويرحل عنها أصغر الكف عاريا

How many men of wealth now lie in barren soil,

Leaving it naked, without even a palmful.

ألا إنما الدنيا رياض مريعة

ونحن سوام والرجا صار راعيا

Know that the world is but fragrant meadows,

While we are cattle and hope has become our herder.

نقطف بالآمال أكمام زهرها

ونورد غدرانا بغدر طوافيا

We pluck the sleeves of its flowers with our hopes,

And water it with our treachery, endlessly roaming.

ونرتاع إلا للجنائز إن غدت

تمزق منا النائحات الأماقيا

We are startled only by dirges, when they turn

Our keen mourners to tear us apart.

وَإِن دُفن الميت الذي كان فوقها

غدا كلنا في الرعي للموت ناسيا

Though the deceased who walked upon it is buried,

Tomorrow we will all forget, grazing obliviously to our death.

وهيهات أن أنسى غريباً وبنته

وقد أوطنا مني الحشا والاناسيا

Far from me to forget a stranger and his daughter,

Who made me love them and treat them as family.

هما سيدا الابدال لم تلق منهما

على الذكر لو حل العقالين ساهيا

They were leaders of the righteous, from whom

Even when my mind wandered, remembrance did not.

هما قتلا حر النهار وأحييا

بصوم وإخلاص القيام الدياجيا

They were killed in the heat of the day, and revived

Through devout vigil and prayers before dawn.

غريب غريب وهي شكل غريبة

بدار بها حسبي تقي وأياديا

A stranger, a stranger - and she was strangely beautiful,

In a land where I found my people and helping hands.

فلا بجميل الفعل خلق مخلد

هما بقيا ما دام ثهلان باقيا

By their virtuous deeds, not favors, were they immortalized -

As long as two mourners remain, they shall endure.

ولكن لنا بالمصطفى أي أسوة

تقضي وذي الدنيا تراها كما هيا

But for me the Prophet is the perfect example,

However the world appears, this I see clear.

ولو كان يجدينا البكا ردّ ما مضى

لعشنا ومنا الكل ما عاش باكيا

If weeping could return the departed, we would live

And none would die, remaining tearful forever.

ولكننا ركب فمنا مقدم

ومنا أخير يتبع الأثر قافيا

But some of us advance, and some follow behind,

Each destined to meet the fate written for him.

ولا بد من ملقىً يكون لنا غدا

عسى يحسن اللَه الكريم التلاقيا

Inevitably we shall find ourselves tomorrow

In a place of meeting, may God make it pleasant.

سقى مطلع السرطان قبريهما معا

عزالي محلول النطاقين هاميا

The new moon of Cancer watered their twin graves,

While I lamented, my companionship severed.

وزارتهما من رأفة اللَه رحمة

رقت بهما في الخلد أعلى مراقيا

By God's mercy they were comforted,

To the highest places in eternity they ascended.

وصلى إله العرش لطفاً عليهما

وأحسن في الباقي العزا والتعازيا

May the Lord of the Throne bless them,

And grant them the finest companionship in the hereafter.