تروح المنايا في البرايا وتغتدي

وتعدل في أحكامها ليس تعتدي

Deaths go among all creatures at evening and at morn,

and are just in their judgments, committing no wrong.

فما سابق إِلا ويتلوه لاحق

فآخرنا منا بأولاه مقتدي

No one goes before but another follows after;

the last of us takes the first as his guide.

وما جازع منا من الموت سالم

وما هارب منا لنهج بمهتد

No one among us who quails before death is safe,

nor does any fugitive among us find a path of escape.

وما هذه الدنيا مسرمدة لنا

وما أحد منا بها بمسرمد

This world is not everlasting for us,

nor is anyone among us everlasting within it.

يموت غني القوم موتة مدقع

ويدفن محروم المنى دفن مرتد

The rich man of his people dies a pauper’s death,

and, bereft of his desires, is buried wrapped in his shroud.

فإن ألجأتك الحادثات إِلى الأَسى

عزاء وصبراً يا سعيد بن أحمد

So if calamities drive you into grief,

take consolation and be patient, O Saʿīd ibn Aḥmad.

فما مزيد عنه تدافع يومه

وليس لنا في دفعنا اليوم من يد

You cannot ward his day away from Mazīd,

nor have we any power today to drive it back.

ولو أنه يجدي البكاء بكيته

ولكن لا يجدي البكاء فيحمد

Had weeping availed, I would have wept for him;

but weeping is no help, and so earns no praise.

ففارقته حزناً بقلب معذب

وأرمدت طرفاً بالبكا غير أرمد

I parted from him sorrowing, my heart tormented,

and with my tears inflamed an eye that had not been sore.

لنا يا سعيد فيك آمال صادق

لإبلاغ مأمول وعصمة مسند

In you, O Saʿīd, lie the hopes of a sincere man:

the attainment of what is hoped for, and the protection of one who relies on you.

ورفقاً بأيتام تقلدت أمرهم

وحسناً لهم لو كُنت غير المقلد

Be gentle with the orphans whose care you have assumed,

and be kind to them, even had you not been so charged.

فأنت أَبوهم بعد موت أَبيهم

فجدد لهم وصل النعيم المرغد

For you are their father after their father’s death;

renew for them the continuance of abundant comfort.

وكل صديق صادق في وداده

فصل حبله بالوصل منك وجدد

And every true friend, sincere in his affection—

maintain your bond with him through closeness, and renew it.

فلا خير في من عاش فرداً بنفسه

وإِن كان ذا صنع من الفضل مفرد

There is no good in one who lives alone for himself,

even if he stands unrivalled in works of virtue.

أَعزيك في ميت وَإني لحزنه

حقيق بأَنواء العزاء المؤبد

I console you for one who died, though in my grief for him

I myself need every kind of enduring consolation.

هنيئاً لميت في الحياة موفق

ويرجى له فضل النعيم المخلد

Blessed is the dead man who was granted success in life,

and for whom the bounty of everlasting bliss may be hoped.