يَقُولونَ صَبراً لا سَبيلَ إِلى الصَبرِ
سَأَبكي وَأَبكي ما تَطاوَل مِن عُمري
They say to me "Patience!" but there is no path to patience;
I shall weep, and continue to weep, for as long as my life endures.
نَرى زُهرَها في مأتمٍ كُلَّ لَيلَةٍ
يُخَمّشنَ لَهَفاً وَسطَهُ صَفحَةَ البَدرِ
We see the bright beauties of the household in mourning every night,
Scratching, in their anguish, faces fair as the full moon.
يَنُحنَ عَلى نَجمَين أَثكَلنَ ذا وَذا
وَيا صَبرُ ما لِلقَلبِ في الصَبر مِن عُذرِ
They wail for two fallen stars, having lost this one and that;
O Patience! My heart finds no excuse to embrace you.
مَدى الدهر فَليَبكِ الغَمام مُصابَهُ
بِصنوَيهِ يُعذَر في البُكاءِ مَدى الدهرِ
Let the clouds weep for this calamity throughout all time,
Mourning its kin, it is justified in weeping forever.
بِعَينِ سَحابٍ وَاِكِفٍ قَطر دَمعها
عَلى كُلّ قَبرٍ حَلَّ فيهِ أَخو القَطرِ
With the eye of a cloud pouring forth its tearful rain,
Upon every grave where a brother of the rain has come to rest.
وَبرقٌ ذَكيُّ النارِ حَتّى كَأَنَّما
يُسَعَّرُ مِمّا في فُؤادي مِنَ الجَمرِ
And lightning of blazing fire, flashing as though
It is kindled by the burning embers within my heart.
هَوى الكَوكَبانِ الفَتحُ ثُمَّ شَقيقُهُ
يَزيدُ فَهَل بَعدَ الكَواكِب مِن صَبرِ
Two stars have fallen: Al-Fath, and then his brother,
Yazid; can there be any patience after the stars are gone?
أَفَتحٌ لَقَد فَتَّحتَ لي بابَ رَحمَةٍ
كَما بِيَزيدِ اللَهُ قَد زادَ في أَجري
O Fath, you have indeed opened a gate of mercy for me,
Just as through Yazid, God has increased my reward in grief.
هَوى بِكُما المِقدارُ عَنّي وَلَم أَمُت
وَأدعى وَفيّا قَد نَكَصتُ إِلى الغَدرِ
Fate struck you down away from me, yet I did not die;
They call me loyal, yet I have retreated into treachery by surviving.
تَوَلَيتُما وَالسنُّ بَعدُ صَغيرَةٌ
وَلَم تَلبثِ الأَيّامُ أَن صَغَّرت قَدري
You departed while your years were still but few,
And the days wasted no time in diminishing my worth.
تَوَلَيتُما حينَ اِنتَهَت بِكُما العُلى
إِلى غايَةٍ كُلٌّ إِلى غايَةٍ يَجري
You departed just as glory reached its summit in you,
Running toward a destiny to which all must eventually run.
فَلَو عُدتَما لاخترتُما العودَ في الثَرى
إِذا أَنتُما أَبصَرتُمانيَ في الأَسرِ
If you were to return, you would choose the grave once more,
If your eyes were to fall upon me in these chains.
يُعيدُ عَلى سَمعي الحَديدُ نَشيدَهُ
ثَقيلاً فَتَبكي العَينُ بالجسّ وَالنَقرِ
The iron shackles repeat their heavy anthem in my ears,
A mournful sound that moves the eye to weep at every clink.
مَعي الأَخَوات الهالِكات عَلَيكُما
وَأمّكما الثَكلى المُضَرّمة الصَدرِ
With me are your sisters, perishing in grief for you,
And your bereaved mother, her heart set ablaze with sorrow.
تُذَلِلُها الذِكرى فَتَفزَعُ لِلبُكا
وَتَصبر في الأَحيان شُحّاً عَلى الأَجرِ
Memory subdues her, driving her to sudden tears,
Yet sometimes she endures, coveting God's reward for patience.
فَتَبكي بِدَمعٍ لَيسَ للقطرِ مِثلُهُ
وَتَزجُرُها التَقوى فَتُصغي إِلى الزَجرِ
She weeps with tears no rain shower could ever match,
Until piety restrains her, and she heeds its stern command.
أَبا خالِدٍ أَورَثتَني البَثَّ خالِداً
أَبا النَصرِ مُذ وُدّعتَ وَدَّعني نَصري
O Abu Khalid, you have bequeathed me eternal sorrow,
O Abu Nasr, since you departed, all victory has departed from me.
وَقَبلكُما ما أَودَعَ القَلبَ حَسرَةً
تُجَدّدُ طولَ الدَهرِ ثكلُ أَبي عَمرِو
And before you both, the event that filled my heart with anguish—
Renewing my grief throughout time—was the loss of Abu Amr.
