خفقان برق وارتجاف جنان

هذا نعيّك طاف في لبنانِ

Flashes of lightning and trembling of bliss -

This is your elegy circulating in Lebanon.

السلك يرجف والقلوب خوافق

فالخافقان عليك يرتجفانِ

The wire trembles and hearts are apprehensive,

So the fluttering hearts for you tremble.

بَكَرَ النعيّ مروِّعاً بمحمد

مُهَجَ العداةِ وأنفُسَ الخلاّنِ

The elegy came early, terrifying with Muhammad,

Inciting the enemies and souls of the wicked.

يا يومَه ما فيك غيرُ لواعج

بين الضلوع لها لظى النيرانِ

O his day! In you there is nothing but calamities

Among the ribs, having the burning of fire.

يا يومَه ما فيك غيرُ مدامع

تذري وغيرُ تلهّف وحنانِ

O his day! In you there is nothing but tears

Flowing, and nothing but yearning and affection.

طفنا به ويدٌ تعالج أدمعاً

ويدٌ لقلب دائم الخفقانِ

We have been affectionate with him, a hand that wipes tears

And a hand for a heart constantly fluttering.

حتى إذا سكن الوجيف وأمسكت

حيناً مدامعنا عن التهتانِ

Until when the funeral was over and our tears

Ceased for a while from wandering astray,

وتخشّعت منّا النفوسُ وراعها

ما في المنَّية من رهيب الشانِ

And our souls became submissive, alarmed by

What there is in death of the awe of glory.

وثبت إلى المُقَل القلوبُ تشوّقاً

وغدت ترفّ عليه بالأجفانِ

And hearts leaned towards the departed, yearning

And they started to flutter over him with the eyelids.

من قال يوماً قبل يومِ محمدٍ

إنّ القلوب مكانُها العينانِ

Who said one day before Muhammad’s day

That hearts belong in the eyes?

يا مُفنيَ الصبرَ الجميلَ لو أنه

يَفْنَى لعيك ولا تكون الفاني

O you who destroyed beautiful patience, if only

It would be destroyed without you being the destroyer.

يا مُصعِدَ الزفرات لو أصعدتها

ووَفَتْ حياتَك حسرةُ اللّهفانِ

O you who made sighs ascend, if only you made them ascend

And the longing of the yearners accompanied your life.

يا مؤنسَ المَوتى بمُدرجة الفنا

آنستَهم يا موحشَ الأوطانِ

O companion of the dead in the station of annihilation

You made them intimate, O desolate one of homelands.

أمسيتَ حيث عَدَتْك أسبابُ المنى

ولقد تكون وأنت لهفُ أماني

You have become where the reasons of death took you

And indeed you can become while you are yearning for wishes

وغياثُ محتاد وموئلُ بائس

ونصير مفتقرٍ وملجأ عانِ

And aid of the distressed, and refuge of the miserable

And supporter of the needy, and shelter of the helpless.

يا نِعْمَِ هاتيك الخلال حديثُها

وقضيتَ وهي حديث كلِّ لسانِ

O excellent, those attributes whose conversation -

And you passed away while it is the conversation of every tongue.

لو كفًّنوك بها غَنِتَ بطِيبها

عن راتعات الطيب في الأكفانِ

If only we sufficed you with it, you would have sung with its fragrance

Without the burial spices in the shrouds.

ولقد ذكرتك والحوادث جمَّة

والحربُ ملءُ العين والآذانِ

I remembered you while calamities were numerous

And war filling the eye and ear,

والموتُ تقذفه البنادقُ والثَرى

سال النجيع عليه أحمرَ قاني

And death being flung by rifles while blood

Of the slain flowed over it intensely red.

والأرضُ واجفة يكاد عظيم ما

تلقاه يُذهلها عن الدًّوَرانِ

And the earth convulsing, about to be overwhelmed by the great

Amount it receives, losing its rotation.

والناس بين مكذِّب ومصدِّق

نبأَ السلام ومننتهى العُدوانِ

And people between deniers and verifiers

Of the news of peace and the utmost aggression.

فحمدتُ رأيَك عاقلاً متحفِّظاً

تتتبَّعُ البرهانَ بالبرهانِ

So I praised your rational opinion, cautious,

Pursuing evidence with evidence.

تُدلي بحجّة عالمِ لا مُدَّعٍ

سفهاً ولا متصَّنِّعَ العرفانِ

Inferring with the proof of a scholar, not a pretender

Out of ignorance, nor feigning mystic knowledge.

أَدبُ المُناظر في الجدال وحُك

مة الشيخ الحليم بحضرة الشبّانِ

The etiquette of debate in argument, and the wisdom

Of the forbearing elder in the presence of youth.

الحربُ علمٌ والشجاعةُ خلَّة

فالرأي قبل شجاعة الشجعانِ

War is a science, and courage a trait,

So opinion before the courage of the courageous.

أَمحمدٌ لا الماضياتُ رواجعٌ

يوماً ولا المستقبلاتُ دوانِ

Is Muhammad not to be turned back by past days

Nor future days to cease?

رأيي كرأيك في الزمان وأهله

والناسُ فوضى والحياة أمانِ

My opinion is as your opinion of the time and its people,

While people are chaos and life is safe.

عبثاً أحاول أن أبثّك لوعتي

فعواطفي غلبت على إمكاني

In vain I try to convey my sorrow to you

For my emotions have overcome my ability.

لا عِلمَ لي في الغامضات وكنهها

فأقول بالرحمات والعفرانِ

I have no knowledge of the mysteries and their essence

So I speak of mercies and pardon.

حسبي عزاءً أنني لك ذاكرٌ

والقلب قلبي والبيان بياني

It is enough of consolation for me that I remember you

While my heart is my heart and my expression my expression.