حضَنَتْهُ قبل فوتِ الأَجَلِ

قوةُ العلمِ ولطفُ العملِ

He embraced him before the arrival of death

The power of knowledge and the gentleness of deed

ويح دائَيه فكلٌ قاتلٌ

عِلةُ الجسم وداءُ الملل

Woe to his two illnesses, each a killer

The ailment of the body and the sickness of boredom

أقسِمِ الدُّورَ له فوق الرُّبى

وافتَتِح أبوابَها للشمألِ

I swear by the abodes above the burial ground

And unlock their doors to the north wind

واسقِهِ الصّحَّةَ في إبريقها

رشفةً آناً وجرعاتٍ تلي

Give him health in her pitcher

Sips now and doses followed

وخُذِ الطبَّ غِياثاً وهُدىً

حكمة اليومِ وعلمَ الأُوَلِ

And take medicine as salvation and guidance

The wisdom of today and knowledge of the old

أنا لا أعرِفُ إنجيلاً لَهُ

غَيرَ إِنجيلِ الحَنانِ المُنَزلِ

I know no gospel for him

Other than the gospel of merciful revelation

داوِه بالفنّ والحسنى معاً

تُحِيه بالحقّ أو بالأمَلِ

Heal him with art and beauty together

Revive him with truth or hope

قَسوَةُ المِبْضَعِ لطفٌ لا أذىً

إن تلا المبضعَ لُطفُ الأنمُلِ

The harshness of the lancet is gentleness, not harm

If the lancet is preceded by the gentleness of fingers

ما أرى الحقَّ لآسٍ وحدَهُ

إنما المرأةُ صِنو الرَّجُل

I do not see truth in grief alone

But woman is the partner of man

أيها البانِي إلى أَمجادِهِ

إِبتَنِ الرحمةَ قبلَ المنزِلِ

O builder toward his glories

Build mercy before the edifice

سأَلَتْنِي جارَتي عَنْ عِلَّتي

عِلَّتي يا جارتي من جَبَلي

My neighbor asked about my illness

My illness, O neighbor, is my nature

إِبتلاه الداء في أخلاقِهِ

فهو ماضٍ للرَّدى في مَهَلِ

Disease has tested his morals

So he proceeds to ruin in respite

هذِهِ الروعةُ في مظهره

مثلُها في الداء لمعُ المُقَلِ

This radiance in his appearance

Its like in illness is the gleam of the sickle

هذه الزَّهرةُ فيه دمُهُ

وهو في السلّ نذيرُ الأجلِ

This flower in him is his blood

And he in consumption is a messenger of death

ليتَه والسلّ داءٌ قاتِلٌ

لم يُصَب بعدُ بداءٍ أَقتلِ

Would that he and consumption were a deadly disease

He had not yet been struck with a more fatal disease

خَلَقَ الساسةُ فيه علّةً

حِينَ داءُ الحكم أَشقى العِلَلِ

The politicians created in him an illness

When the disease of governance is the most wretched of diseases

حَبَّذا دولته لو لم تكن

حينَ تُنمَى من بناتِ الدُّوَلِ

How good his state would be had it not been

When it grew from the daughters of states

يا أُساةَ القومِ داووا أُمَّةً

طُعِنَت لمّا استوت في المقتَلِ

O pity of the people, treat a nation

That was pierced when it attained the slain

عندكم للسّلّ مستشفى فهل

عندَكُمْ للخُلُقِ المبتذَلِ

You have for consumption a hospital, but do you

Have one for degraded morals?

راهباتُ الديرِ أقبلنَ فقُمْ

نلتقِ الرحمةَ جاءَت من علِ

The nuns of the monastery came, so stand

We meet mercy that came from above

طُفْنَ بالعاني فأبصرتُ يداً

نُزِهت مثل الندى عن زغلِ

They circled the sufferer, and I saw a hand

Purified like dew from filth

جسّت العلةَ ثم ارتجعت

فهي أشهى ما ترى للقبلِ

They examined the illness, then drew back

For it is the most delicious that one can kiss

أيها الآسي إذا جلتَ هنا

تبذل الفنّ وتأسو مَنْ بلي

O you who suffer, when you come here

Art expends itself and those who endure misery despair

وتعهّدتَ ِشباباً ناضراً

مالَ كالزهرة وقتَ الطَفَلِ

You have undertaken exuberant youth

Inclined like the flower at childhood

أُذْكُرِ الحقلَ الذي أَنبتَّهُ

كم زَهاه الزهرُ لَوْ لَمْ يذبُلِ

Remember the field you cultivated

How plentifully it bloomed with flowers before they withered

أَنتَ تبني أُمةً مِنْ أمّةِ

إِبنِ لليومِ وللمستقبلِ

You build a nation from a nation

Build for today and the future