فَدَيناكَ لَوَ اِنَّ الرَدى قَبِلَ الفِدا

بِكُلِّ نَفيسٍ بِالنَفائِسُ يُفتَدى

We would redeem you if death accepted ransom

We would have ransomed you, had Destruction accepted a ransom,

With every precious soul or precious treasure

With every precious thing, for by the precious are precious souls redeemed.

أَبى المَوتُ إِلّا أَن يَنالَكَ سَهمُهُ

وَأَلّا يَرى شَملَ السَخاءِ مُبَدَّدا

Death refused but to smite you with its arrow

But Death refused all else except that its arrow must reach you,

And not to see the glory of generosity shattered

And refused to leave the gathering of generosity unscattered.

فَأَقدَمَ لا يَبغي سِواك وَكُلَّما

دَرى أَنَّهُ يَبغي عَظيماً تَشَدَّدا

So it marched, desiring none but you, and whenever

So it advanced, seeking none but you, and whenever

It knew it wanted a great one, it grew resolute

It realized it was seeking a great figure, it intensified its assault.

دَهاكَ الرَدى لَكِن عَلى حينِ فَجأَةٍ

فَتَبَّت يَداهُ غادِرٌ صَرَعَ النَدى

Fate took you suddenly in an instant

Destruction struck you, but it came all of a sudden;

A traitor's hands felled the pillar

Perish its hands! A traitor that struck down Generosity itself.

دَهاك وَلَم يُشفِق عَلى الصِبيَةِ الأُلى

تَرَكتُهُم يَبكونَ مَثنى وَمَوحَدا

It took you and had no mercy on the bereft children

It struck you and showed no pity for the young children whom

It left them weeping, two by two, one by one

You left behind, weeping together and alone.

فَقَدت وَأَوجَدتَ الأَسى في قُلوبِنا

أَسىً كادَ لَولا لدَمعِ أَن يَتَوَقَّدا

You are gone but caused anguish in our hearts

You were lost, and you created sorrow in our hearts,

An anguish that nearly ignited, if not for tears' flow

A sorrow that almost—were it not for tears—would have burst into flame.

بَكَيناكَ حَتّى كادَ يَبكي لَنا الصَفا

وَحَتّى بَكَت مِمّا بَكَينا لَهُ العِدى

We wept for you until the mountain almost wept for us

We wept for you until the solid rock almost wept for us,

And until, from our weeping, even enemies wept

And until the enemies wept because of our weeping for him.

وَما كادَ يَرقى الدَمعُ حَتّى جَرى بِهِ

غَدٌ عِندَما يا لَيتَنا لَم نَرَ غَدا

Scarcely had tears wet our eyes before they flowed

Scarcely had the tears dried when they flowed again

Tomorrow when - would we had never seen tomorrow!

For a tomorrow—oh, would that we had never seen that tomorrow!

وَقَضَت طِفلَةٌ تَحكي المَلاكَ طَهارَةً

وَأَلحَقَها المَوتُ الزُؤامُ بِمَن عَدا

A young girl pure as angels perished

For a young girl passed away, resembling an angel in purity,

And death joined her to those gone before

And violent death joined her with the one who passed before.

لَقَد ظَعِنَت تَبغي لُقاكَ كَأَنَّما

ضَربتَ لَها قَبلَ التَفَرُّقِ مَوعِدا

She pined, seeking to meet you, as if

She departed seeking to meet you, as if

You had set, before parting, a time you'd see each other

You had made an appointment with her before parting.

كَأَنَّ لَها نَذراً أَرادَت قَضائَهُ

كَأَنَّكَ أَنتَ الصَوتُ جاوَبَهُ الصَدى

As if she had a vow she wanted to fulfill

As if she had a vow she wished to fulfill;

As if you were the voice, the echo answered back

As if you were the voice and the echo answered it.

مَشَت في طَريقٍ قَد مَشى فيهِ بَعدَها

فَتاكَ الَّذي أَعدَدتَ مِنهُ المُهَنَّدا

She walked a path you too had walked

She walked a path which, after her, was walked by

To meet you, whom you had prepared to excel

Your son, whom you had tempered like a fine sword.

فَتىً طابَ أَخلاقا وَطابَ مَحامِداً

وَطابَ فُؤاداً مِثلَما طابَ مَحتَدا

A lad of fine character and fine qualities

A youth of good character and good praiseworthy deeds,

Of a heart as sweet as his face that smiled

Good of heart just as he was good of lineage.

فَتىً كانَ مِثلَ الغُصنِ في عُنفُوانِهِ

فَلِلَّهِ ذاكَ الغُصنُ كَيفَ تَأَوَّدا

A lad who was like a branch in its prime

A youth who was like a branch in his prime—

By God! How that branch was brought down!

So to God belongs that branch, how quickly it withered!

تَعَوَّدَ أَن يَلقاكَ في كُلِّ بُكرَةٍ

فَكانَ قَبيحَ تُركٍ ما قَد تَعَوَّدا

He grew used to seeing you each morn

He was accustomed to meeting you every morning,

Ugly then was the leaving you had made habitual

And it would have been an ugly breach to abandon his custom.

فُجِعنا بِهِ كَالبَدرِ عِندَ تَمامِهِ

وَلَم نَرَ بَدراً قَبلَهُ الأَرضَ وُسِّدا

We were bereaved of him, like the full moon

We were bereaved of him like the full moon at its completion,

Never before had we seen the earth filled with moonlight

And never before have we seen a full moon pillowed upon the earth.

فَلَم يَبقَ طَرفٌ لَم يَسِل دَمعُهُ دَماً

وَلَم يَبقَ قَلبٌ في المَلا ما تَصَعَّدا

No eye remained whose tears did not flow blood

Not an eye remained that did not shed its tears as blood,

No heart in the throng did not blaze up

And not a heart remained in the assembly that did not heave in grief.

كَوارِثٌ لَو نابَت جِبالاً شَواهِقاً

لَخَرَّت لَها تِلكَ الشَواهِقُ سُجَّدا

Disasters that, had they turned to towering mountains,

Disasters, which if they had befallen towering mountains,

Those peaks would have bowed down prostrate before them

Those towering peaks would have collapsed before them in prostration.

وَلَو اِنَّها في جامِدٍ صارَ سائِلاً

وَلَو اِنَّها في سائِلٍ صارَ جامِدا

Had they struck inanimate matter, it would have turned liquid

And if they befell a solid object, it would become liquid,

Had they struck liquid, it would have turned solid

And if they befell a liquid, it would become solid.

أَفَهمي إِنَّ الصَبرَ أَليَقُ بَِلفَتى

وَلا سِيَّما مَن كانَ مِثلَكَ سَيِّدا

Understand, my friend, that patience best suits a hero

O Fahmi, indeed patience is more befitting of a man,

Especially one, like you, who is master

Especially one who was, like you, a master.

فَكُن قُدوَةً لِلصابِرينَ فَإِنَّما

بِمِثلِكَ في دَفعِ المُلِمّاتِ يُقتَدى

Be an example for those who are patient -

So be a role model for the patient, for indeed,

It is by your like, in repelling afflictions, examples are set

By the likes of you, in the repelling of calamities, one is guided.

لَعَمرُكَ ما الأَحزانُ تَنفَعُ رَبَّها

فَيَجمُلُ بِالمَحزونِ أَن يَتَجَلَّدا

By your life! Sorrow avails not its lord

By your life, sorrows do not benefit their owner,

So it befits the sorrowful to show forbearance

So it is beautiful for the sorrowful to endure with fortitude.

فَما وُجِدَ الإِنسانُ إِلّا لِيُفقَدا

وَما فُقِدَ الإِنسانُ إِلّا لِيوجَدا

Man was not created but to be lost one day

For man was not found except to be lost,

And was not lost but to be found one day

And man was not lost except to be found.

وَما أَحَدٌ تَنجو مِنَ المَوتِ نَفسُهُ

وَلَو اِنَّهُ فَوقَ السَماكينِ أُصعِدا

No soul escapes death,

And no one saves his soul from death,

Even were it above the highest Heaven ascended

Even if he were ascended above the highest stars.

فَلا يَحزَنِ الباكي وَلا تَشمَتِ العِدا

فَكُلُّ اِمرِئٍ ياصاحِ غايَتُهُ الرَدى

So let not the weeping grieve, nor enemies gloat

So let not the weeper grieve, nor the enemies rejoice,

For every person, friend, ends in dust

For every person, O friend, their ultimate end is Destruction.