وَ لَقَدْ جهلتُ مِن البُكا معناهُ

حتَّى تَفَتَّقَ خاطري فبكاهُ

I did not know the meaning of crying

Until my innermost thoughts cried for him

وَ تحدَّرتُ أنداءُ رُوحي إثْرَه

وَاشَّعَّبتْ في مُهْجَتِي ذِكراهُ

The echoes of my soul flowed after him

And his memory branched out in my mind

وَ غرقتُ في دَمعِ الهواجِسِ وَ الأسى

وَمضيتُ كالخَرِفِ المُضَيِّعِ فاهُ

I drowned in the tears of worries and sorrow

And went on like a lost lamb

وَ فَررتُ مِن قَوسِ المَنَايا بِالنَّوى

حتَّى رَمانِي سَهمُها ينعاهُ

I fled from the bow of death with purpose

Until its arrow hit me, crying out to him

وَ وَجدتُ في جُرمِ الجوانِحِ لوعة ً

مِن وَجدِ حُزنِي , مِن جَنَى مَنآهُ

I found in the crime of my soul a pain

From the passion of my grief, from the harvest of his groan

وَ سَقِمْتُ من صبرِ يعضُّ حَشاشتي

فالصبرُ وَحشٌ وَ البُكا نَاباهُ

And I grew sick from a patience that gnaws my gentleness

For patience is desolate and crying is its remedy

أوَّاهُ يا أبتاهُ بعثرَنِي الرَّدى

إبَّانَ موتِكَ يا أبِي أوَّاهُ

Oh my father, the calamity scattered me

When you died, oh my father

سَكنَ الشَّقاءُ بِداخِلي , وَ احتَلَّني

مَنْ لِي بِبُعدِكَ أَشتهِي لُقياهُ ؟

Misery settled inside me, and possessed me

Who can I have after you that I wish to meet?

مَنْ لِي إذا جَنَّ الدُّجَى يا وَالدي

يَسقي فؤادي مِن نَدى نجواهُ ؟

Who can I have, my father, when night falls

To water my heart with the dew of his intimacy?

مَن لِي بِمِثلِكَ لو نَثرتُ بِكَفِّهِ

رُوحي , فَفَاضَتْ رَحْمَةً كَفَّاهُ ؟

Who can I have like you, if I spilled in his palm

My soul, overflowing with mercy to suffice him?

وَ مَنِ الذي لو أحتويِهِ بأَضلُعي

فَاغْرَورَقَتْ بِدُموعِهِ عَيناهُ ؟

And who, if I embraced, would shed tears

From his eyes out of my own passion?

أَو مَنْ عَلَى قَدَمَيهِ أسكبُ لَهْفَتِي

قُبلاً تُسكِّنُ خَافِقي .. أبتاهُ ؟

Or at whose feet can I pour my fervor

Kissing to quiet my fluttering, oh father?

يا أنتَ يَاوحْيَ السَّمَاء بِناظِري

أَوَلَسْتَ مَنْ نَشَرَ السَّنَا بدُعاهُ ؟

You, o vision of heaven in my eyes

Were you not the one who spread goodness with his prayer?

أَولستَ مَنْ رَوَّى الدٌّنَى فِي حَاضِري

وَرَجوتُ غيثَكَ أبتغي سُقياهُ ؟

Were you not the one who watered the world in my presence

And I hoped for your rain, seeking its watering?

أَفديكَ أنتَ أَبِي أَنَا لَولا الرَّدَى

لَولا القضاءُ فَأنتَ مَنْ أَهواهُ

I ransom you, you are my father, if not for fate

And destiny ‒ you are the one I loved

أَنتَ الذي أنعشتَ روحي كُلمَا

آنستَ قلبي نازعًا شكواهُ

You are the one who revived my soul whenever

You cheered my heart, relieving its complaints

وَ مضيتُ بعدَ الفقدِ فِي عُمري سُدىً

عَبداً قَلَى بعدَ الوَفا مولاهُ

After the loss, I went on pointlessly in my life

A slave burned after the loyalty of his Master

وَ خَلوتُ وحدي أمتطي بُؤساً غَدَا

كَطلاسمٍ وَ حُلُولُها مَعناهُ

I was left alone, riding misery in the morning

Like spells and their resolution is its meaning

وَ تَساقطتْ في شَقوتي مِزَعُ الضَّنا

وَتبخَّرَتْ في حَسرتِي دُنياهُ

The crops of sorrow fell upon my misery

And the world evaporated in my grief

مَا تاهَ عَنْ ذِكراكَ نبضٌ في دَمي

أوغابَ صوتُكَ يا أبِي وَ صَداهُ

No pulse in my blood forgot your memory

Or did your voice, oh father, and its echo fade

وَ نَسيتُ مَاقد ماتَ مِن زَمَنِ الغِنَى

وَنَسيتُ أنْ أَنسى الذي أغناهُ

I forgot what died in the time of luxury

And forgot to forget the one who made me wealthy

وَ لَقيتُ في نَفسي شَظايا سَلوةٍ

وسَلمتُ من سَقمي وَ عِشتُ قَذاهُ

And I found in myself fragments of serenity

And I recovered from my illness and lived its filth

وَ بكيتُ من ذِكرى أحاديثٍ مضتْ

وَحَننتُ لَكنْ , هلْ عَسى ؟ وَيلاهُ !

I cried from the memory of conversations past

And I wished, oh if only! But alas!

مَا زِلتَ يَا أبتاهُ فِي عَيني سَنَا

لا زلتَ نبضَ تَشَوُّقِي وَ رَجاهُ

You are still, my father, youth in my eye

You are still the pulse of my longing and hope

مَا كُنتُ أعلمُ يا أبِي أَنِّي إِذا

فارقتُ " عُمري " غَابَ مَنْ وَاساهُ

I did not know, my father, that when

I lost “my life,” the one who consoled it was gone

إِنِّي زَهدتُ الحرفَ يُشْبهَهُ العَمَى

لولاهُ ما انتفضتْ يَدي لولاهُ

I care little for words resembling blindness

If not for it, my hand would not have moved

وَ زَهدتُ مِن بَوحٍ يُشاكلُهُ العَنَا

بعدَ الذي بالأَمْنِ قدْ سَاوَاهُ

And I care little for a revelation resembling misery

After the one who equaled it in safety

وَ نَشرتُ شِعرِي هائِماً في ذَاتِهِ

وَ تَركتُ فِكْرِي ساهِماً يَرْعَاهُ

I released my poetry wandering in itself

And I left my thoughts roaming free to graze

وَ نَظمتُ مِن وَجدي لَفائِحَ لَوعَتي

فَتَبَعْثرتْ في هَدأتِي ذِكْرَاهُ

And I composed from my passion poems of my burning pain

So his memory was scattered in my stillness

سَكَنَ الثَّرى وَ سَكَنْتُ لكنْ فَوقَهُ

لَيتَ الذي أخْفَاه قد نَجَّاهُ

The earth is still and I am still above it

If only the one it hid, it had saved

رُحماكَ ربِّي هَبْ لَهُ نِعْمَ الحِمَى

جَناتِ عَدْنٍ بِالجَزَا مَثواهُ

May God have mercy on him, grant him the best refuge

The gardens of Eden as his dwelling

أَغْدِقْ عَلَى أَحنائِهِ فيضَ الرِّضا

وَ اسقِ الثَّرى , سُقياكَ يَا اللهُ

Rain upon his soul the abundance of contentment

And quench the earth ‒ may You water him, O God

ربَّاه وَ اجمعنا نَعِش أبداً معًا

ربَّاه في رَوضِ المُنَى ربَّاهُ

Raise him, O Lord, and gather us to live happy together forever

Raise him in the garden of the retreat ‒ raise him, O Lord