دَعاني رِفاقي وَالقَوافي مَريضَةٌ

وَقَد عَقَدَت هوجُ الخُطوبِ لِساني

My friends called upon me while rhymes were ailing,

And the knots of misfortunes had bound my tongue.

فَجِئتُ وَبي ما يَعلَمُ اللَهُ مِن أَسىً

وَمِن كَمَدٍ قَد شَفَّني وَبَراني

So I came while God knows what sorrows I bore,

And what griefs that had wasted and distressed me.

مَلِلتُ وُقوفي بَينَكُم مُتَلَهِّفاً

عَلى راحِلٍ فارَقتُهُ فَشَجاني

I grew weary of standing amongst you expectantly,

For a mount I had parted with which saddened me.

أَفي كُلَّ يَومٍ يَبضَعُ الحُزنُ بَضعَةً

مِنَ القَلبِ إِنّي قَد فَقَدتُ جَناني

Does sorrow pierce a new wound in my heart each day?

I feel I have lost my soul and mind.

كَفانِيَ ما لُقّيتُ مِن لَوعَةِ الأَسى

وَما نابَني يَومَ الإِمامِ كَفاني

The agony of sorrow I have endured suffices me,

As does the day the Imam was denied me.

تَفَرَّقَ أَحبابي وَأَهلي وَأَخَّرَت

يَدُ اللَهِ يَومي فَاِنتَظَرتُ أَواني

My loved ones, family, and friends have dispersed,

And God's hand has delayed my time, so I await my hour.

وَما لي صَديقٌ إِن عَثَرتُ أَقالَني

وَما لي قَريبٌ إِن قَضَيتُ بَكاني

I've no friend should I stumble, to raise me,

Nor kin, should I weep, to join in my plaint.

أَرانِيَ قَد قَصَّرتُ في حَقِّ صُحبَتي

وَتَقصيرُ أَمثالي جِنايَةُ جاني

Do I not seem to have fallen short in keeping company?

The faults of the likes of me are a traitor's crimes.

فَلا تَعذِروني يَومَ فَتحي فَإِنَّني

لَأَعلَمُ ما لا يَجهَلُ الثَقَلانِ

So do not blame me on the day I meet my end,

For I know what the two burdens do not ignore.

فَقَد غابَ عَنّا يَومَ غابَ وَلَم يَكُن

لَهُ بَينَ هالاتِ النَوابِغِ ثاني

Gone from us the day he went, with no peer

Among the excelled elites, nor a second.

وَفي ذِمَّتي لِليازِجِيِّ وَديعَةٌ

وَأُخرى لِزَيدانٍ وَقَد سَبَقاني

And in my care are deposits from Yaziji

And another from Zaydan, who preceded me.

فَيا لَيتَ شِعري ما يَقولانِ في الثَرى

إِذا اِلتَقَيا يَوماً وَقَد ذَكَراني

Oh how I wish I knew what beneath the soil,

They would say if they met and remembered me!

وَقَد رَمَيا بِالطَرفِ بَينَ جُموعِكُم

وَلَم يَشهَدا في المَشهَدَينِ مَكاني

As they glanced around amongst your crowds,

Not finding in either gathering my place.

أَيَجمُلُ بي هَذا العُقوقُ وَإِنَّما

عَلى غَيرِ هَذا العَهدِ قَد عَرَفاني

Does it befit me, such dereliction, when

They knew me not as one to break a vow?

دَعاني وَفائي يَومَ ذاكَ فَلَم أَكُن

ضَنيناً وَلَكِنَّ القَريضَ عَصاني

My loyalty called me that day, and I was not

Stingy, but the poetry disobeyed me.

وَقَد تُخرِسُ الأَحزانُ كُلَّ مُفَوَّهٍ

يُصَرِّفُ في الإِنشادِ كُلَّ عِنانِ

Sorrows will silence every eloquent one

Who freely composes poetry and prose.

أَأَنساهُما وَالعِلمُ فَوقَ ثَراهُما

تَنَكَّسَ مِن أَعلامِهِ عَلَمانِ

Can I forget them when knowledge atop their burial

Mounds has collapsed from its pinnacles?

وَكَم فُزتُ مِن رَبِّ الهِلالِ بِحِكمَةٍ

وَكَم زِنتُ مِن رَبِّ الضِياءِ بَياني

And how much I gained in wisdom from the crescent's Lord,

And how much flair from the Lord of Brilliance my expression gained!

أَزَيدانُ لا تَبعُد وَتِلكَ عُلالَةٌ

يُنادي بِها الناعونَ كُلَّ حُسانِ

O Zaydan, do not go far, such is an ailment

With which the elegists beckon every beauty.

لَكَ الأَثَرُ الباقي وَإِن كُنتَ نائِياً

فَأَنتَ عَلى رَغمِ المَنِيَّةِ داني

Yours is the lasting influence, even if you are far,

For despite death, you are near.

وَيا قَبرَ زَيدانٍ طَوَيتَ مُؤَرِّخاً

تَجَلّى لَهُ ما أَضمَرَ الفَتَيانِ

And O Zaydan's grave, you embraced a historian

To whom the youths' secrets were revealed.

وَعَقلاً وَلوعاً بِالكُنوزِ فَإِنَّهُ

عَلى الدُرِّ غَوّاصٌ بِبَحرِ عُمانِ

And a mind—though passions for riches—for he

Dove for pearls in Oman's sea.

وَعَزماً شَآمِيّاً لَهُ أَينَما مَضى

شَبا هِندُوانِيٍّ وَحَدُّ يَماني

And Damascene resolve, wherever he went,

The pride of India and the fervor of Yemen.

وَكَفّاً إِذا جالَت عَلى الطِرسِ جَولَةً

تَمايَلَ إِعجاباً بِها البَلَدانِ

And a palm, when it toured the parchments,

Swaying all countries in awe of it.

أَشادَت بِذِكرِ الراشِدينَ كَأَنَّما

فَتى القُدسِ مِمّا يُنبِتُ الحَرَمانِ

It immortalized the Rāshidūn in speech, as if

A Jerusalemite youth, grown from the Haramain.

سَأَلتُ حُماةَ النَثرِ عَدَّ خِلالِهِ

فَما لي بِما أَعيا القَريضَ يَدانِ

I asked the guardians of prose to count his merits,

But my poetry fell short of appraising two hands.