أَبَعْدَكَ أَتَّقِي نُوَبَ الزَّمانِ

أَبَعْدَكَ أَرْتَجِي دَرَكَ الأَمانِي

Without you I avoid the strokes of fate

Without you my hopes are delayed

أَيَجْمُلُ بِيَ الْعَزاءُ وَأَنْتَ ثاوٍ

أَيَحْسُنُ بِي الْبَقاءُ وَأَنْتَ فانِ

Does consolation befit me while you lie in dust?

Does life please me while you are gone?

لِكُلِّ رَزِيَّةٍ أَلَمٌ وَمَسٌّ

وَلا كَرَزِيَّةِ الْمَلِكَ الهِجانِ

For every mishap there is pain and touch

Except for the mishap of the eternal King

وما أَنا بِالرَّبِيطِ الْجَأْشِ فِها

فَأَسْلُوَهُ وَلا الثَّبْتِ الْجَنانِ

I am not like the shaky coward in it

So I appease him, nor the courageous

أُلامُ عَلَى امْتِناعِ الشِّعْرِ مِنِّي

وَما عِنْدَ اللَّوائِمِ ما دَهانِي

I blame the reluctance of poetry from me

And the slanderers have nothing to smear me

أَلِي قَلْبٌ أَلِي لُبٌّ فَأَمْضِي

مَضاءَ السَّيْفِ فِهِ وَالسِّنانِ

Do I have a heart, do I have a mind so I endure

The course of the sword in it and the spear

كَفى بِدَلِيلِ حُزْنِي أَنَّ دَمْعِي

أَطاعَ وَأَنَّ فِكْرِيَ قَدْ عَصانِي

The proof of my sorrow is enough that my tears

Obeyed and my thoughts disobeyed me

إِذا خَطَرَتْ لِمَجْدِ الدِّينِ ذِكرى

وَجَدْتُ الشِّعْرَ حَيْثُ الشِّعْرَيانِ

When the glory of religion is remembered

I find poetry where the two carotid arteries are

وَما إِنْ ذاكَ تَقْصِيرٌ بِحَقٍّ

وَلكِنَّ الأَسى قَيْدُ اللِّسانِ

That is not negligence in truth

But sorrow is the fetter of the tongue

وَمَنْ كَمُصِيبَتِي وَعَظِيمِ رُزْئِي

أُصِيبَ وَمَنْ عَراهُ كَما عَرانِي

Whoever is stricken like me and has great calamity

Is stricken, whoever is exposed like I am exposed

أَعَضْبَ الدَّوْلَةِ اخْتَرَمَتْكَ مِنّا

يَدٌ ما لِلأَنامِ بِها يَدانِ

The fate that separated you from us

A hand that has no equal for the people

وكُنْتَ السَّيْفَ تُشْحَذُ شَفْرَتاهُ

لِفَلِّ كَتِيبَةٍ وَلِفكِّ عانِ

You used to sharpen the blade for

Every brave battalion and resolute hero

فَقُطِّعَ بِالنَّوائِبِ صَفْحَتاهُ

وَفُلِّلَ بِالْخُطُوبِ الْمَضْرِبانِ

So its edge was severed by misfortunes

And its striking places made blunt by calamities

سَحابٌ لِلأَباعِدِ مُسْتَهِلُّ

وَبَحْرٌ مُسْتَفِيضٌ لِلأَدانِي

A cloud for distances rising

And an overflowing sea for the nearby

وَبَدْرٌ لَوْ أَضاءَ لَما أَسِينا

عَلى أَنْ لا يُضِيءَ النَّيِّرانِ

A moon that if it shone we would not grieve

That it does not illuminate the fires

سَأُنْفِقُ ما بَقِيتُ عَلَيْكَ عُمْرِي

بُكاءً شَأْنُهُ أَبَداً وَشانِي

I will spend what remains of my life weeping for you

Its manner forever weeping and me

وَلَو أَنِّي قَتَلْتُ عَلَيْكَ نفْسِي

مُكافاةً لِحقِّكَ ما كَفانِي

If I killed myself for your right

In recompense for your due it would not suffice me