يا مربعاً لك في فؤادي مربعُ

أتذلُّ بعدَ ابنِ الضياءِ وتخضعُ

O my beloved your abode in my heart is a square

Would you humiliate yourself after the son of light and submit?

حاشاكَ منْ ذلٍّ فشمسُ كمالِهِ

كانَتْ علينا منْ سمائِكَ تطلعُ

Never! The sun of his perfection

Was rising upon us from your heavens

أصلٌ وفرعٌ في ثلاثةِ أشهرٍ

ذَوَيَا فَحُقَّ لكلِّ عينٍ تدمعُ

A root and branch in three months

Passed away, so it is right for every eye to weep

منْ ذا يطيقُ يرى خليليهِ معاً

في التربِ قدْ رُمِيا بما لا يُدفعُ

Who can bear to see my two dear friends

Thrown together in the dust with no defense

أمودِّعانِ معاً وقلبي واحدٌ

فالدمعُ بينهما عصيٌّ طيِّعُ

Two loved ones buried together though my heart is one

So my tears between them are obedient and compliant

حلبٌ على رغمي أقلُّ سعادةٍ

مِنْ أنْ يعيشَ لها الكمالُ الأورعُ

Milking tears against my will, how little happiness

For the most pious perfection to live

الأمرُ للهِ الذي مهما يشا

يفعلُ فلمْ يكُ للتعرُّضِ موضعُ

The matter is God's, whatever He wills, He does

So there is no room for objection

بكتِ الأجانبُ يومَ ماتَ وأهلُهُ

منهمْ ضحوكٌ في المسرَّةِ يرتعُ

Foreigners cried when he died though his own

Laughed in joy at the feast, gluttons them

لبسوا النقا وازدادَ عيشُهُمْ صفا

ومضى الحمى إذْ فارقوه ولعلعُ

They wore hypocrisy and their living grew purer

And the zeal departed when they left him, that insistent fever

وغدوتُ أجرعُ منْ محصِّب عبرتي

مثلَ العقيقِ أسى ودمعي ينبعُ

Yet I weep more bitterly than one who strains his crying

Like carnelian, endless sorrow and flowing tears

قالوا نظنُّ ديارَهُ مملوءَةً

ذهباً فماتَ وكلُّ دارٍ بلقعُ

They said they thought his home was filled

With gold, but he died while every house is patched

تاللهِ قدْ نقضوا بفضلِ كمالهم

لو انصفوا لتألَّموا وتوجعوا

By God, they broke their merit by praising to excess

If they were fair, they would have felt pain and grief

لهفي عليه وليسَ لهفي نافعاً

قدْ كانَ تاجاً بالعلومِ يُرَصَّعُ

My anguish for him is useless

He was a crown in knowledge, studded with pearls

إنْ كانَ قدْ ماتَ الكمالُ فذكرُهُ

باقٍ ونشرُ علومِهِ يتضوَّعُ

If perfection itself has died, still his memory

Remains, and the spreading of his knowledge grows

أوْ فاضَ دمعي مِنْ يتامى ولْدِهِ

فالدرُّ يُوصَفُ باليتيمِ فيُرْفَعُ

Or is it my tears for his orphaned children

For a pearl is described by the orphan who owns it

تتصرَّمُ الدنيا وتأتي بعدَهُ

أممٌ وأنتَ بمثلِهِ لا تسمعُ

The world passes away, and after him come

Nations, while you do not hear the like of him

أسفي على حلبٍ وَقَدْ عدمَتْ فتىً

يقظانَ كانَ إلى العلى يتطلَّعُ

I grieve for Aleppo, which has lost a youth

Ever wakeful, aspiring to the Highest

لو لمْ أكنْ أقسى الورى قلباً لما

أصبحتُ أودِّعُهُ الترابَ وأرجعُ

If I were not the harshest of heart, I would not

Bury him in dust and return

يا وافياً سكنَ الجنانَ إلى متى

قلبي لفقدِكَ في جحيمٍ تلذعُ

O faithful one who dwells in Paradise, how long

Will my heart burn for your loss, seared by fire?

لم يبقَ بعدَكَ للمدارِسِ بهجةٌ

والعلمُ بعدَكَ يا حفيظُ مضيَّعُ

After you no joy remains in schools

And knowledge, my guardian, is wasted without you

يا مؤنسي في غربتي ومشاركي

في العلمِ أَسمعُهُ وطوراً أُسْمِعُ

My companion in loneliness, my partner

In knowledge, which I hear and repeat

كم قدْ قطعْنا ليلةً في وصلِنا

نظر العلومِ لغيرنا لا يقطعُ

How often we would stay up together connecting

Gazing at knowledge while others slept

واللهِ إنَّ قبيلةً فَقَدَتْكَ قدْ

زالت مزايا السعد عنها أجمعُ

By God, the tribe who lost you

Has lost all the marks of good fortune

لو يُدفَعُ المقدورُ عنكَ دفعتُهُ

جهدي ولكنَّ القضا لا يُدفعُ

If I could drive away what was ordained for you

I would have striven, but fate cannot be driven

فارقتَ منزلكَ المنيفَ وقصركَ ال

عالي ورحتَ إلى المقابرِ تُسرِعُ

You left your tranquil home and lofty palace

And hurried to the graves

ونزعتَ أثوابَ الشبابِ جديدةً

لهفي عليها عنْ جمالِكَ تُنزعُ

You shed your garments of youth still new

I grieve for their beauty stripped from your perfection

وتركتني وَجِعَاً وأنتَ بمعزلٍ

عني فلا تشكو ولا تتوَجَّعُ

You left me in pain while you are indifferent

Beyond suffering, neither complaining nor yearning

لم تسكنِ الأعداءُ مِنْ خوفٍ بهم

حتى سكنْتَ فليتهم لا مُتِّعوا

The enemies did not settle in fear of them

Until you settled - if only they were not given comfort!

أغضبْتَهُمْ لمَّا رثيتُكَ فاغتدى

كلٌّ لهُ في العتْبِ سمٌّ منقعُ

They were angered when I eulogized you

Each with poisoned rebuke like the fang of a viper

لكَ يا صديقَ الصدقِ مني أنَّةٌ

لا تنقضي وكآبةٌ لا تقلِعُ

For you, O friend of truth, I have a loyalty

That will not fade, and a sadness that will not lift

ما سُنَّتي رفضُ الودادِ لصاحبٍ

ولكلِّ مَنْ رفضَ المودةَ مصرَعُ

It is not my way to reject a friend

And ruin awaits all who reject affection

فعلى ثرى أمسيتَ فيهِ سحائبٌ

تهمي كما شاءَ الربيعُ وتهمعُ

Upon dust you came to rest, while rainclouds

Hover as the spring wills, swarming