يدُ الدهرِ جارحةٌ آسيَهْ

ودنْيَاكَ مُفْنِيَةٌ فانيَهْ

The hand of fate is injurious, causing pain

And your world is vanishing, transient

وربّكَ وارثُ أربابها

وَمُحيي عظامِهمُ الباليه

While your Lord inherits its lords

And revives their withered bones

رأيتُ الحِمامَ يبيدُ الأنامَ

وَلَدْغَتُهُ ما لها راقيه

I saw the plague destroy people

Its bite has no remedy

وأرواحنا ثَمَرَاتٌ له

يَمُدّ إليها يداً جانيَه

And our souls are fruits for it

It extends to them a thieving hand

وكلّ امرئٍ قد رأى سمْعُهُ

ذهاباً منَ الأمَمِ الماضيه

And every person has seen with their hearing

The passing of past nations

وعاريةٌ في الفتى روحُهُ

ولا بدّ من رَدّة العاريه

A young man's soul is bare

And the bare must be returned

سقى اللّه قبر أبي رحمةً

فسقياهُ رائحةٌ غاديه

May Allah water my father's grave with mercy

Sending to it a passing scent

وسيّرَ عن جِسمه روحه

إلى الرَّوْحِ والعيشة الرّاضيه

And facilitate his soul's release

To the Spirit and the pleasant life

فكم فيه من خُلُقٍ طاهرٍ

ومن همّةٍ في العُلى ساميَه

So much pure manner was in him

And lofty, sublime ambition

ومن كَرَمٍ في العُلى أوّل

وشمسُ النّهارِ لهُ ثانيَه

And foremost, lofty generosity

With the sun of day his second

ولوْ أنّ أخلاقَهُ للزّمانِ

لكانتْ مواردُهُ صافيه

Had his manners embraced the age

Its waters would be clear

أتاني بدارِ النوَى نَعْيُهُ

فيا روعةَ السمع بالداهيه

The news of his death came to me

In the land of yearning, oh how woeful the news to my ears

فحمّرَ ما ابيضّ من عَبرتي

وَبَيّضَ لِمّتيَ الداجيه

It reddened what had whitened of my tears

And whitened my dark sorrow

بدارِ اغترابٍ كأنّ الحياةَ

لذكر الغريب بها ناسيه

In the land of exile, as if life there

Has forgotten the stranger with its mention

فمثّلتُ في خلدي شخْصَهُ

وَقَرّبْتُ تربته القاصيه

I imagined him in my thoughts

And made near his distant soil

ونُحْتُ كثكلى على ماجدٍ

ولا مُسْعِدٌ لي سوى القافيه

I mourned like a widow for Majid

With none to make me happy but rhyme

قديمُ تراثِ العلى سَيّدٌ

على النّجْمِ خُطّتُهُ ساميه

Ancient heritage has a master

His line on the stars stamped sublime

مضى بالرّجاحةِ من حِلمِهِ

فما سَيّرَ الهضبَةَ الراسيه

He went with wise calm

He did not hurry the firm-standing mountain

وما أنْسَ لا أنْسَ يوْم الفراق

وأسرارُ أعيننَا فاشيَه

Nor forget the sadness of the day we parted

And the secrets of our eyes laid bare

ومَرّتْ لتوديعنَا ساعةٌ

بلؤلؤ أدْمُعِنَا حَاليَه

And there passed to bid us farewell an hour

With the pearls of our falling tears

ولي بالوقوفِ على جمرها

وإنْضاجه قَدَمٌ حافيَه

And my stepping on its embers barefoot

To cook and prepare

ورحتُ إلى غربةٍ مُرّةٍ

وراحَ إلى غُرْبَةً ساجيَه

I went to a bitter estrangement

And he to a blissful retreat

وقَدْ أوْدَعَتني آراؤهُ

نجوماً طوالعُها هاديه

Into me he entrusted his principles

With stars whose rising is guiding

سمعتُ مقالَةَ شيخي النّصيحِ

وأَرضِيَ عَنْ أرضِهِ نائيه

I heard the advice of my mentoring elder

Pleased with his distant land

كأنّ بأذني لها صرخةً

أرادَ بها عُمَرٌ ساريه

As if my ear heard in it a scream

With which a lifetime bid farewell

مَضَى سالكاً سُبْلَ آبائهِ

وأجدادِهِ الغُرَرِ الماضيه

He went, walking the roads of his forefathers

And ancestors, the departed noble ones

كرامٌ تولوا بريب المنونِ

وأبقوْا مفاخرَهُمْ باقيَه

Generous people who confronted the threat of death

And left their glories lasting

مَضَى وهو منّي أخو حَسرَةٍ

تُمازِجُ أنفاسَهُ الرّاقيَه

He went and he was to me a brother of sorrow

That mingles with his lofty breath

تجودُ بدفع الأسى والرّدى

على خدّه عينُهُ الباكيه

Bestowing in his push against pain and havoc

Upon his cheek, his weeping eye

وإني لذو حَزَنٍ بعده

شؤونُ الدمعِ لهُ داميَه

And I have after him deep sorrow

The affairs of tears for him ever-flowing

بكيتُ أبي حقبَةً والأسى

عليّ شَواهدُهُ باديه

I wept for my father an era, with grief

Its landmarks visible to me

وما خمدتْ لوعةٌ تلتظي

ولا جَمَدَتْ عَبرةٌ جاريه

No burning anguish has subsided

Nor flowing tear congealed

ونفسي وإن مُدّ في عُمرِها

لما لقيَتْ نفسُه لاقيه

And my soul, however lengthy its life

Did not meet a soul like his