أَيَا دَارُ في جناتِ عَدنٍ لَهُ دَارُ

ويا جَارُ إِنَّ اللهَ فيها لَهُ جَارُ

O abode in the gardens of Eden, it has an abode

And O neighbor, indeed Allah is its neighbor

وما دَارُه قَلْبي ولا جَارُهُ الحَشَا

لأَنَّ الحَشَا والقَلبَ حَشْواهما النَّارُ

Neither is my abode my heart, nor my neighbor passion

For the passion and the heart, their insides are set ablaze by the Fire

أَبي يا أَبي أَنْتَ الَّذي جلَّ قَدرُه

وإِنْ حُكِّمَتْ فِيه على الرَّغْمِ أَقْدَارُ

O my father, O my father, you whose worth is sublime

And if destinies were judged over it, the destinies would be defeated

وأَنت هو البَرُّ الَّذي شَهِدَتْ لَهُ

بِذَلك أَبرَارٌ لَعَمري وفجَّارُ

You are the righteousness whom the righteous bore witness to

For that, by my life, both the virtuous and the wicked

وأَنت الذي أُبصِرتَ في الخُلْد سَاكِناً

ولا تُنْكِرَنْ بَعضُ البصائر أَبصَارُ

You are the one I saw dwelling in eternity

Though some sights do not recognize sights

وأَنْتَ الذي لَمَّا نأَيتَ تَفاوَحَتْ

رياضٌ وقالوا إِنَّها عِنْكَ أَخْبَارُ

You are the one about whom, when you departed, gardens exuded fragrance

And they said: “Verily it is news of you”

وأَنت الَّذي لَو يقْبَلُ الموتُ فِديةً

فَدَى عُمُراً منْه الكَواكِبُ أَعمَارُ

You are the one, if death would accept ransom,

The celestial bodies would ransom their lifespans for you

وأَنْتَ الذي آثَارُه مَأْثُرَاتُه

فأَنْتَ الَّذي لا تَمَّحِي منه آثَارُ

You are the one whose traces are his glorious deeds

So you are the one from whom traces cannot be erased

وهل تمَّحي الآثَارُ مِنْك وبَعضُها

من الْغَيث أَنواءٌ وفي الصبحِ أَنْوَارُ

Can traces of you be erased, while some of them

Are showers from rain, and in the dawn, lights?

لقد كنت نهَّاءً على الدهر آمراً

فللشَّرِّ نهاءٌ وللْخَير أَمَّارُ

Indeed you were the terminator of evil in the times

So for evil there is an end, and for good there are signposts

وقد كنت صَبَّاراً لكلِّ عَظيمة

إِذا قيل فيها لَيسَ للدَّهْرِ صبَّارُ

And you were patient towards every calamity

When it was said about it: “The times have no patient one”

وقد كنْتَ عْند النفع والضُّرِّ حازماً

فللخِلّ نفَّاعٌ وللضِّدِّ ضرَّارُ

And you were decisive at benefit and harm

So for sweetness there is a benefactor, and for harm there is a harmful one

وقد كنتَ تعفو عن ذنوبٍ كثيرةٍ

فللحقد نسَّاءٌ وللعَفْوِ ذكَّار

And you would pardon many sins

So for grudges there are forgetters, and for pardon there are rememberers

وقد كنتَ صدراً تملأُ الصدْرَ بهْجَةً

وتُرخي عليه للمهَابةِ أَستارُ

And you were a breast that would fill hearts with joy

And you would lower over it curtains of awe

وقد كنت حرّاً من أَمانٍ كواذب

إِذا استُعبِدَتْ من جلِّةِ الناسِ أَحرارُ

And you were free from the shackles of deceitful safety

When the elite of people are enslaved as freemen

وقد كنت تعطي المقترين ولم تبل

إِذا أَعقبَ الإِكثارَ للبذل إِقْتَارُ

And you would give to those asking, and your generosity would not run out

When lavishness is followed by stinginess

فلا طلعت من بعد وجهك أَنجم

ولا هَطَلت من بَعدِ كفِّك أَمطَارُ

So neither did stars rise after your face

Nor did rain pour after your palm

خرجت من الدنيا لغيرك مكرهاً

كأَنَّكَ بالإِخْبَاتِ لله مُخْتَارُ

I left the world unwillingly to other than you

As if you chose seclusion from the world for Allah

وعشت ولا إِثم وقلت ولا هوى

وغبتَ ولا عَيبٌ ومِتَّ ولا عَارُ

And I lived without sin, spoke without passion

Departed without dishonor, and died without shame

وأَصبحت بل أَمسيت في القبر ثَاوِياً

مقيماً وحُسنُ الذِّكْرِ بَعدَك سيَّارُ

And I became, nay I became, in the grave destitute

Dwelling, yet the good mention of you wanders

وأَعديت منك الطيف صدقاً فلم يزر

فلا الطيفُ طوَّافٌ ولا الزِّورُ زوَّارُ

And I came by your apparition in truth, but it did not visit

For neither is the apparition a visitor, nor the false one visitors

بدارك أَقوام كثير رأَيتم

فأَعلمتُهم أَنْ لَيسَ في الدَّار ديَّارُ

At your abode I saw many groups

So I informed them that the abode has no dwellers

فتسويدها حيطانها وهو همها

وإِيقادُها نيرانها وهو تَذْكَارُ

Its blackening are its walls, and that is its concern

And its illumination are its fires, and that is its remembrance

قضى وطراً هذا الممات من الذي

به قُضِيتْ للناسِ مذ كَانَ أَوطَارُ

The appointed time has elapsed, from the one

By whom appointments were made for people since eras

ومن كان هذا الدهر من تحت حجره

غدا فَوقَه في المهمهِ القفر أَحجَارُ

And the one whom this life was above his tombstone

Tomorrow is above it in the desolate wasteland, rocks

وما خصَّ مصراً وحدها رزؤُها بِه

لقد رُزِئَتْه في البَسيطَةِ أَمصَارُ

Misfortune did not exclusively hit Egypt

Rather cities across the expanse were hit by it

فلا تعذلوا قوماً تفانت نفوسهم

عليه أَسىً للقومِ يا قومُ إِعذَارُ

So do not blame a people whose souls were loyal to him

Condoling, O people, condoling excuses

مضى طاهرَ الأَثوابِ من كل ريبةٍ

وأَثواب أَطهار البرية أَطهار

One pure of garments has passed away, from every doubt

And the garments of the purest of land are the purest

طرائقه بين الأَنام مراشد

وأَخبارُه بين الملائِكِ أَسمَارُ

His ways among people are guided paths

And his news among angels are processions

وقد شَكَرَتْ مِنه الصيامَ أَصائلٌ

وأَثْنَتْ عليه بالتهجُّد أَسحارُ

Vigils thanked his fasting

And predawn prayers praised his night vigil

رأَت أَنْفُسٌ أَكفانَه وهْي سُنْدُسٌ

وإِن أَبصرتْها أَعينٌ وهْي أَطْمَارُ

Some selves saw his shrouds and they were silk

And if sights saw them, they were pearls

وشيّعهُ التكبير حتَّى إِذا ثَوَى

تلقَّاهُ إِجلالٌ هناكَ وإِكبارُ

And the exaltation of “Allahu Akbar” bid him farewell

Until when he was laid to rest, reverence and exaltation received him

فيا نفسه فيك السكينة والهدى

وفَوقَكِ سرٌّ فيهِ للهِ أَسرارُ

O his soul, within you are tranquility and guidance

And above you is a secret in which are Allah’s secrets

ويا حامليه قد حَمَلْتم أَمانَةً

تَخرُّ لها شُمُّ الجبالِ وَتَنْهَارُ

O you who carry him, you have carried a trust

That would humble the peak of mountains and cause them to collapse

ويا قبره لا شكَّ أَنك جَنَّةٌ

ولكِنْ بِها مِن أَدمعِ الخلقِ أَنْهَارُ

O his grave, no doubt you are a garden

But in it are rivers from the tears of creation

ويا تربَه قد صرت مِسكاً بطيبِهِ

فلا زائر إِلاَّ بمسكك معْطَارُ

O his soil, you have become musk due to his fragrance

So no visitor except with your musk is perfumed

ويا أَرضه إِن ينكسف بك بدره

فما برحت في الأَرض تكْسَفُ أَقْمَارُ

O his land, if his full moon were to be eclipsed over you

The full moons in the land would not cease to be eclipsed

غدا ابنك حيراناً يروم هداية

فصادف أَربابَ الهدى فيك قد حَارُوا

Tomorrow your son will be confused, intending guidance

So he meets the people of guidance bewildered in you

كئيباً يوفي بعدك الحزن حقه

فلا الدمعُ خوَّانٌ ولا الهمُّ خوَّارُ

Grieving, fulfilling after you the rightful dues of sadness

For neither are tears betrayers, nor is sadness perfidious

مجدّاً على أَن يدرك الثأر بعده

وهيهات من صَرف الردى يُدركُ الثار

Boasting that he will attain vengeance after it

But alas! From the turns of fate, vengeance cannot be attained

فَقدتُك فَقْدَ الأَرضِ وَهْيَ جديبةٌ

لغيث تولَّى مُعرِضاً وهْوَ مِدرَارُ

I lost you like the loss of land during drought

To pouring rain which turned away as a downpour

وأَعشَارُ قَلْبي لاَ انْشِعَاب لصدعِها

وقد تُلِيت من حول قبرك أَعشار

And the tenths of my heart have no mending of their rifts

Though I have wrapped around your grave tenths

وقد كنت لما كنت لي في فوائد

تُفَادُ وخَيرٍ كان لي منك أَخْيارُ

And you were to me, when you were, of benefits

Goodness from you I would obtain, of which there were many choices

وفي نعم في الحسن كالبدر يجتلي

وإِنْ شِئْتَ طَعماً فهو كالشُّهِدِ يُشَتَارُ

And of blessings, you would shine like the full moon

And if you willed a flavor, it would be like honey, sought out

ولا كوكب إِلا بسعدي طالع

ولا فَلَكٌ إِلاَّ بِقَصدِيَ دَوَّار

No star rises except in my fortune

No orbit revolves except by my intention, circling

فأَصبحت لما مت حياً كميت

وإِن كنتُ أَمتاحُ الدُّموعَ وأَمتارُ

So I became, when you died, alive like the dead

And I was shedding tears and meters

وحيداً فما لي في دياري مؤنس

غَريباً فما لِي في هموميَ أَنصارُ

And alone, so I have no intimate in my abode

A stranger, so I have no supporters in my worries

وإِني على دين الوفاءِ لثابت

وإِني من حسن العزاء لفَرَّارُ

And I am on the religion of loyalty, steadfast

And I am, in excellent condolence, escaping

وإِن اعتزازي بعد وتِك ذَلةٌ

وإِنَّ يَساري بعدَ فقْدِك إِعْسَارُ

And my pride after you is humiliation

And my affluence after your loss is destitution

وَبرْقُ بَقائي بعد بينك خُلَّبٌ

ونَجمُ حياتي بعدَ بُعدِك غوَّارُ

The lightning of my remaining after separation from you is darkness

The star of my life after your distance is sinking

فهنِّئْت قبراً أَنت فيه بجنَة

تُفدِّيك زُهْرٌ أَو تُجنِّيك أَزْهَارُ

So I congratulated a grave in which you are, in bliss

Redeemed by blossoms or yielded flowers

فما أَنت كالأَمواتِ بل أَنت نَاظِرٌ

إِلى ربِّه ما الناسُ في الموتِ أنظار

For you are not like the deceased, but rather you are witnessing

Your Lord while people in death are not witnessing

حسدت على الموت الذي عشت بعده

فجاء من الإكراه في الموت إيثار

I envied death which I lived after

So preference came to me in death out of compulsion

وقلبك مسرور وقبرك روضة

ووجهُكَ بسَّامٌ وربُّك غفار

Your heart is joyous, your grave a meadow

Your face smiling, your Lord forgiving

عفاءً على الدنيا التي قد عفا بها

وأُفٌ لعَصر ريحُه فيكَ إِعصَارُ

Pardoning the world which you have pardoned

And shame on a time whose winds in you are storms

لزهّدني في هذه الدار موته

فسيَّانَ إِقلالٌ لديَّ وإِكْثَارُ

His death made me ascetic in this house

So equal to me are less and more

وأَيقنت أَني ميت وابن ميت

فلِلْمَوتِ تَردَادٌ إِلينا وتكْرَارُ

And I was certain I would die, a son of the deceased

For death has recurrences and repetitions to us

وكيف بقائي والأَخلاء قد ثووا

وكيفَ مُقَامِي والأَحبّةُ قد سَارُوا

And how can I remain when companions lie dead

And how can I stay when loved ones have departed

ويا ليتهم ساروا كسير قوافل

ولكنَّهم تَحتَ الجَنادِلِ قَد صَارُوا

Oh, would that they had departed like caravans travel on

But rather they have become under the burial mounds

يرى المرء أَن العيش خلو جهالة

وأَضعافُ ذاك الحلْوِ في العيش إِمرارُ

One sees that life without ignorance is isolation

And multiples of that sweetness in life are bitter

أَلم ترهم لم يجمعوا الصفو قلة

وفي كَدَرٍ من كَثْرَة قيلَ إِكْثَارُ

Did you not see them, they did not gather any purity out of scarcity

And in turbidity out of abundance, it is said “abundance”

ونرجو بقاء عند من هو هالك

ونَرجُو وفاءً عند مَنْ هُوَ غدَّارُ

We hope for remaining with one who is perishing

And we hope for loyalty from one who is treacherous

ويصبح فخّاراً على أَهل جِنسه

وينسى بأَنّ الأَصل من قبل فخّارُ

And one becomes ashes over his fellow man in the morning

Forgetting that the origin beforehand was ashes

وكلٌّ نحارير فإِن عرضَت لهم

زَخَارِفُ هذِي الدارِ فالكُلُّ أَغْمَارُ

All are manuscripts, so if the ornaments

Of this house are presented to them, they are completely immersed

سأَبكي أَبي بل أَلبس الدمعَ بعده

وإِنِّي لذيلِ الدَّمعِ فِيه لجرَّارُ

I will cry for my father, nay I will continue to cry after him

And I am indeed the lengthener of crying for him, constant

وإِن فَنِيَتْ من ناظِرِي فيه أَدمُعٌ

لما فَنِيَتْ مِن مَقوْلِي فِيهِ أَشْعَارُ

And if tears from my eyes regarding him are exhausted

No less than poems from my words regarding him are exhausted

لعلِّيَ بعد الموت أَلقاه شافعاً

إِذا أَثْقلتْني في القِيَامةِ أَوزارُ

Perhaps after death I will meet him as an intercessor

When burdens weigh me down on the Day of Judgment