حَذارِ حَذارِ مِن رُكونٍ إِلى الزَمَن

فَمَن ذا الَّذي يُبقي عَلَيهِ وَمَن وَمَن

Beware, beware of leaning on time,

For who can remain upon it and who, who?

أَلَم تَرَ لِلأَحداثِ أَقبَلَها المُنى

وَأَقتُلَها ما عَرَّضَ المَرءَ لِلفِتَن

Have you not seen that fate comes to events

And the most ruinous thing for man is trials?

تُسَرُّ مِنَ الدُنيا بِما هُوَ ذاهِبٌ

وَيَبكي عَلى ما كانَ مِنها وَلَم يَكُن

It is delighted with the world with what is going,

And cries over what was and did not exist.

أَرى دارَنا لَيسَت بِدارِ إِقامَةٍ

أَرَدنا نَواءً عِندَها وَهيَ في ظَعَن

I see our house is not for staying,

We wanted comfort in it, and it is in decay.

فَكَم سَكَنَ الدُنيا مُلوكٌ أَعِزَّةٌ

تَفانَوا فَلَم تَستَبِقِ مِنهُم لَها سَكَن

How many mighty kings inhabited the world

Then passed away and it did not preserve their dwelling.

وَكَم في الثَرى دَسَّت جَبينَ مُتَوَّجٍ

فَأَصبَحَ بِالإِقدامِ يوطا وَيُمتَهَن

And how many crowned heads the soil buried

Who in the morn appeared despised and disdained.

وَذي جُنَّةٍ كانَت تَقيهِ مِنَ الرَدى

أَتاهُ الرَدى فَاِعتاضَ مِنها ثَرى الجَنَن

And one sheltered from harm in his mansion,

Harm came to him so he took shelter in the dirt of madness.

وَكَالصَقرِ فَوقَ السابِقاتِ اِغتَضَت بِهِ

أَعالِيَ أَعوادِ مِنَ النَعشِ فَاِرجَحَن

Like a hawk above the leading camels swollen with him,

The pinnacle of the poles of the bier arched over him.

وَمَن ضاقَت الدُنيا بِهِ وَبِجَيشِهِ

طَوَت شَخصَهُ في قَيدِ شِبرٍ مِنَ الكَفَن

And he whom the world was too narrow for him and his army,

Its expanse folded his person in a handspan of shroud.

وَمُحتَجِبٍ لا يَخرِقُ الإِذنَ حُجبَهُ

وَلَجنَ مَناياهُ عَلَيهِ وَما أَذِن

And a recluse whose privacy the ear does not penetrate,

Death broke into him though he did not permit.

وَذي حَرَسٍ لا يَغفَلونَ اِحتِراسَهُ

رَمَتهُ فَلَم يُنصَرُ عَلَيها وَلَم يُعَن

And one whose guards did not neglect guarding him,

It cast him down though he was not helped or aided.

وَما سِحِ عِطفَيهِ مِنَ الدَرَنِ اِنبَرَت

لَهُ الدُودُ أَكلاً فَاِنثَنى دَرَنَ الدَرَن

And he whose shoulders were not covered by a worn-out cloak,

The worms ate him until the worm was satiated with eating.

وَذي أَمَلٍ مِن دونِهِ أَجَل لَهُ

غَذا شَركاً ما كانَ قَبلُ لَهُ وَسَن

And he who hoped, beyond him for a term for himself,

Time partnered with him destroying what was not before a partner to him.

فَما اِعثَرَ الآمالَ في أَجلِ الفَتى

وَأَقرَبَ أَيّامَ السُرورِ مِنَ الحَزَن

So time did not trip up the hopes of the youth,

Or bring near the days of joy more than grief.

عَفاهُ عَلى الدُنيا فَإِنَّ نَعيمَها

كَأَضغاثِ أَحلامٍ تَلَذُّ بِلا وَسَن

Spare yourself about the world, for its comfort

Is like the delusions of dreams that feel good without reality.

فَبَينا الفَتى في ظِلِّها إِذ تَقَلَّبَت

بِهِ فَاِتَّقَتهُ وَهيَ قالِبَةُ وَالوَهَن

So while the youth was in its shadow when it tossed

And played with him while it is toying and weak.

لَعضمرُكَ إِنّي قَد حَزِنتُ فَلَم أَهِن

وَكُنتُ جَديرَ الرُزءِ بِالحُزنِ وَالوَهَن

May you live long, I am sorrowed but not disgraced,

And I was deserving of misery and being downcast

دَهَتني المَنايا في أَبي حَكَم أِبي

وَمِن قَبلُ وارَيتُ الشَقيقَ أَبا الحَسَن

Fate stunned me with the death of my father,

And before that I had lost my brother Abu Al Hasan.

فَيا لَكُما بَدرَي عَلاءٍ تَساقَطا

وَكانا سَنا عَيني وَأَسناهُما الأَسَن

So for you two, moons of glorious men fallen down,

You were the delight of my eye and its teeth unblemished.

تَضَمَّنَ شَوّالُ مَناياهُما مَعاً

فَبَينَهُما حَولٌ وَفَقدُهُما قَرَن

Shawwal included both their deaths together,

So a year separated them and their loss coupled me.

تَلا فَقدَ هَذا فَقدُ ذا مُتَتابِعاً

فَشَمسٌ تَلَت بَدراً وَأَصلٌ تَلا غُصُن

This one’s loss followed that one in succession,

A sun followed a moon and a branch followed a branch.

خَلا مِنهُما النادي وَكانا وَقارَهُ

فَزُلزِلَ رَضوى وَاِستُطيرتَ رُبا حَضَن

The club was empty of them both, and they were its dignity,

So its happiness was shaken and the doves of its bosom scattered.

وَلَم يُبقِ رَوضي بَعدَ هَلَّكِهِما الحَيا

وَكُنتُ أَسَقّي مِنهُما السُحُبَ الهَتَن

And my meadow did not leave, after their perishing, any life,

And I used to water from them the rainclouds bent down.

فَلِلَهِ صَبري بَل شَجوني فَإِنَّني

نَشَرتُ اِصطِباراً وَاِنطَوَيتُ عَلى شَجَن

So God gives me patience, but my lamentations, for I

Have spread endurance and withdraw into deep sorrow.

بَدا أَعظَمُ الأَرزاءِ وَاِكتَتَمَ الأَسى

فَناقَضتُ جُلَّ الناسِ في السِرِّ وَالعَلَن

The greatest calamity appeared and grief hid

So I opposed all people in private and openly.

فَقُلتُ لِجِسمي خالِياً أَنتَ وَالضَنى

وَلِلروحِ بِئسَ الروحُ مالَكَ لَم تَبِن

I said to my body empty of you is grief

And to the soul: miserable soul, what ails you that you do not build.

فَقالَ فُؤادي هَل أَذوبُ مِنَ الأَسى

فَقُلتُ تَعَجَّل لا أَبا لَكَ وَاِفعَلَن

And my heart said: Do I melt from grief?

So I said: be quick, no, no to you and do so.

وَقالَت دُموعي هَل أَذوبُ مِنَ الأَسى

مَعي الدَمُ مَسفوحاً فَقُلتُ اِفعَلي وَإِن

And my tears said: Do we melt from grief

With me blood poured forth? So I said: Do so, and if

أَبَعدَ يَعيشٍ سَلوَةٌ وَتَصَبُّرٌ

لَقَد فَسَدَت عِندي صَنائِعُهُ إِذَن

After living is there any solace and patience?

For me, its skills are surely in disorder, so

فَأَينَ الأَيادي السافِلاتُ الَّتي بِها

شَهيدٌ عَلِيَّ الطَفلُ وَالكَهلُ وَاليَفَن

Where are the lowly hands with which

Every child and elder and the fetuses testify against me?

وَأَينَ حَنانٌ كُنةتُ أَعرِفُهُ بِهِ

فَيا قَلبُ ما أَشجى عَلَيهِ وَما أَحَن

And where is the tenderness I used to know it with?

So O heart, how sorrowful over it and how kind!

وَكَم مِنَنٍ مِن دونِ مَنٍ تَتابَعَت

عَلَيَّ لَهُ وَالناسُ مَنٌّ بِلا مِنَن

And how many favors from less than a favor came to me,

And people have no favors without favors!

وَكَم مِن عَظيمٍ قَد وَقاني بِنَفسِهِ

فَهانَ وَلَولا عَطفُهُ بي لَم يَهُن

And how many great visited me with himself,

Became despised, and if not for his kindness, he would not be lowly.

سَأَثني عَلَيهِ بِالَّذي هُوَ أَهلُهُ

وَإِن يَكُ تَقصيرٌ فَإِقصارُ ذي لَسَن

I will praise him for what he is deserving,

And if it is remiss, the shortcoming is from one with no tongue.

أَبي ما أَبي لا يُبعِدِ اللَهُ مِثلَهُ

وَمَن مِثلُهُ ذو اليُسرِ في عُسرَةِ الزَمَن

O my father, what a father! May God not distance his like,

And who is his equal, easy in the difficulty of time?

جَوادٌ يزينُ الجودَ مِنهُ تَواضُعٌ

فَفَوقَ الَّذي أَبدى مِنَ الجودِ ما أَكَن

Generous, generosity adorns him, and humility,

Above that which he showed of generosity, how much he hid!

إِذا سُئِلَ المَعروفَ أَسبَلَ وابِلا

وَإِن هُوَ لَم يُسأَل تَفَجَّرَ أَو هَتَن

If asked for kindness, he poured forth torrents,

And if he himself was not asked, he burst forth or bent down.

وَلَم يَدَّخِر في أَمسِهِ قوتَ يَومِهِ

نَزاهَةَ نَفسٍ لا كَمَن حاطَ وَاِختَزَن

And he did not hoard in his yesterday the food of his day,

The purity of a soul, not like one who took and stored.

شَبيبَتُهُ بَينَ المَكارِمِ وَاللُها

وَشَيبَتُهُ بَينَ الفَرائِضِ وَالسُنَنِ

His youth was between noble deeds and amusements,

And his old age between duties and traditions.

لَعَمري لَنِعمَ المَرءُ حَيّاً وَهالِكاً

لِدافِنِهِ الفَخرُ العَظيمُ بِمَن دَفَن

By my life, excellent is the man, living and dead,

For his burier the great pride in who he buried!

فَبورِكَ مِن قَبرٍ وَطُهِّرَ مِن ثَرى

وَقُدِّسَ مِن روحٍ وَعوفِيَ مِن بَدَن

Blessed was his grave and purified from his soil

And sanctified from his spirit and guarded from his body.

رَجَوتُ لَهُ عَفوَ المُهَيمِنِ إِنَّهُ

هُوَ المَلِكَ الغَفّارُ ذو الطَولِ وَالمِنَنِ

I hoped for the pardon of the Protector, indeed He

Is the oft-forgiving King, of length and gifts.

لَهُ المُلكُ في الدارَينِ وَالحُكمُ مِثلَ ما

لَهُ المَلَوانِ وَالَّذي فيهِما سَكَن

To Him belongs the dominion in the two abodes and the judgement just as

His are the rulings and what dwells in the two.

وَأَرجو لَهُ حُبَّ النَبِيِّ مُحَمَّدٍ

فَذَنبُ مُحِبّيهِ بِغُفرانِهِ قَمَن

And I hope for him the love of the Prophet Muhammad,

For the sins of his lovers are covered by his pardon

وَأَرجو لِسُقياهُ سِقايَةَ مَورِدٍ

حَلا حَوضُهُ ما بَينَ أَيلَةَ وَاليَمَن

And I hope for his watering from a flowing spring,

Its basin between Ayla and Yemen sweeter than honey.

فَقَد قامَ بِالتَوحيدِ وَالخَمسُ عُمرُهُ

وَصَلّى عَلى المُختارِ وَاِتَّبَعَ السُنَن

For he stood for God’s oneness and his life was five times prayer,

And he prayed on the Chosen and followed the sunna.

خَليلَيَّ إِنَّ الصَبرَ صَبرٌ وَلا أَرى

سِواهُ لِشَجوي أَنَّهُ أَعصَمُ الجُنَن

My friend, patience is patience, and I do not see

Other than it for my agony, it is the protector against madness.

قِفا حَيِّيا القَبرَ الَّذي حَلَّهُ أَبي

مَعي إِنَّهُ رَأيٌ بَريءٌ مِنَ الغَبَن

Stop, two alive, at the grave in which my father is,

With me, it is an innocent view, free of deception.

وَلَستُ وَإِن أَنحى الزَمانُ بِصَرفِهِ

عَلَيَّ وَنالَتني صُروفٌ مِنَ المِحَن

And I, even if time turns by its changing

Upon me and varying tribulations from ordeals come to me,

بِفاقِدِ شَيءٍ مِن أَبي غَيرَ شَخصِهِ

وَلا بائِعِ القُربى بِبَخسٍ مِنَ الثَمَن

Am not with the loss of anything from my father other than his person,

Or a seller of relatives for a cheap price.

عَسى اللَهُ في الفِردَوسِ يَجمَعُ بَينَنا

فَإِنَّ الرَدى إِن كانَ يَجمَعُنا حَسَن

Perhaps God in Paradise will gather us,

For destruction, if it gathers us, is good.