طَفِيءَ الصَّبَاحُ بَعَيْنِيَ الإِلهَامِ
وَتَغَمَّدَ الَّلأْلاءَ جَفْنُ ظَلامِ
The dawn faded in my inspired eyes,
And the radiance was shrouded by the veil of darkness.
وَكَأَنَّ شَمْسَ العَبْقَرِيَّةِ كُفِّنَتْ
بَعْدَ ازْدِهَارِ شُعَاعِهَا بِقَتَامِ
It was as if the sun of genius was buried
After the flourishing of its rays in gloom.
لَولا شُفُوفُ حِجَابِهَا عَنْ شَاحِبٍ
مِنَ ضَوْئِهَا لَمْ يَبْدُ لِلمُسْتَامِ
If it were not for the thin veils covering it from one
Made pale by its light, it would not appear to the aspirant.
تَعْتَادُنَا وَالذِّكْرَيَاتُ كَأَنَّهَا
آثَارُ رَائِعَةٍ مِنَ الأَحْلامِ
We are accustomed, and memories are as if they are
Traces of splendid dreams.
وَهَلِ اسْتَقَرَّ مِنَ الْحَقَائِقِ ذَاهِبٌ
إِلاَّ بِأَعْلاقٍ مِنَ الأَوْهَامِ
And has any departing reality settled
Except in the depths of delusions?
لَهْفِي عَلَى الخِدْنِ النَّبِيلِ وَعَهْدُهُ
مَنْذُ التَّعَارُفِ كَانَ فَوْقَ الذَّامِ
My fervor for the noble soul, and since
Our acquaintance he was above rebuke.
لَمْ أُلْفِهِ فِي العَيْشِ إِلاَّ نَابِهاً
يَرْنُو إِلَى الدُّنْيَا بِطَرْفٍ سَامِ
I did not know him in life except as one
Who looked upon the world with aloofness.
مَاذَا بَلَوْتُ مِنَ الشَّمَائِلِ حُلْوَةً
فِيهِ وَمِنْ صِدْقٍ وَرعْيِ ذِمَامِ
How much sweetness of character did I experience in him
Of sincerity and the restraint of blame!
أَبْغِي الرِّثَّاءَ لَهُ فَيُبْرِقُ خَاطِرِي
حُزْناً وَلَكِنْ أَيْنَ صَوْبُ غَمَامِ
I want to eulogize him, but my mind
Glows with sorrow - but where are the clouds?
لَمْ يَبْقَ لِي شِعْرٌ وَلا نَثْرٌ وَقَدْ
أَخْنَى عَلّيَّ تَقَادُمُ الأَعْوَامِ
I have no poetry left, nor prose, and
The passing years have despaired me.
أَلْقَى الحِدَادَ عَلَى البَصَائِرِ وَالنُّهَى
رُزْءُ المَحَابِرِ فِيهِ وَالأَقْلامِ
I don the mourning upon visions and prohibition -
The scorn of the skilled and the pens therein.
كَمْ فِي البَوَادِي وَالحَوَاضِ بَعْدَهُ
عَيْنٌ مُؤَرَّقَةٌ وَقَلْبٌ دَامِ
How many a lonely eye and grieving heart
In the deserts and settlements after him!
فِيهَا المُعَزِّي وَالمُعَزَّى وَاحِدٌ
وَشَكَاةُ لُبْنَانٍ شَكَاةُ الشَّامِ
The consoler and the consoled are one,
And Lebanon's complaint is Syria's complaint.
وَلَّى إِمَامُ المُنْشِئِينَ وَكَانَ فِي
تَجْدِيدِ شَأْنِ الضَّادِ أيَّ إمَامِ
The Imam of writers departed, and he was
Renewing the art of Arabic - what an Imam!
فَكَأَنَّهَا وَالعَصْرُ لَيْسَ بِعَصْرِهَا
رُدَّتْ عَلَيْهَا نَضْرَةُ الأَيَّامِ
So it and the era are not of his era -
The freshness of days was restored upon it.
وَلَّى أخُو الأَفْذَاذِ مِنْ شُعَرَائِهَا
فِي جَاهِلِيَّتِهَا وَفِي الإِسْلامِ
The brother of the elite of its poets departed
In its pre-Islamic period and in Islam.
جَارَى الفُحُولَ وَلَمْ يُقَصِّرْ عَنْهُمُ
فِي حَلْبَةِ الإِفْصَاحِ وَالإِحْكَامِ
He competed with the stalwarts and did not fall short of them
In the arena of eloquence and perfection.
شَتَّانَ بَيْنَ الشَّاعِرِ المَطْبُوعِ فِي
إِبْدَاعِهِ وَاللاَّقِطِ النُّظَّامِ
Far apart is the innate poet
In his creativity, and the patchwork rhymer.
أَلعَالَمُ العَرَبِيُّ مِنْ أَطْرَافِهِ
بَادِي الوُجُومِ مُنَكَّسُ الأَعْلامِ
Does not the Arab world from its edges
With prominent gloom and inverted flags weep?
يَبْكِي أَمِيرَ بَيَانِهِ يَبءكِي فَتَى
فِتْيَانِهِ فِي الكَرِّ وَالإِقْدَامِ
It weeps for the prince of its rhetoric, it weeps for the youth
Among its youths in valor and daring.
يَبْكِي العِصَامِيُّ الكَبِيرَ بِنَفْسِهِ
وَالسَّيِّدَ ابْنَ السَّيِّدِ القَمْقَامِ
Al-Isaami the Great weeps for himself
And the Grandson of the Grand, Al-Qumqam.
مَا زَالَ يَنْفَحُ دُونَهُ وَمَرامُهُ
مِمَّا يُكَابِدُهُ أَعَزُّ مَرَامِ
He did not cease to blow his fires, and his goal
Was the most precious of goals he endured.
حَتَّى جَلا الأَعْدَاءُ عَنَّ أَوْطَانِهِ
وَسَمَا مَكَانُ العُرْبِ فِي الأَقْوَامِ
Until the enemies departed from his homelands,
And the place of the Arabs rose among the nations.
فَثَوَى قَرِيرَ العَيْنِ مَوْفُورَ الرِّضَا
بِثَوَابِ مَا عَانَى مِنَ الآلامِ
So the gentle-eyed, contented one passed away
With the reward for what he suffered of pains.
أَشَكِيبُ حَسْبُ المَجْدِ مَا بُلِّغْتُهُ
شَرْقاً وَغَرْباً مِنْ جَلِيلِ مَقَامِ
O Ashkabe, suffice with the glory I conveyed
East and west, of his magnificent status.
فِي كُلِّ قُطْرٍ لِلعُرُوبَةِ خُلِّدَتْ
ذِكْرَاكَ بِالإِكْبَارِ وَالإِعْظَامِ
In every homeland of Arabism, your memory
Was immortalized with magnification and reverence.
كَانَتْ حَيَاتُكَ دَارَ حَرْبٍ جُزْتَهَا
فَاسْتَقْبِلِ النُّعْمَى بِدَارِ سَلامِ
Your life was a home of war, which you were granted,
So turn to bliss in the abode of peace.
