حَسْرَةٌ أيُّ أنْ تَبِينِي

وَأَرَانِي فِي مَوْقِفِ التَّأْبِينِ

What sorrow that you are gone

And I am left lamenting alone

آهِ مِنْ هَذِهِ الْحَيَاةِ وَمِنْ سُخْرِيَةِ

النُّبْلِ وَالصِّفَاتِ الْعُيُونِ

Alas, this life and its cruel jest

That mocks all noble traits possessed

رَبَّةَ الْقَصْرِ بِتِّ فِي ظُلْمَةِ الْقَبْرِ

رَهِيناً بِهِ وَأيُّ رَهِينِ

The palace's lady now lies in the grave

Imprisoned there, what prisoner could that enslave

لاَ تُجِيبِينَ أَدْمُعِي سَائِلاتٍ

وَعَزِيزٌ عَلَىَّ ألاَّ تُبِيِني

My weeping eyes implore in vain

I can hardly bear your lack of reply

أفَمَا تَسْمَعِينَ إِنْشَادِيَ الشِّعْرَ

وَكُنْتِ الطَّرُوبَ إنْ تَسْمَعيني

Do you not hear my poetry and song?

You were happiest when hearing me sing along

يَا مِثَالَ الْكَمَالِ فِي حْرَّةِ الطَّبْ

عِ وَفِي دُرَّةِ الْجَمَالِ المَصُونِ

Perfection's epitome in all beauty and grace

And chastity's model that none can replace

يَجْتَلِي مَنْ يَرَاكِ لُطْفَ ابتِسامٍ

صَانَهُ الثَّغْرُ صَوْنَ مَالِ الضَّسِينِ

Your smile illumines all who see your face

Guarded by lips that modesty does trace

مَا ابْتِسَامُ الْهِلاَلِ فِي الشَّكِّ أجْلَى

مِنْهُ نُوراً بِأعْيُنِ المُسْتَبِينِ

The crescent's smile cannot compare in delight

To your gleaming radiance shining bright

فِعْلُهُ فِي الْجُفُونِ كَالمِرْوَدِ الشَّا

فِي وَقَدْ مَرَّ نَاعِماً فِي الْجُفُونِ

Its touch on eyelids is like balsam sweet

Caressing gently those brows it does meet

أيُّ زَوْجٍ وَفَتْ وَفَاءَكَ أيَّا

مَ التَّلاَقِي وَبَعْدَهَا لِلْقَرِينِ

What husband ever matched your troth?

Those days of union and then sorrow both

وَأعَزَّبْ ذِكْرَاهُ مَيْتاً بِمَا لَمْ

يُرْوَ عَنْ أيِّمٍ وَلاَ عنْ خَدِينِ

Left him immortalized though dead

By the tears of no wife or cheek instead

أيُّ بَرَّتْ كَبِرِّكِ كَبِرِّكِ بِابْنُ

جَعَلَتْهُ المِثَالَ بَيْنَ الْبنِينِ

What mother ever showed a nobler sense

Of raising children with such excellence

وَرَعَتْهُ فَحَل مِنْ ذُرْوَةِ العَلْيَاءِ

فِي ذلِكَ المَحَلِّ الأمِينِ

She reared him to utmost heights attained

To that trustworthy, exalted position ordained

وَجَلَتْ فِي بَنَاتِهَا من حِلاَهَا

خَيْرَ مَا رَاعَ فِي النُّهَى وَالْعُيُونِ

And instilled in her daughters, from her own repute

The finest virtues, chastely astute

وَأَرَيْتِ المُرْتَابَ فِي كُلِّ أُنْثَى

أَيْنَ مَهْوَى الْشُّكُوكِ دُونَ الْيقِينِ

She showed the skeptic, suspicious of all the race

Where doubt loses place to certainty's grace

إنَّ مِنْهُنَّ كَالمَلائِكِ أَطْهَا

راً نَقَايَا بِرَغْمِ كُلِّ ظَنُوِنِ

Some women are pure as any angel's heart

Despite the slanders against them from the start

نَابِهَاتِ النُفُوسِ إنْ هُذِّبْ

نَ يُحِطْنَ الْحجَى بِخُلْقٍ حَصِينِ

With cultivation, souls aspire to greatness

And overcome those casting stones of hatefulness

قَادِرَاتٍ عَلَى مُكَافَحَةِ الدَّهْ

رِ بِعَزْمٍ ثَبْتٍ وَحِلْمٍ رَصِينِ

Able to battle vice with steadfast belief

In patient wisdom that brings relief

أيُّ قَوْمٍ هَانَ النِّسَاءُ عَلَيْهِمْ

وَنَجَوْا فِي بِلاَدِهِمْ من هُونِ

What people scorned women and yet prevailed

In their nations, from such dishonor unveiled?

فُجِعَتْ مِصْرَ فِي فَرِيدَةِ عِقْدٍ

أيْنَ مِنهَا الْفَرِيدُ فِي التَّثْمِينِ

Egypt laments her unmatched, peerless treasure

What jewel compared in worth or measure?

كُلُّ أفْعَالِهَا صَرِيحٌ سِوَى

إعْطَائِهَا لِلْيَتِيمِ وَالمِسْكِينِ

All her deeds were charity except for

Giving to orphan, poor, and needy evermore

كُلُّ أفكَارِهَا بَدِيعٌ وَلاَ يُصْطَادُ

إلاَّ كَاللُّؤْلُؤِ المَكْنُونِ

Every thought she had was brilliant creation

Beyond capture, like pearls under the ocean

فَلْتَفُزْ بِالرِّضَى من الله وَلْتَغْنَمْ بِهِا

الخُلْدَ فِي قَرَارٍ مَكِينِ

Rejoice for God's blessing, eternally earned

In enduring, peaceful rest well-discerned

وَلْيَكُنْ فِي الأَسَى العَمِيمِ عَلَيْهَا

هَيْرُ سَلْوَى لِكُلِّ قَلْبٍ حَزِينِ

Let solace for her reside in each aggrieved heart

And her memory comfort every soul, apart