يَا آيَةَ العَصْرِ حَقِيقٌ بِنا

تجْدِيدُ ذِكْرَاكِ عَلَى الدَّهْرِ

O sign of the age, it is our duty

To renew your memory through time

جَاهَدْتِ لَكِنَّ النَّجاحَ الَّذِي

أَدْرَكْتِهِ أَغْلَى مِنَ النَّصرِ

You struggled, but the success you achieved

Was more precious than victory

بَدَتْ تَبَاشِيرُ الْحيَاةِ الَّتِي

جَدَّتْ فحَيِّي طَلْعَةَ الفجْرِ

The first glimpses of the life appeared

That vigorously brought the dawn

قدْ أَثْبَتَتْ يَقْظتَهَا لِلعُلَى

بَعْدَكِ ذَاتُ الخِدْرِ فِي مِصْرِ

Your vigilance established its ascendance

After the drowsiness in Egypt

فَبَرَزَتْ مِنْهُ وَلَكِنَّها

مَا بَرَزَتْ عَنْ أَدَبِ الخِدْرِ

So it emerged from slumber

But it did not emerge from the etiquette of sleepiness

تَعْفَو عَنِ المُخْطِيء فِي حقِّهَا

حِلْماً وَتسْتعْفِي مِنَ النكْرِ

It forgives the mistaken regarding its right

With forbearance, and seeks to avoid hostility

مَكانُهَا أَصْبَحَ مِنْ زَوْجِها

مَكَانَ تِمِّ الشِّطرِ بِالشَّطرِ

Its place became equal to its counterpart

Like two halves of a whole

لهَا عَلَى الوَاجِبِ صَبْر وَإِنْ

شَقَّت وَمَرَّتْ شِرْعَةُ الصَّبرِ

It has patience in duty

Though the path of patience was difficult and bitter

مَخَايِلُ العَزْمِ تِري وَرْيَهَا

مُؤْتَلِقاً فِي وَجْهِهَا النَّضرِ

The harbors of determination see its watering place

Smiling in its blossoming face

وَتَلْمَحُ العَيْنُ حُلَى نَفْسِهَا

أَزهَى وَأَبْهَى مِنْ حُلَى التِّبرِ

And the eye glimpses the adornments of its soul

More vivid and brilliant than adornments of gold

فِي أَيِّ عَصرٍ كانَ عِرْفَانهَا

أَوْ خبْرُهَا مَا هُوَ فِي العَصْرِ

In what era was its discernment

Or news of it, ever absent?

قَدْ عِلمَتْ أَنَّ المزَايَا وَإِنْ

جَلَلْنَ لاَ يُغْنِينَ مِنْ طُهْرِ

It knew that merits, though majestic

Cannot suffice for purity

لو جُمعَتْ فِي نَسَقٍ بَارِعٍ

كَرِيمَةُ الأَحْجَارِ وَالدُّرِّ

If collected in a skillful composition

Precious stones and pearls

وَلمْ تُصِبْ نُوراً فَتُبْدِي بِهِ

زِينَتَنهَا الخلاَّبَةَ الفِكْرِ

And they produced no light to reveal through it

Their deceptive beautiful thoughts

أَلاَ يَكونُ الفحْمُ وَالمَاسُ فِي

مُنْجَمِهِ سِيَّينِ فِي القَدْرِ

Are not coal and diamond in their mines

Equal in worth?

يَا مَنْ ذوَت فِي زَهْرَةِ العُمْرِ مَا

أَقْسَى الرَّدَى فِي زهْرَةِ العُمْرِ

O you who lost in the bloom of youth

What the harshest decay lost in the bloom of youth

إِنْ تبْعَدِي مَا بَعُدَتْ نَفْحَةٌ

تَرَكْتِهَا مِنْ خَالِصِ العِطْرِ

If you move away, no scent has moved away

That left such pure fragrance

فِي كُتبٍ مَأثورَةٍ كلُّهَا

كالرَّوْضَةِ الدَّائِمَةِ الزَّهْرِ

In books filled with tradition like

An eternal blossoming garden

وَلاَ نَأَى عَنْ مَسْمَعِ القَوْمِ مَا

غنَّيتِ مِنْ أُنْشُودَةٍ بِكْرِ

Nor did any song you sang recede

From people's hearing, O virgin song

خَالِدَةِ التَّرْدِيدِ فِي مِصْرَ عَن

نابِغَةٍ خَالِدَةِ الذكْرِ

Immortal in its repetition in Egypt

From an immortal eminent woman

بِشَدْوِهَا المُؤْلِمِ فِي أَسْرِهَا

أَطْلَقتِ الطَّيرُ مِنَ الأَسْرِ

With her painful desire in captivity

She freed the birds from captivity

مَا الوِزْرُ أَنْ تَبْدُوَ ذَاتَ الحُلى

وَسَيْرُهَا خِلوٌ مِنَ الوِزْرِ

What burden is it for the adorned one to appear

While her conduct is free from burden?

أَيُّ كَمَالٍ وَجَمَالٍ يُرَى

كَمَا يُرَى فِي طَالِعِ الزَّهْرِ

What perfection and beauty is seen

As is seen in the rising of a flower?

فبِاسْمِ طُلاَّبِ رُقِيِّ الحِمَى

وَبِاسْمِ أَهْلِ الخُلقِ الحُرِّ

So in the name of students of high ambition

And in the name of people of noble character

أُهْدِي إِلى رُوحِكِ فِي عَدُنِهَا

أَنْفَسَ مَا يُهْدَى مِنَ الشُّكرِ

I present to your soul in its eternity

The most precious gift of gratitude

هَلْ كُنْتِ إِلاَّ كَوْكَباً آخِذاً

فِي أُفُقِ العَلْيَاءِ مِنْ بَدْرِ

Were you not but a rising star

In the horizon of the full moon?

فضْلُكِ مِنْ فَضْلِ أَبِيكِ الَّذِي

كَان أَبَا الآدَابِ فِي القطْرِ

Your merit is from the merit of your father

Who was the father of literature in this country

أَبْرَعُ مِنْ جَوَّدَ فِي مُرْسَلٍ

وَخَيْرُ مَنْ جَدَّدَ فِي شِعْرَ

Most eloquent of those who gave generously

And best of those who renewed in poetry

قَصَّرْتَ فِي إِيفَائِهِ حَقَّهُ

تَقْصِيرَ مَغْلُوبٍ عَلَى أَمْرِي

You fell short in fulfilling his right

Like one overpowered, unable to act

وَكانَ مِنْ عُذْرِ الأُولَى أُرْجَأُوا

تَأْبِينَهُ مَا كَانَ مِنْ عذْرِي

The foremost excuse was that we postponed

His elegy, which was not my excuse

شُلَّتْ يَدُ البَيْنِ الَّذِي سَاءَنَا

بِفَقْدِ ذَاكَ العَالِمِ الحَبْرِ

The hand of separation that saddened us was paralyzed

With the loss of that scholarly master

أَلْعَامِلُ الثَّبتُ الَّذِي إِنْ يُفِضْ

فِي مَبْحَثٍ حَدِّثْ عَنِ البَحْرِ

That steadfast scholar who if he delved

Into an issue, he reported on the sea

رَبُّ المَعَانِي وَالبَيَانِ الذِي

علَّمَنَا مَا لَمْ نَكُنْ نَدْرِي

Lord of meanings and eloquence, who

Taught us what we did not know

أَلبَاذِلُ العِلْمَ لطُلاَّبِهِ

بَذْلاً وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ التَّجرِ

That generous disseminator of knowledge to students

With a generosity that was not business

يُثَقِّف النَّشءَ عَلَى أَنَّهُ

أَعْلَى مَنارٍ لأُولِي الذِّكْرِ

He educated the youth that he

Was the highest beacon for those of wisdom

فِي صَدْرِهِ الرِّفْقُ جَمِيعاً وَمَا

مِنْ رِيبَةٍ فِي ذلِكَ الصَّدْرِ

In his heart was kindness altogether and no

Suspicion was in that heart

أَخْلَصُ شَيءٍ لأَوِدَّائِهِ

نِيَّتهُ فِي السِّرِّ وَالجَهْرِ

The purest thing for his loved ones

Was his intention, in private and public

فَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَرِضْوَانُهُ

عَلَى فَقِيدَتْنَا إِلى الحَشْرِ

So may God's mercy and pleasure

Be upon our deceased until the Gathering

مِنْ وَالِدٍ بَرٍّ وَمِنْ بِضْعَةِ

طُهْرٍ أَنَارَا ظُلْمَةَ القَبْرِ

From a righteous father and from a chaste daughter

Who illuminated the darkness of the grave