مضَى عَصْرُ الرِّجَالِ الأَعَاظِمِ
وَأَوْحَشَ مِنْهُمْ أُنْسُ تِلْكَ المعَالِمِ
The age of great men has passed,
And their company seemed more desolate than those ruins.
معَاهِدُ فِي بَيْرُوتَ لِلعِلْمِ عُطُّلَتْ
وَأَيَّمُهَا كَانَتْ بِهِمْ كَالمَوَاسِمِ
The institutes of science in Beirut were suspended,
Whatever season it was, they were like seasons.
تَوَلَّوا سِرَاعاً كَاتِبٌ إِثْرَ كَاتِبٍ
وَبَانُوا تِباعاً عَالِمٌ إِثْرَ عَالِمِ
Writer after writer hastily turned away,
And scholar after scholar disappeared.
فَوَا حَرَّ قَلْباً أَيْنَ فِيهِمْ مُهَذِّبِي
وَأَيْنَ رَفِيقِي فِي الصِّبَا وَمُخَالِمِي
Alas, what burning in my heart! Where are my refined friends?
And where is my companion of youth and intimates?
عِمَادٌ بِصَرْحِ المَجْدَ قَامُوا فَقُوِّضُوا
دِرَاكاً وَدُكَّ اليَوْمَ آخِرُ قَائِمِ
Pillars of glory they stood up and so were demolished,
As the last pillar falls today.
هَوَى العَلَمُ الفَرْدُ الَّذِي كَانَ بَعْدَهُمْ
عَزَاءً لأَرْبَابِ النُّهَى وَالعَزَائِمِ
The unique banner of knowledge that was after them
Fell, consoling the people of resolve and determination.
أُقَلِّبُ طَرْفِي حَيْثُ كَانُوا فَلا أَرَى
بِهِ غَيْرَ أَنْقَاضِ الذُّرَى وَالدَّعَائِمِ
I turn my eyes where they were but I see
Nothing but the remnants of homes and pillars.
وَأُنْكِرُ فِي وَجْهِ البَقَاءِ عُبُوسُةً
تُوَارِي سَنَى تِلْكَ الوُجُوهِ البَوَاسِمِ
And in the face of survival I see moroseness
That hides the features of those smiling faces.
حَقَائِقُ مَرَّتْ بِالحَيَاةِ هُنَيْهَةً
كَمَا مَرَّتِ الأَوْهَامُ فِي ذِهْنِ وَاهِمِ
Realities passed swiftly through life,
As fantasies passed through the mind of a dreamer.
فَلَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْهَا غَيْرُ مَا الذِّكُرُ حَافِظٌ
إِلَى أَجَلٍ عَنْ عَهْدِهَا المُتَقَادِمِ
Nothing remains except what memory has retained
Of their ancient times.
وَرَسْم يَرَى الأَعْقَابَ فِيهِ دَلالَةً
عَلَى دِقَّةِ التَّمْثِيلِ فِي صُنْعِ رَاسِمِ
And a painting in which the beholders see
Signs of the painter's precise portrayal.
إِذَا جَسَّمُوهُ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي جَلالِهِ
سِوَى شَبَهً لِلشَّخْصِ أَغْبَرَ قَاتِمِ
When embodied, his majesty was naught
But a resemblance to a gloomy, dark figure.
يَلُوحُ بَعِيداً وَهْوَ دَانٍ كَأَنَّهُ
تَأَوُّبُ طَيْفٍ فِي مَخِيلَةِ حَالِمِ
He appears from afar, humbled, as though
The specter in the imagination of a dreamer.
فَيَا بَخْسَ مَا بَاعَ المُفَادِي بِعُمْرِهِ
عَلَى بَاذِلٍ فِي قَوْمِهِ أَوْ مُسَاوِمِ
Oh what a loss, what the deserter sold his life for
To a giver among his people or a bargainer.
عَلَى أَنَّهُ يَسْتَسْلِفُ النَّفْسَ شُكْرَهُ
وَلَيْسَ لِشُكْرٍ مِنْ سِوَاهَا بِرَائِمِ
As if he borrows life to thank it
While none but it can be thanked.
نَعِيُّكَ عَبْدَ اللهِ فِي الشَّرْقُ كُلِّهِ
أَسَالَ شُؤُوناً بِالدُّمُوعِ السَّوَاجِمِ
Your death, O Abdullah, in all the East
Brought about calamities with pouring tears,
وَأَوْرَى زِنَادَ البَرْقِ حُزْناً فَلَجْلَجَتْ
كَمَا لَجْلَجَتْ بِالنُّطْقِ لُسْنُ التَّرَاجِمِ
And the lightning was saddled with grief, so it crackled
As the journals crackled with speech.
فَبَثَّ شَجَاهُ كُلُّ رَبْلٍ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ
سِوَى مَأْتَمٍ تَعْدَادَ تِلْكَ المَآتِمِ
So it spread its flames; every group wailed
And it was nothing but a funeral, equal to those funeral gatherings.
وَشَاعَ الأَسَى فِي مِصْرَ فَهْيَ حَزِينَةٌ
تَنُوحُ شَوَادِيهَا نُوَاحَ الحَمَائِمِ
And sorrow spread in Egypt, so it is grieving,
Its plains wailing the wailing of doves.
وَلا وَجْهَ فِي أَحْيَائِهَا غَيْرُ سَاهِمٍ
وَلا قَلْبَ فِي أَحْنَائِهَا غَيْرُ وَاجِمِ
No face in its neighborhoods but frowning
No heart in its corners but anguished.
لَكَ اللهُ مِنْ بَانٍ رِجالاً حَمَى بِهِمْ
حِمىً عَاثَ فِيهِ الجَهْلُ مِنْ شَرِّ هَادِمِ
May God provide you men who protect
A protected realm where ignorance ran rampant with destruction,
عَلَى العِلْمِ وَالتَّعْلِيمِ أَرْصَدَ وَقْتَهُ
فأَحْرَزَ مِنْهُ مَغْنَماً كُلّ غَانِمِ
To science and teaching he devoted his time
So he gained spoils, every victor.
تَلامِيدُهُ فِي كُلِّ مَطْلَعِ كَوْكَبٍ
يَبُثُّونَ فَضْلَ الضَّادِ بَيْنَ العَوَالِمِ
His students in every emerging star
Spread the abundance of knowledge between the worlds,
وَفِي كُلِّ بَحْثٍ كُتْبُهُ تُورِدُ النُّهَى
مَوَارِدَ أَصْفَى مِنْ نِطَافِ الغَمَائِمِ
And in every research, his books provide guidance,
Clearer than the drizzle of clouds,
وَتَهْدِي إِلَيْهَا مِنْ مَنَاجِمِ فِكْرِهِ
نَفَائِسَ أَغْلَى مِنْ كُنُوزِ المَنَاجِمِ
And they carry to it from the mines of his thoughts
Rarities more precious than the treasures of mines,
بِأَبْدَعِ مَا كَانَتْ بَلاغَةُ نَاثِرٍ
وَأَبْرَعِ مَا كَانَتْ صِيَاغَةُ نَاظِمِ
With the utmost elegance of a prose writer
And the greatest artistry of a poet.
كَفَى اللغَةَ الفُصْحَى فَخَارَ بِمُعْجَمٍ
إِلَيْهِ انْتَهَى الإِتْقَانُ بَيْنَ المَعَاجِمِ
The Arabic language it perfected, so with his lexicon,
Precision was attained between lexicons.
وَحَسْبُ الرِّوَايَاتِ الحَدِيثَةِ عِتْقُهَا
بِإِعْرَابِهِ فِيهَا فُنُونَ الأَعَاجِمِ
And the recent transmissions, their manumission
By his elocution in them, the ways of foreigners.
فَأَمَّا سَجَايَاهُ فَقُلْ فِي كَمَالِهَا
وَلا تَخْشَ فِي الإِطْرَاءِ لَوْمَةَ لائِمِ
As for his traits, say about their perfection
And fear no blame for praise from critic.
حَلِيمٌ بِلا ضَعْفٍ رَصِينٌ بِلا وَنىً
شَدِيدُ مِرَاسٍ فِي كِفَاحِ المَظَالِمِ
Forbearing without weakness, resolute without bending,
Firm principles in combatting injustices.
وَمَا اسْطَاعَ يُلْفِيهِ الغَدَاةَ وَلِيُّهُ
مُعِيناً عَلَى دَفْعِ الأَذَى وَالمَغَارِمِ
What his patron could not address in the morning,
Helping to repel harm and sins,
يُصَرِّفُ إِلاَّ فِي الدَّنَايَا مِنَ المُنَى
نَوَازِعَ قَلْبٍ مُولَعٍ بِالعَظَائِمِ
He only disposed in the worldly affairs
The repulsions of a heart enamored with greatness,
وَيُرْضِيهِ فِي الإِعْسَارِ مُوْفُورُ مَجْدِهِ
وَلَيْسَ إِذَا الإِيسَارُ فَاتَ بِنَاقِمِ
And in poverty he was satisfied with his abundant glory
And if prosperity was missed, he was not fault finding.
قَضَى العُمْرَ مَيْمُونَ النَّقِيبَةِ لَمْ تُشَبْ
طَهَارَةُ بُرْدَيْهِ بِوَصْمَةِ وَاصِمِ
He spent a praiseworthy life; the purity
Of his integrity was not tainted with a blemish.
وَلَمْ يَأْلُ جُهْداً فِي رِعَايَةِ ذِمَّةٍ
وَلَمْ يَنْسَ حَقاً لِلعُلَى وَالمَكَارِمِ
He never wearied of observing his covenant
Or forgot the rights of the exalted and benevolent.
أَحَاطَتْ بِهِ زِينَاتُ دُنْيَاهُ فَانْثَنَى
وَلَمْ تُغْرِهِ زِيناتُها بالمحَارِمِ
The adornments of his world engulfed him, so he recoiled
And he was not tempted by its adornments to prohibition.
فَكَانَتْ لَهُ خَيْرُ الفَوَاتِحِ بِالتُّقَى
وَكَانَتْ لَهُ فِي اللهِ خَيْرُ الخَوَاتِمِ
So for him were the best openings with piety
And for him with God were the best endings.
