بِرغْمِ المُنَى ذَاكَ الخِتَامُ المُحَيِّرُ

كِتَابُكَ تطْوِيهِ وَمَنْعَاكَ يُنْشَرُ

Despite the inevitability of that perplexing end

Your book is folded while your prohibition spreads

دَهَاكَ الرَّدَى فِي الرائِحِينَ فَرَاعَنا

كَأَنَّك غَادٍ فِي الصِّبا فَمُبَكِّرُ

Your loss among the two dear ones alarmed us

As if you were a youth returning early in the morning

يَرَاعُكَ فِي الْيُمْنَى وَذِهْنُكَ حَاضِرٌ

وَعَزْمُكَ ذَاكَ الْعَزْمُ وَالْعُودُ أَنْضَرُ

It keeps you on the right while your mind is present

And your resolve is that resolve, and the freshness greener

أَعَنْ سَبْقِ إِحْسَاسٍ بِمَا كَانَ مُضْمِراً

زَمَانُكَ آثَرْتَ النَّوَى حِين تُؤْثِرُ

Was it a sense of what was secretly harbored beforehand?

Your time, you preferred determination when you make up your mind

فَبِنْتَ وَلَمَّا يُرْهِقِ النَّاس دَهْرُهُمْ

بِنَكْبَاءَ لاَ يُحْصِي أَذَاهَا التَّصَوُّرُ

So you built, and when the people are burdened by their fate

With adversities beyond imagination

أَمِ اْلأَجَلُ الْمَحْتومُ حَلَّ وَلمْ تكن

بِماطِلِ حَقٍ يُقْتَضَى فَتُؤَخِّرُ

Or was it the predetermined death that came and you were not

Stalling a rightful claim that had to be delivered?

فَوَلَّيْتَ لَمْ يَعْصِمْكَ مُدَّخَرُ الْقُوَى

ولمْ يَتَمَالَكْ حِلمُكَ المُتَوقِّرُ

So you left, your hoarded powers did not protect you

Nor did your vast patience restrain itself

وَلَمْ يغْنِ مِنْكَ الْعِلْمُ وَالفَضْلُ سَاعَةً

فَيَا عُذْرَ منْ بِالعِلْمِ وَالفَضْلِ يكْفُرُ

And knowledge and merit did not avail you one moment

So pardon he who denies knowledge and merit!

أَلاَ إِنَّني غالَيْتُ فِيمَا شَكَوْتُهُ

ولَكِنَّ فِي نَفْسِي أَسىً يَتَفَجَّرُ

Oh no! I have exaggerated what I complained of

But in my soul there is sorrow that bursts forth

لَقَدْ أَرْخَصَ الْغَالِينَ مَوْتُ جُمُوعِهِمْ

وفقْدُكَ مَهْمَا يَعْمُمِ الْخَطْبُ يَكْبُرُ

Indeed, the death of the masses made the lives of the elite cheap

And losing you, however grave matters become, is even graver

قِفِ الآنَ وَانْظُرْ مَا بِإِثْرِكَ مِنَ سَنىً

كَذَاكَ تَشِعُّ الشُّهبُ إِذْ تَتكَوَّرُ

Stop now and see the legacy that follows you

Thus do meteors shine when they grow faint

قِفِ الآنَ وَاسْمَع وَقْعَ منْعَاكَ شَائِعاً

كَرَجْعِ الصَّدَى عَنْ شَامخٍ يَتَهوَّرُ

Stop now and listen to the echo of your prohibition resounding

Like the reverberation of echoes off a lofty summit

لقَدْ عَثَرَ البَنَّاءُ عَن أَوْجِ صَرْحِهِ

لَدُنْ كَادَ مِنْ أَعْلاَهُ بِالنجْمِ يَظْفَرُ

The builder has stumbled at the peak of his palace

He almost grasped the stars from its summit

فَوَارَاهُ قَبْرٌ لاَ بَعِيدٌ قَرَارُهُ

وَلاَ سَقْفُهُ فَوْقَ الثَّرَى مُتكَبِّرُ

So a grave covered him, not far his rest

Nor is its roof above the soil pretentious

وَكَان أَبَرَّ النَّاسِ بِالأَهْلِ وَالْحِمى

وَبِالْقَوْمِ لاَ يَجْفُوا وَلاَ يَتَغَيَّرُ

He was the most righteous of people to family and protectors

And to the people he neither shunned nor changed

ونِعْمَ الأَخُ الْوَافِي إِذَا مَا تَنَكَّرَتْ

لِصاحِبِهِ الأَيَّامُ لاَ يَتَنَكَّرُ

What a faithful brother when days betray his companion

He does not betray!

لَحِقتَ بِمَنْ أَرَّخْتَهُمْ فكَأَنَّهمْ

لِدَاتٌ لِعَهْدٍ لَمْ تُفَرِّقْهُ أَدهُرُ

You have joined those you chronicled, as if they

Were contemporaries from an era no times differentiated

عَلَى الْحَيِّ دُونَ الميْتِ تُحسَب أَحْقُبٌ

تَوَالَتْ وتُحْصَى في التَّعَاقُبِ أَعْصُرُ

To the living, not the dead, eras are counted

Succeeding and counted in the succession of epochs

وَرُبَّ عَلِيمٍ لَمْ يجِيءْ مُتَقَدِّماً

أَتمَّ عُلاَهُ أَنَّه مُتأَخِّرُ

And many a knowledgeable one did not come earlier

Completing his ascent, yet he is late!

إِذَا عَاقَهُمْ عَنْ شُكْرِكَ اليَوْمَ عائِقٌ

وَتَدرِيهِ فَالأَعْقَابُ لِلْفَضْلِ تَشْكُرُ

If something prevents them today from thanking you

Then successive generations will thank you for the merit

لَقَدْ بِتَّ مِنْهُمْ فِي المقَامِ الَّذِي بِهِ

إِذَا ذُكِرَ الأَفْذاذُ فِي الخَلْقِ تُذْكَرُ

Indeed, you have lasted among them in the position whereby

When prominent ones are mentioned, you are mentioned!

أَلاَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ حِكْمَتُكَ الَّتي

جَلاَهَا هِلاَلٌ مَالِيءُ الكَوْنِ مُقَمِرُ

By God, the wisdom you made plain, which

A radiant crescent filled the universe and made it luminous

وجِدٌّ بِهِ رُضْتَ الصِّعابَ فَمَا كبَا

إِلى أَنْ دَهَاهُ جَدُّكَ المُتعَثِّرُ

And the seriousness you accepted with it, you never recoiled

Until your grandfather's seriousness faltered

وآدَابُ نفسٍ لوْ توَزَّعَ حسْنُهَا

عَرَاءٌ لأَضْحَى وَهْوَ كالرَّوْضِ مُزهِرُ

And the manners of a soul which if its goodness was dispersed

It would adorn the barrens until they became like a blossoming meadow

وَأَخْلاَقُ إِحْسَانٍ وَعفْوٍ وَرِقَّةٍ

رَوَائِعُ يُخْفِيها اتّضاعٌ وَتظهَرُ

And the morals of benevolence, pardon, and gentleness

Wondrous secrets hidden by modesty yet they appear

وأَشْتَاتُ تخِريجٍ تُحَارُ بِهَا النُّهَى

وَآياتُ تدْبِيجٍ تَرُوعُ وتَبْهَرُ

And perplexing inferences you deduce thereby confounding analogies

And amazing compositions that shake and dazzle

عَليْكَ سَلاَمُ اللّهِ قَدْ بِتَّ هَانِئاً

وَأَكْبَادُنا مِنْ حَسْرَةٍ تَتَسَعَّرُ

Upon you is God's peace, you have lasted content

While our livers burn from sorrow