رَبَّ البَيَانِ وَسَيِّدَ القَلَمِ

وَفَّيْتَ قِسْطَكَ لِلعُلَى فَنَمِ

O Lord of eloquence and master of the pen,

You have fulfilled your duty to the exalted, so sleep.

نَمْ عَنْ مَتَاعِبِهَا الجِسَامِ وَذَرْ

آلامَهَا غُنْماً لِمُغْتَنِمِ

Sleep away from the troubles of the body, and let

Its pains be spoils for one taking spoils.

مَا أَصْغَرَ الدُّنْيَا وَأَحْقَرَهَا

فِي جَنْبِ مَا لِلمَيْتِ مِنْ عِظَمِ

How small is this world and how contemptible

Compared to what the deceased holds as glory!

يُغْضِي وَقَدْ آذَتْهُ دَائِبَةً

عَنْ ذَنْبِهَا إِغْضَاءةَ الكَرَمِ

He overlooks though she has constantly hurt him,

Overlooking her sin with the generosity of nobility.

مَا أعْجَزَ اللَّسِنَ الفَصِيحَ لَدَى

عِيِّ الفَقِيدِ الخَالِدِ البَكِمِ

How weak are the most eloquent tongues next to

The ear of the articulate, eternal silent one!

مَا أَسْخَفَ العَبَرَاتِ سَاكِبَةً

وَالنَّعْشُ يَحْجُبُ وَجْهَ مُبْتَسِمِ

How foolish are the outpouring elegies

While the coffin conceals the face of a smiling one!

يَا مَنْ بَكَتْ لِفِرَاقِهِ أُمَمٌ

كَانَتْ بِهِ مَحْسُودَةَ الأُمَمِ

O you for whose loss nations have cried,

Nations that through you were envied by nations.

أَلآنَ جُزْتَ الوَهْمَ مُرْتَقِياً

وَإِلَى الصَّوَابِ خَلَصْتَ مِنْ حُلُمِ

Now you have climbed beyond illusion

And attained truth through dreams.

أَكْمِلْ بَلاغَكَ يَا حَكِيمُ وَقلْ

أَحَيَاتُنَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ العَدَمِ

Complete your eloquence, O wise one, and say:

Are our lives better than non‐existence?

أَمْ تِلْكَ أَمْ غَيْرُ عَاقِلَةٍ

أُمٌّ بِلا قَلْبٍ وَلا رَحِمِ

Or is she other than an irrational mother

With neither heart nor compassion?

أُمٌّ تُغَذِّي مِنْ وَلائِدِهَا

رُمَماً تُمَشِّيهَا عَلَى رُمَمِ

A mother who feeds on her offspring

Artificial limbs she makes walk on artificial limbs?

مَا الخَلْقُ هَلْ أَدْرَكْتَ غَامِضَهُ

وَأَزَحْتَ عَنْهُ غَيَاهِبَ الظُّلْمِ

What is creation? Have you uncovered its obscurity

And lifted its thick veils of darkness?

أَجْهَدْتَ فِكْرَكَ فِي تَعَقُّلِهِ

وَصَدَرْتَ عَنْهُ وَارِداً كَظَمِي

You have exerted your mind to comprehend it

And recoiled from it, holding back your tear.

سَاءلْتَ عَنهُ النَّجْمَ مُرْتَقِباً

وَبَحَثْتَ بَيْنَ الحَرْفِ وَالرَّقَمِ

You have asked the star while watching it

And searched between the letter and the number,

وَهَوَى بِكَ الوَادِي مَهَاوِيَهُ

وَرَنَوْتَ مُنْطَاداً مِنَ القِمَمِ

And the valley has plunged you into its precipices,

Hunted, as you fled from the summits.

تَبْغِي الحَقِيقَةَ سَاعِياً كَلِفاً

مِنْ كُلِّ مُطَّلِبٍ بِلا سَأَمِ

You seek the truth, striving, indefatigable,

From every demander, without weariness.

أَمَّا النِّظَامُ فَكُلُّهُ عَجَبٌ

فِي الكَوْنِ لِلمُتَبَصِّرِ الفَهِمِ

As for the system, it is all marvels

In the universe for the discerning, perceptive one.

أَلتُّرْبُ لِلأَجْسَامِ مُصْطَنَعٌ

وَنَوَاسِمُ الأَرْوَاحِ لِلنَّسَمِ

Is dust not artificially made for bodies

And distribution of spirits for the soft breeze?

وَلِكُلِّ جُزْءٍ مِنْ دَقَائِقِهَا

مَعْنَىً كَمَعْنَى الكُلِّ لَمْ يُرَمِ

And does not every part of its minutiae

Have a meaning like the whole's, undivided?

لَمْ تَدْرِ سِرّاً لِلحَيَاةِ وَلا

لِخُصُومَتَيْهَا البُرْءِ وَالسَّقَمِ

You have not known the secret of life

Nor its disputing companions, wellness and illness,

وَنِزَاعِهَا المُحْيِي المُمِيتِ مَعاً

بَيْنَ الصَّفَاءِ النَّزْرِ وَالأَلَمِ

Nor its life‐giving, death‐dealing contention

Between clarity, frailty, and pain.

سِرّ لَوْ أَنَّ المَرْءَ يُدْرِكُهُ

عَقْلاً لَشِمْتَ سَنَاهُ مِنْ أَمَمِ

A secret which, if one could realize it

Through the intellect, you would smell its eternity from nations.

لَكِنْ رَأَيْتَ البِرَّ أَجْمَلَ مَا

تُحْدَى إِلَيْهِ سَوَابِقُ الهِمَمِ

But you have seen that righteousness is the most beautiful thing

To which the quests of resolute souls can be summoned,

وَالْبِرُّ أَشْرَفَهُ وَأَنْفَعُهُ

لِلنَّاسِ فِي الإِرْشَادِ وَالحِكَمِ

And that righteousness, in its noblest and most useful form

For people, is guidance and wisdom.

فَأَزَلتَ كُرْبَةَ كُلِّ ذِي شَجَنٍ

بِالرَّائِقِ الشَّافِي مِنَ الكَلِمِ

So you have removed the anguish from every one in agony

With healing, gentle words,

وَأَسَوْتَ مَكْلُومَ النُّفُوسِ إِسَا

مِنْ يَقْرِنُ التَّضْمِيدَ بِالنَّغَمِ

And consoled tormented souls by combining

The balm with melody.

بِرَوَائِعٍ كَالكَوْنِ بَاهِرَةٍ

مَا بَيْنَ مُنْتَثِرٍ وَمُنْتَظِمِ

With masterpieces like the universe, magnificent,

Both scattered and arranged.

جَمَّلْتَهَا بِجَمَالِهِ فَمَضَتْ

وَلَهَا جَلالُ الكَوْنِ مِنْ قِدَمِ

You have adorned them with its beauty, and they have passed away,

While its majesty has lasted from the beginning of time.

يَا فَخْرَ دَارِ الأَنْبِيَاءِ أَلَمْ

يَضِقِ الضَّريحُ بِمُحْتَوَى عَلَمِ

O pride of the prophets' abode, has not

The tomb become too small to contain the standard of knowledge?

شَرَّفْتَهَا وَالآنَ صِرْتَ إِلَى

مَهْوَى الجِبَالِ وَمَهْبِطِ الشَّمَمِ

You have ennobled it, and now you have come

To the abyss of mountains and the descent of buzzards.

لَكِنَّ ذِكْركَ خَالِدٌ أَبَداً

فِي النَّاسِ مَحْمُودٌ بِكُلِّ فَمِ

But your memory is eternally living

Among the people, praised by every mouth,

بِبَقَائِهِ وَرَدَاكَ مَوْعِظَةٌ

لِلسَّائِرِ المُفْضِي إِلَى الرجُمِ

Its survival a lesson for the passerby

On his way to being pelted with rocks.

إِخْلَعْ عَنِ اسْمِكَ فَانِياً خَلَقاً

وَالبَسْ جَمِيلَ الذِّكْرِ تَسْتَدَمِ

Shed from your name one made to pass away, created,

And don the beauty of being remembered, lasting.