مضَى رَيبُ المَنُونِ بِهِمْ جمِيعا
وَقَوَّضَ ذَلِك الْبَيْتَ الرَّذِفيعَا
The fate of death swept them all away,
Demolishing that lofty home.
أَلَمَّ بِهِمْ مُدَارَكَةً فَأَفْنَى
أُصُولَهُمُ الزَّكِيَّة وَالْفروعا
It destroyed them utterly,
Their righteous roots and branches.
وكُنْتُ صَبِرْتُ بَعْضَ الصبْرِ عَنْهُمْ
بِبَاقٍ مِنْهُمُ جَبَرَ الصُّدُوعَا
I was patient for a while about them
As long as some remained to heal my pain.
فَلَمَّا بَانَ جَدَّتْ فِي أَناتِي
مَآتِمُهُمْ وَأَقْلَقتِ الضُّلوعَا
But when my hopes were dashed
Their loss filled me with turmoil.
وَبِتُّ إِذا تَذَكَّرَهُمْ فُؤادِي
رَأَيْتُ خَوَاطِرِي تَجْرِي دُمُوعَا
My heart weeps tears of blood
When I remember them.
فَيَا قَلْبِي وَشِيمَتُك التَّأَسِّي
نَهَيْتُكَ عَنْ نُهَاكَ فَكُنْ جَزُوعَا
So curb your anguish, o my soul,
And be forever inconsolable!
عَذَرْتُكَ أَنْ تُرَاعَ فَبَعدْ هَذَا
يَشُقُّ عَلَى الْحَوَادِثِ أَنْ تَرُوعَا
I chide you, yet excuse you now -
Bear calamities, but do not dread them.
أَمينُ إِذَا سَكَتَّ فَمَنْ نَدِيمٌ
تَهُزُّ شُجُونُهُ الْفَطِنَ السَّمِيعَا
When the trusted one is silent, who remains
To stir the hearts of those who hear?
وَإِنْ تُلْقِ الْيَرَاعَ فَمَنْ أَدِيبٌ
مَتَى يَدْعُ الْخيَالَ يُجِبْ مُطِيعَا
And if adversity should strike, what poet
Can make his imagination still obey?
عِصَامِيُّ الْبَيَانِ عَنِ ابْتِدَاعٍ
وَإِنْ لَمْ ينْسَ إِلْفَتَهُ رَضِيعَا
Master of rhetoric - though never at a loss
For eloquence, even when young.
تَضُوعُ خِلاَلُهُ أَدَباً وَظَرْفاً
كَمَا تَهْوَى الأَزَاهِرُ أَنْ تَضُوعَا
His speech flows with the purest art and grace,
As flowers yearn to bloom.
إِذا نَثَرَ الطَّرَائِفَ مُرسَلاَتٍ
أَعَزَّ السهْلَ وَافْتَتَحَ المَنِيعَا
He effortlessly unlocks what others barricade,
Vanquishing the most obstinate.
وَإِنْ نَظَمَ الْعِرَابَ مِنَ الْقَوَافِي
أَبَتْ فِي النَّابِغِينَ لَهُ قَرِيعَا
His poetry eclipses even the greatest poets -
None can equal him.
شوَارِدَ تَسْتَضِيقُ الأَرْضَ حَدّاً
أَوَابِدَ تَرتَمِي الأَمَدَ الْوَسِيعَا
His writing fills the earth to overflowing,
Though his themes embrace eternity.
أَوَانِسَ رَاقِصَاتٍ مُرْقِصَاتٍ
يَكَادُ الحِلْمُ يَشْهَدُهَا خَلِيعَا
He makes seductive dancer-girls
Whom even the devout would gladly watch.
مَعَانِيهَا سَبَتْ لُبَّ المَعَانِي
وَسِحْرُ بَدِيعِهَا فَتَنَ الْبَدِيعَا
His ideas entrance the world of ideas,
His artful style enchants art itself.
غَلَتْ عَنْ سَائِمٍ وَالْعَصْرُ عَصْرٌ
إِذَا مَا سِيمَ فِيهِ الْعِرْضُ بِيعَا
He has surpassed the eminent masters
Who auctioned their wares in days gone by.
وَتَأْخُذُهَا النُّهَى نَهْباً مُبَاحاً
فَتَسْتَكْفِي بِهَا ظَمأً وَجُوعَا
Forbidden fruit is free for his taking,
Appeasing his hunger and thirst.
وَمَا يُزْهَى مُدَبِّجهَا بِسَامِي
مَكانَتِهِ فَتحْسُبُهُ وَضِيعَا
But how can his glittering eminence
Be heightened or diminished?
إِذا مَا رُمْتَ غَايَاتِ المَعَالِي
وَمَوْطِنهَا الْقُلُوبُ فَكُنْ وَدِيعَا
Set your sights as high as nobleness allows,
Yet make the hearts your home, and there find peace.
أَمٍينُ طَوَاكَ لَيْلٌ خِفْتُ أَلاَّ
يَكُونَ ظَلاَمُهُ الدَّاجِي هزِيعَا
My friend - the night has veiled you. I fear
Its darkness will not lift, but bring extinction.
وَأَنْ يَفْنَى بِفَخْرٍ مِنْكَ فِيهِ
فَيَأْبَى فَجْرُهُ الثَّانِي طُلُوعَا
That you, in whom we glory, will be no more,
And the second dawn will never rise.
عَلَى أَنِّي إِخالُك غَيْرَ قالٍ
سَكِينَتَهُ وَلاَ بَاغٍ رجُوعَا
I know you did no wrong,
Or fled from the battle in retreat.
وَكُنْتَ المَرْءَ شَارَفَ مِنْ يَفَاعٍ
فَجَالَ الْعُمْرَ وَاجْتَنَبَ الْوُقُوعَا
A man almost lost to peril -
You spent your years escaping falls.
فَلَمْ تَسْمَعْ وَأَنْتَ هُنَاكَ لَغْواً
وَلَمْ تَكُ رائِياً إِلاَّ رَبِيعَا
Not once did we hear you chatter nonsense
Or make a show of false airs.
وَلَمْ تَكُ حَاقِداً وَالْحِقْدُ دَاءٌ
يُحَلِّبُ فِي الحَشَا سُمّاً نَقِيعَاً
Nor did malice, hatred's poison,
Flow bitter from your lips.
وَتُنْضِي واضِحَ الْحَدَّيْنِ رَأْياً
فَيَمْلأُ كُلَّ غَامِضَةٍ سُطُوعَا
You speak sense, shedding light
That illuminates each shadowed place.
وَتَرْثِي لِلأَنَامِ مِنَ اللَّيَالِي
وَلاَ يَلْقَاكَ حَادِثُهَا هَلُوعَا
You mourn the days that die,
No misfortune ever makes you lose your wits.
وَتَأْنَفُ أَنْ تَبِيتَ عَلَى رَجاءٍ
وَلَسْتَ لِمَا تُرَجِّي مُسْتَطِيعَا
Scorn to spend the night in fruitless hopes
Of what you cannot execution.
يُضِيعُ المَرْءُ ما كَسَبَتْ يَدَاهُ
بِمَطْمَعِهِ وَيَملكهُ قَنُوعَا
Grasping greed destroys what hands have earned.
Contentment gives a man true wealth.
فَضَائِلُ أَعْطَتِ الدُّنْيَا جَمَالاً
وَلَكِنْ لَمْ تَدَعْكَ بِهَا وَلُوعَا
Your virtues lent the world its beauty.
Yet they left you never restless.
فَيَا أَسَفِي عَلَى تِلْكَ المَزَايَا
وحَاشَا طِيبَ ذِكْرِكَ أَنْ تَضِيعَا
How I regret the loss of your great soul!
Never shall your name be forgotten.
أُحَاشِي الذِّكْرَ وَهْوَ بِغَيْرِ جَدْوَى
بَطِيئاً مَا تُنُوسِيَ أَوْ سَرِيعَا
Why speak of one whose worth speaks for itself,
Whether told slow or fast?
وَهَلْ هُوَ غَيْرُ أَفْعَالٍ مَوَاضٍ
تَذِيعُ وَفَضْلُهَا أَلاَّ تَذِيعَا
Are not brave deeds their own reward,
Requiting those who do and those who tell?
وَهَلْ فِي الشُّهْرَةِ الْيَقْظَى خُلودٌ
يُرَامُ لِخَالِدٍ عَنْهَا هجُوعَا
Can lasting fame give immortality
To one who yearns to rest obscured?
أَلاَ إِنِّي وَمَرْثِيَتِي أَمِيناً
لَسَاقٍ صَخْرَةَ الْوَادِي نَجِيعَا
Indeed, for me and my elegy of you,
A solid pillar in this valley's gorge,
وَأَعْلَمُ أَنَّ أَبْلَغَ كُلِّ مَدْحٍ
لِمَيْتٍ مَجْدُهُ وَسِعَ الرُّبُوعَا
I know the highest praise for one long dead
Is that his glory filled both far and near.
غرُور بَاطِلٌ كَغُرُورِ يَوْمٍ
رَثَى فِيهِ الضحى نَسْراً صَرِيعَا
What fools we are! One transient dawn,
The rising sun shed rays on a slain eagle,
فَصاغَ مِنَ الشُّعاعِ لَهُ خَيَالاً
وَأَلْقَاهُ بِجَانِبِهِ ضَجِيعا
And in its fading gleam he shaped a dream,
A lifeless vision by its side.
سَموْتَ إِلى الْحَقِيقَةِ وَهْيَ شَأْوٌ
فَدَعْنَا ظَالِعاً يَتْلُو ظَلِيعَا
But you have soared into the truth -
Leave us in shadow, joining the light above.
