أَمِيرَ القَوْلِ بَعْدكَ مَنْ يَقُولُ

بَلَغْتَ الشَّأوَ وَامْتَنَعَ الوُصُولُ

The master of eloquence, who after you can speak

You reached the pinnacle, and access is denied

سَبِيلُكَ لاَ يُسَارُ بِهَا وَمَنْذَا

تُوَاتِي جُهْدَهُ تِلْكَ السَّبيلُ

Your path cannot be traced, and since when

Can one attain the limits of that path?

وَهَلْ تَأْتِي الفُرُوعُ مُثَنَّياتٍ

لِما انْفَرَدَتْ بِهِ تِلكَ الأُصُولُ

Can branches reach what those roots attained exclusively?

That refined prose will endure

سَيَبْقَى ذَلِكَ النَّثرُ المُصَفَّى

ويَبْقَى ذَلِكَ الشِّعرُ الجَمِيلُ

As will that beautiful poetry

And the meanings of its creator will remain

وَتَبْقَى بَعْدَ مُبْدِعِهَا مَعَانٍ

جَنَتْ لِذَّاتِها مِنْهَا العُقُولُ

After their maker, though minds conceived them

And if his masterpieces abound, they are few

وَلَوْ كَثُرَتْ رَوَائِعُهَا لَقَلَّتْ

وَحَسْبُكَ مِنْ نَظَائِرِهَا القَلِيلُ

Enough for you are those scarce peers

And enough is the refinement found in his craft—

وَحَسْبُكَ فِي البَرَاعَةِ مِنْ حِلاَهَا

دَقِيقٌ فِي الصِّناعَةِ أَوْ جَلِيلُ

Whether intricate or majestic

Hear it—how can El Kumri then sing?

أَتَسْمَعُهَا فَمَا القُمْرِيُّ يَشْدُو

وَتَشْرَبُهَا فَكَيْفَ السَّلسَبِيلُ

Drink it in—how sweet is zamzam?

Seek its guidance—how can dawn then break

أَتَسْتَهْدِي فَكَيْفَ الصُّبحُ يَبْدُو

وَقَدْ رُفِعَتْ مِنَ الظَّلمِ السُّدُولُ

When darkness has been dispelled?

Seek a cure—if accelerated

أَتَلْتَمِسُ الشَّفاءَ فَإِنْ يُعَجَّلْ

فَكَيْفَ يَلَذُّهُ القَلْبُ العَلِيلُ

How can the ailing heart delight?

Yearn for meadows—how can they then be revealed

أَتَشْتَاقُ الرُّبُوعَ فَكَيْفَ تُجْلَى

رُبَاهَا وَالمَدَارِجُ وَالحُقُولُ

Along with terraces and fields?

Can beauty touch you? What loveliness

أَيُصْيِبك الجَمَالُ فَأَيُّ حُسْنٍ

شَهِدْتَ مِثَالَهُ وَلَهُ مَثِيلُ

Have you witnessed its likeness or parallel?

A composition whose reasons are obscured

نِظَامٌ دُونَهُ الأَسْبَابُ تَخْفى

فَمَا السَّبَبُ الخَفِيفُ وَمَا الثَّقِيلُ

So what reason is light and what heavy?

It may awe you with anchored rhymes

يَرُوعُكَ بِالقَوَافِي رَاسِخَاتٍ

وَبِالصُّوَرِ الَّتِي فِيهَا تَجُولُ

And with imagery you meander through

Oh war is ill for one so dear lost

فَوَا حَرَبَا لِمَفْقُودٍ عَزِيز

بَكَاهُ الحِلمُ وَالخُلُقُ النَّبيلُ

Mourned by forbearance and noble manners

The stars refuse to shine lacking brightness

أَبَاتَ النَّجمُ لَيْسَ لَهُ ضِيَاءٌ

وَبَاتَ السَّيفُ لَيْسَ لَهَ صَلِيلُ

The swords lack clatter and clash

Lebanon bowed its grieving summit for him

ثَنَى لُبْنَانُ مُهْجَتَهُ عَلَيْهِ

وَشُبِّه لِلعُيُونِ ثَرىً مَهِيلُ

And soil heaped resembles eyes welling

Therein lies an abode for eternity alive

هُنَالِكُ مَنْزِلٌ لِلخُلدِ حَيٌّ

وَفِيهِ مِنْ أَعزَّتِهِ نَزِيلُ

Where his most beloved lies resident

O trustee surrender and the rightly-guided strays not

أَمِينُ اسْلَمْ وَلَمْ يَبْعَدْ رَشِيدٌ

أَيَبْعَدُ مَنْ لَهُ مِنْهُ بَدِيلُ

Can one who has the like of him roam astray?

He who lived two lifetimes in his fleeting world

وَذُو عُمْرَيْنِ فِي دُنْيَاهُ بَانٍ

بَنَى مَجْداً يُتَمِّمهُ سَلِيلُ

Constructed a glory his descendants will perfect