لمنْ وَبمنْ عسى يُرجى العزاءُ

جميع العربِ في البلوى سواءُ

For whom and with whom can solace be hoped for

All the Arabs are equal in tribulation

رزئنا فيصلاً فرداً كجيلٍ

تواتيه الكفاءَةُ والغناءُ

We have lost Faisal, an individual like a generation

Endowed with competence and melody

طواه الدهرُ تاريخاً مجيداً

لشعبٍ صحفُه غرٌّ وِضاءُ

Time has buried him, a glorious history

For a people whose pages are pride and brilliance

أَهابَ بقومِه والليلُ داجٍ

فضاءَ لهم كما ضاءَتْ ذكاءُ

He guided his people when night was pitch black

A space for them as his brilliance illuminated

وشبَّ الثورَةَ الأُولى فأَذكى

نفوساً كاد يدركها انطفاءُ

And ignited the first revolution so it stirred

Souls that extinction had almost overtaken

فعلَّمنا جزاه اللهُ خيراً

طريقتَها إذا طَفَحَ الإِناءُ

So he taught us - may Allah reward him well-

Its way when the cup overflowed

وَما دامتْ نفوسُ القومِ يوماً

تثورُ فلا يزال لهمْ رجاءُ

And as long as the people's souls one day

Rebel, hope will remain for them

بصيرٌ بالسياسةِ ذو وفاءٍ

وهيهاتَ السياسة والوفاءُ

Discerning in politics, faithful

Yet politics and faithfulness - how remote!

أَفاضَ عَلَى أَمانينا حياةً

فكيف تظنُّ يدركه الفناءُ

He imparted upon our hopes a life

So how can you think he will be overtaken by extinction?

أتعلمُ قبل منعاه نعيّاً

تضجُّ الأرضُ منه والسماءُ

Do you know before his death was announced

The land and sky would roar?

أَما اشتركتْ بمأْتمِه البرايا

وَغصَّ البحرُ وازدحم الفضاءُ

Did not the wilds share in his tragedy

And the sea became tumultuous and space congested?

وَكان النعشُ للمعراج ذكرى

رأتها حين حلَّق إِيلياءُ

And was not the funeral litter a souvenir

Seen when Elijah ascended?

تولّيناه لا نبغي بديلاً

به فجرى بما نأْبى القضاءُ

We have made him a successor - we desire no substitute

What destiny dictated has transpired through him

فجربنا عَلَى كرهٍ سواه

فلم نفلحْ وَتمَّ له الولاءُ

We tried perforce another than him

But did not succeed, and loyalty to him was affirmed

برمنا بالروايةِ حين طالتْ

فصولٌ كلُّ ما فيها هراءُ

We became bored when the episodes dragged on

Each filled with nothing but nonsense

مناظرُ سمجةٌ وَسخيفُ لغوٍ

فقلْ أَينَ التصاممُ والعماءُ

Crass scenes and frivolous prattle

Where then are determination and purpose?

فقدْنا الجدَّ بل والهزلَ فيها

وَأشخاصُ الروايةِ أَغبياءُ

We lost earnestness and even the humor in it

And its characters are most idiotic

فما بال الذي أَعطى طِلاءَ

يمنُّ به وَقد نَصَلَ الطلاءُ

What about the one who bestowed a façade

Who pretends to be pleased though the façade is cracked?

وَمجملُ ما لنا فيه اختيار

خضوعٌ أو إِسارٌ أَو جلاءُ

And the sum of what we have to choose

Is either submission, captivity, or fleeing

فلا واللهِ لا أَنساه يوماً

بقربٍ منه أَسعدني اللقاءُ

No, by Allah, I shall never forget him

A meeting with him brought me utmost bliss

جلالُ نبوةٍ وَجلالُ ملكٍ

عَلَى قسماتِه لهما رواءُ

The majesty of prophethood and the majesty of kingship

Upon his features, both find repose

ذكرتُ له (دمشقَ) وَكيف باتتْ

تراقُ عَلَى أَباطحها الدماءُ

I mentioned to him Damascus, and how

Its plazas were streaming with blood

أُبيحتْ حرمةُ الأَشياخِ فيها

وَريعتْ في مآمنها النساءُ

The sanctity of old men was violated in it

And its shelters were overrun by women

وَأَقفرتِ المساجدِ من مصلٍّ

وَعُطِّلَ من مآذنِها النداءُ

Its mosques were vacated of worshippers

And the call to prayer silenced from its minarets

وَأصبحتِ الكنائسُ خاوياتٍ

تفيضُ أَسى هياكلها قواءُ

Its churches became desolate

Their interiors cascading with wailing

فَدرَّ عَلَى جبينِ الملكِ عرقٌ

تراءَى الحزنُ فيه والإِباءُ

So sweat dripped down the brow of the king

Grief and dejection visible in it

وغالبَ أَدمعاً في مقلتيه

فلم يظفرْ وَقد غَلَب البكاءُ

He suppressed tears in his eyelids

But did not succeed, and weeping prevailed

فلا عجب إذا جزعتْ (دمشق)

فلوعتُها للوعتِه جزاءُ

No wonder if Damascus lamented

Its suffering would be the reward for his suffering

هديرُ مياهها نوحٌ عليه

وَهينمةُ النَّسيمِ بها رثاءُ

The murmur of its waters is a lament for him

And the whispering of its breeze, an elegy

وسودُ ظلالِها أَثوابُ حزنٍ

عليها باتَ يخلعها المساءُ

The blackness of its shadows are garments of sorrow

Draped on it by the evening

عزاءُ النفسِ عن بانٍ عظيمٍ

بنى ومضى إذا ثبتَ البناءُ

Solace for the soul over an immense edifice

That he built then departed when the structure was firm

فلا تهنوا فما في الوهن إلا

مضاعفة الرزيَّةِ والشقاءُ

So do not waver, for in wavering is only

Greater misery and wretchedness

ولا يذهبْ رجاؤكمُ هباءً

لفرطِ أَسى وإنْ عَظُمَ البلاءُ

And do not let your hopes dissolve into nothingness

Due to intense grief, no matter how great the tribulation

فبعد (محمَّدٍ) والجرحُ دامٍ

توالى الفتحُ وانتشرَ اللواءُ

For after Muhammad, though the wound was still bleeding,

Conquest succeeded and the banner unfurled