ضجيعَ التراب، أطلتَ الرقودَا

عزيزٌ على الضاد ألا تعودَا!

O sleeper in the dust, you have long been resting,

Dear to Alif, would that you return!

بكتك، لعمري، عيونٌ شحاحٌ

تعوَّدنَ عند المصاب الجمودا

My life, your eyes wept bitter tears,

Accustomed at misfortune to be frozen.

بكى النيل مَنْ كان في طهره

وكانت سجاياه أشهى ورودا

The Nile wept for the one who was in its purity,

And its rapids were the most fragrant roses.

فتى شَيَّعته الوفود، فسارت

مناقبُهُ تتحدَّى الوفودا

He was bidden farewell by crowds, so his virtues

Marched challenging the crowds.

ولو لم نُؤبِّنهُ نحن، لقامت

فألقت على كل سمع قصيدا

Had we not eulogized him, there would have risen

And cast upon each hearing an ode -

له سيرة كعبير الزهورِ

لوَ أن الزهورَ رُزقنَ الخلودا

He has a life story like the scent of flowers

If only flowers were granted eternity!

نثرنا الورود على قبره

فقطَّرَ طيبُ ثراه الورودا

We strew roses on his grave,

So the perfume of his earth dripped roses.

قضى، وهُو للكل خِلٌّ، ودود

وكان له الكلُّ خلا، ودودا

He passed away, and he was gentle and friendly to all,

And all were intimate and loving friends to him.

وعاش؛ فما عاش إلا كريمًا

ومات؛ فما مات إلا شهيدا

He lived so he lived only nobly,

And he died so he died only a martyr.

وأدَّى رسالتهُ في الحياة

ولولا الردى، لتوخى المزيدا

He carried out his mission in life,

And had it not been for havoc, he would have sought more.

ومدُّوا له في زمان الجهادِ

ويأبى له الموتُ عمْرًا مديدا

In the time of struggle, they extended his life,

But death refuses him a prolonged life.

فتى نال باللين ما لا يُنالُ

وللِّين بأسٌ يَفلُّ الحديدا

A youth who attained by gentleness what cannot be attained,

And gentleness has might that crushes iron.

تراضُ الوحوشُ بألفاظه

وينقلبُ الجمرُ ماءً بَرودا

The wild beasts were tamed by his words,

And embers turned into cool water.

يسوس الأمورَ بمحضِ الأناةِ

فيطوي العدوَّ، ويُرْضي الحسودا

He managed affairs with pure deliberation,

So he folded the enemy, and pleased the envious.

وما كان في الحلم إلا ابنَ هندٍ

وذو الحلم أخلقْ به أن يسودا!

He was nothing but a son of India in dreams,

And the dreamer is inspired by him to rule!

محمدُ، لو تُفتدَى بالشبابِ

بذلناه للموت فيك زهيدا

Muhammad, if youth could be ransomed,

We would give it to death for your sake, underpriced.

عهدتك مبتسمًا للحياةِ

ترى كلَّ يوم أظلَّلك عيدا

I knew you smiling at life,

Seeing each day that shaded you as a feast,

بوجهٍ طليق، كوجه الربيعٍ

إذا طاب نفحًا، وأورقَ عودا

With a radiant face, like the face of spring,

When it exudes fragrance, and the branches burgeon.

ولم تَشْكُ من حادث الدهر يومًا

كأنكَ منه أَخذتَ العهودا

You never complained of the vicissitudes of fate,

As if you had taken assurances from it.

أَلا إن ذلك سرُّ اليقينِ

رُزقت اليقينَ، فَعِشْتَ سعيدا

Verily that is the secret of certainty -

You were granted certainty, so you lived happy.

سجدتَ لربك حين أطالتْ

جباهٌ لغير الإله السُّجُودا

You prostrated to your Lord when foreheads

Prostrated to other than Allah prolonged.

أقدِّسُ فيك التقى والصلاحَ

أقدِّسُ فيك الخلاق الحميدا

I sanctify in you piety and righteousness,

I sanctify in you the Most Perfect, the Most Praiseworthy.

عهدتك تدعو إلى الخُلْق دينًا

وتهتفُ بالصالحاتِ نشيدا

I knew you calling to good character as religion,

And chanting about good deeds as anthems.

ورقَّتْ خِلالك مثلَ النسيم

فكانت على ما تقول شهيدا

Through you wafted, like a soft breeze,

So it bore witness to what you were saying.

عهدتك تعملُ خَلْفَ الستارِ

وتَبذلُ إثر الجهود الجهودا

I knew you working behind the scenes,

And exerting efforts behind the efforts.

تُهَيِّئُ للضاد مجدًا طريفًا

وتبعثُ للضاد مجدًا تليدا

You were preparing glorious prestige for the Dhofari state,

And inspiring lasting prestige for the Dhofari state.

تُشيد بها في سكون وصمت

وتدفع عنها الأذى إن أريدا

You were extolling it in tranquility and silence,

And warding harm from it, if it was intended.

جهودٌ يحسُّ بهنَّ الجمادُ

وتنكر أن لهن وجودا

They are unnoticed efforts, that even inanimate objects sense,

And they deny that they exist.

أبَا جابر، كلُّ حي يصيرُ

إلى حتفه، كارهًا، أو مُريدا

O Abi Jabir, every living being will come

To his demise, unwilling or willing.

على الأرض ننمو نموَّ النباتِ

ويلقطنا الموتُ حَبّا حصيدا

On earth we grow like the growth of plants,

And death plucks us like ripened harvest.

سنسلُكُ يومًا سبيلَ الجدودِ

فلسنا بأسعدَ منهم جدودا

One day we will tread the path of ancestors -

We are not more fortunate than them, ancestors.

سألتُ عن الأرض: ماذا أقلت؟

فقالوا: مهودٌ تغذِّي لحودا

I asked about the earth, what has it said?

They said: A lair that nourishes serpents.

ولم أرَ كالموت داءً قديمًا

تخرَّم عادًا، وأفنى ثمودا

And I have not seen death as an ancient affliction

That corroded nation, and annihilated Thamud.

فما بالنا كلما مات ميْتٌ

شَرْبنا من الحزن لونًا جديدا؟

So why is it that whenever someone dies,

We drink from sorrow a new color?

رأيتُ البكاءَ يعزي الحزينَ

ولكنه لا يردّ الفقيدا

I saw weeping comforting the grieving one,

But it does not bring back the departed.

لعمرُك، ما الموتُ إلا انطلاقٌ

فإن الحياةَ تفيضُ قيودا

By your life, death is but release,

For life overflows with shackles.

علامَ تشكَّى الحياةَ زهيْرٌ

وأضجرَ طولُ البقاء لبيدا؟

Why did Zuheir complain about life,

And the prolonging of survival bore Labid?

أبا جابرٍ، شاهَ وجهُ الحياةِ

وصار الورى للحُطام عبيدا!

O Abi Jabir, the face of life has become ugly,

And the land has become enslaved to ruins!

فلا العيشُ أمسى يُعَضُّ عليه

ولا الموتُ أصبح خصمًا لدودا

Neither is living still delectable,

Nor has death become a lasting adversary.

وماذا تركت من الطيِّباتِ؟

تركتَ حروبًا تشيب الوليدا

And what good deeds have you left behind?

You left wars that turn the infant grey.

تُروَى أديمَ الثرى بالنجيعِ

وتملأ سمعَ الزمان رعودا

The skins of slain are watered by blood,

And the ears of the era are filled with thunder.

حروب يسعِّرها الأشقياءُ

فتتخذُ الأبرياءُ وقودا

Wars ignited by the wicked,

So the innocent become fuel.

غدت تَصَهرُ الناس مثلَ الجليدِ

ولكنَّ في مصر شعبًا جليدا

They have become melting people like ice,

But in Egypt there is an icy people.

إذا الأرض مادتْ بسكانها

فإن لنا وطنًا لن يميدا

When the earth extends with its inhabitants,

We have a homeland that will not tilt.

أبا جابر، ما نسينا الوفاءَ

ولا علَّمتنا الحروبُ الجحودا

O Abi Jabir, we have not forgotten loyalty,

Nor have wars taught us estrangement.

أشادتْ بذكرك «دارُ العلومِ»

فما كنتَ إلا فتاها الرشيدا

“Dar Al Uloom” extolled your memory,

For you were only its wise graduate,

وواسطة العقد في نحرها

وإن كان باقيه درا نضيدا

And the clasp of its necklace,

Even if the rest of it is scattered pearls.

لعمرُك، مازال للدار أهلٌ

ومازالت الغابُ تنمي الأسودا

By your life, the school still has its people,

And the forest still grows its lions.

لئن أنجبتكَ، فكم أنجبت

لمصر حصاةً، ورأيًا سديدًا

If it gave birth to you, how many

Of Egypt’s pebbles and wise opinions did it sire!

وأنفًا أشمَّ يزيد ارتفاعًا

إذا شمَّ بعضُ الأنوف الصعيدا

It produced a nose that smells heights

When some noses smell only the countryside.

رجال بعصر الجهالة لاحوا

نجومًا تشقُّ ليالَي سودا

Men in an age of ignorance appeared

Like stars piercing dark nights.

همو حملوا راية الضاد حتى

أعادوا لها جعفرا والرشيدا

They carried the banner of Dhofar until

They restored Jafar and Al-Rashid to it.

إذا لمحت مصر آثارهم

تثنّت من التيه عِطفًا وجيدا

When Egypt glimpses their traces,

It inclines from straying, graciously.

ولم تَرَ أخلصَ منهم رجالاً

وأنكر للذات منهم جنودا

It has not seen men more loyal than them,

Or troops more self-denying than them.

إذا شبَّت الحرب، هبوا قيامًا

وإن قُسِّم الفيء، ظلوا قعودا

When war flared up, they rose to their feet,

And when spoils were divided, they remained seated.

ولا يحسب الناس «دار العلوم»

بناءً على أرض مصر مشيدا

People do not consider “Dar Al Uloom”

A building erected on Egyptian land,

فإن لها بالعراق فصولاً

وإن لها في الحجاز حدودا

For it has branches in Iraq,

And it has borders in Hejaz.

إذا رفعت في الكنانة بندًا

فقد رفعت في سواها بنودًا

If it raised a banner in Kenya,

Then it raised banners in other places.

مثابة أم اللغى، من بناها

بني للعروبة صرحًا وطيدا

A school for the mother of languages, he who built it

Built for Arabism a sturdy edifice.