تذكّرتُ فانهلّت الأدمعُ

وما كنت من حادث أجزع

I recalled, so the tears flowed,

Though no tragic event made me sad.

ذكرت الخدين وعهد الصفا

وقد شاقني سمر ممتع

I remembered the cheeks and days of innocence,

When a sleepless dark-eyed one charmed me.

فألفيت صحبي قد شتتوا

وقد راح بعض وما ودعوا

I found my friends had scattered,

Some had left without bidding farewell.

فوالهف نفسي على صاحب

كريم الطباع فما يخدع

My soul lamented for a companion

Of noble nature, never deceitful.

طوته المنون طرير الشباب

وليس لموتورتها مفزع

Death, the ender of youth’s joy, took him

And there was no refuge from his death.

سعيت إلى القبر دامي الفؤاد

اسائل عمن به أودعوا

My heart grieving, I went to his grave

To ask about the one laid to rest there.

فسلمت لما لمست الصفيح

وناديت أين الفتى الأروع

I surrendered when I touched the slab

And called, “Where is that ideal youth?”

أحقاً ثوى بين هذي الرموس

وصار له بينها مضجع

“Is he really buried amidst these sands?

Has he become a resident of this grave?”

توسد بعد الفراش الصفاة

وقد كان في الخز لا يهجع

After luxury, he pillowed his head on the ground,

Though once he could not rest on fine linen.

وكان الجواب صموت القبور

وكان جوابي له الأدمع

The answer was the silence of tombs,

And my answer was tears.

يذكرني القبر خدن الصفا

فيشكو الأسى قلبي المولع

The grave reminds me of the cheeks of innocence,

Making my amorous heart complain.

ولم أنس يوما فجعنا به

وفقد الشبيبة كم يفجع

Never can I forget the day of our bereavement,

When the youths lost one whose death agonized.

شباب يطوفون حول السرير

وكلهم جازع موجع

Youth circled his bier,

Each one grieving and pained.

فمن باذلٍ دمعَهُ مشفقٌ

ومن ذاهلٍ طرفُه يدمع

Some shed tears in sympathy,

While others had eyes that welled up.

يحومون حولك والحتف دان

تقضقض من هوله الأضلع

They hovered around you as death drew near

And hacked at your ribs mercilessly.

يفديك صحبك والأقربون

ولكنه الموت لا يدفع

Your friends and kin tried to ransom you,

But death will not be driven away.

علت بسمة شفتيك العذاب

وقد هجم الموت لا يردع

The pangs of death contorted your smiling lips

As death attacked and would not be deterred.

وثار العراك وكان الردى

شديد المراس فما يرجع

The struggle was fierce and the havoc great,

The deadly blow would not be deflected.

فأنشب أظفاره في الحشى

وكان بأظفاره المصرع

Death sank its claws into your breast

And its claws were the means of your death.

ومتّ كريماً وكل امرء

سيمضي وغايته البلقع

You died nobly, as all men will do,

For their final garment is the shroud.

فهذا الوجود قبور الأنام

فلم يخل من جدث موضع

This existence is but the graves of mankind,

No place remains devoid of burial mounds.

تولى الأولى ولحقنا بهم

فهذا بطيء وذا مسرع

The first died and we will join them,

One slowly and another hurriedly.

سنفنى ولم نبق من بعدنا

سوى الذكر والذكر قد ينفع

We will perish and leave none after us

Save memory, and memory can be of use.

من الناس من مات موت السوام

وليس له خبر يسمَع

Some died the death of commoners,

With no famous tale to be heard.

ومنهم يعيش بأخباره

فذكراه كالمسك يضوّع

While others live on through their fame,

So their memory is like musk - it lingers.

وقد يخلد المرء بالذكريات

وذكراك كالشمس إذ تطلع

Man can live forever through memories,

And yours is like the rising sun.