لعمرُكَ ما يُنْسينيَ الدّهرُ روعَتي

بِفَقد أبي بكرٍ حَياتي ولا يُسلي

By your life, time will never make me forget my anguish

at losing Abu Bakr, all my life, nor bring me solace.

خَشيتُ عليه اليُتم بعدي فَليتَني

رُميتُ بما أَخْشى ولم أُرْمَ بالثَّكلِ

I feared he would be left an orphan after me—would that I

had been struck by what I feared, and not by the loss of a child.

فكلُّ بعيدٍ يُرتَجى جَمعُ شَملِهِ

وبُعدُ المنايا غيرُ مُجتمِعِ الشَّمْلِ

For every distant one may hope to be reunited with his own,

but those parted by death shall never be gathered together.