1. لَم تُبقِ بَعدَكَ في الخُطوبِ جَليلاً

    مُذ شِئتَ يا عَبدَ العَزيزِ رَحيلا

    You left no calamity seeming great after your loss,

    since you chose, O Abd al-Aziz, to depart.

  2. خَلَّفتَ لِلإِسلامِ أَيَّ مَناحَةٍ

    طَمَت وَعَمَت عَرضَهُ وَالطولا

    What mourning you left to Islam—

    surging and spreading across its breadth and length!

  3. في كُلِّ أَرضٍ نَصَّ فيها مِنبَرٌ

    يَتَذَكَّرونَ بُكرَةً وَأَصيلا

    In every land where a pulpit has been raised,

    they remember, morning and evening.

  4. يَتَذَكَّرونَ مَواقِفاً مَشهورَةً

    لَكَ لَيسَ تَترُكُ لِلمَراءِ سَبيلا

    They remember renowned stands

    of yours, which leave no room for dispute;

  5. وَمَآثِراً في الخافِقينَ حَديثَها

    وَمَعالِياً رَنَت حَلى وَحُجولا

    and noble deeds whose fame fills East and West,

    and lofty virtues that rang like ornaments and anklets.

  6. ما العَبقَرِيَّةُ وَالَّتي يَصِفونَها

    إِلّا حَياتَكَ مُثِّلَت تَمثيلا

    Genius—that which they describe—is nothing

    but your life, fully embodied.

  7. الخاطِرُ الوَقّادُ أَن يَبدُرَ مَضى

    في الحادِثاتِ أَسِنَّةً وَنُصولا

    The blazing mind, when it flashed, darted

    through crises like spearheads and blades.

  8. وَالمَنطِقُ الفَيّاضُ أَن يَهدِرَ غَداً

    يَتَدَفَّقُ الإِبداعُ مِنهُ سُيولا

    And overflowing eloquence, when it thundered, came

    to pour forth creativity in torrents.

  9. لا فَرقَ بَينَ السامِعيكَ وَقَد وَعوا

    ما قُلتَهُ وَالشارِبينَ شُمولا

    There is no difference between your listeners, once they grasped

    what you said, and those drinking wine.

  10. وَإِذا جَرَرتَ عَلى الطُروسِ يَراعَةً

    باتَ الصَريرُ بِراحَتَيكَ صَليلا

    And when you drew a reed pen across the pages,

    its scratching in your palms became a clang.

  11. تِلكَ اليَراعَةُ وَدَّ أَكبَرَ قائِدٍ

    لَو أَنَّها في كَفِّهِ لِيَصولا

    That pen—the greatest commander wished

    it were in his palm, so he might charge.

  12. تَتجاوَبُ الآفاقُ عَن أَصدائِها

    وَيَرتُلونَ فُصولَها تَرتيلا

    The horizons answer one another with its echoes,

    and they recite its passages in measured tones.

  13. هَيهاتَ يا عَبدَ العَزيزِ أَخو عَلى

    مَن دَركِ شَأوِكَ يَبلُغُ المَأمولا

    How far, O Abd al-Aziz, is an aspirant to greatness

    from fulfilling his hope of matching your stature!

  14. لَم يَعلَمُ الخَلقُ الكَريمُ وَلا الحَيا

    مَن لَيسَ يَعلَمُ خَلقَكَ المَعسولا

    He knows neither noble character nor modesty

    who does not know your honey-sweet nature.

  15. لَم يَعلَم الآدابَ كَيفَ تَجَسَّمَت

    بِشراً فَتى لَم يَصطَحِبكَ طَويلا

    He has not known how refinement became embodied

    as a man—the youth who did not keep your company long.

  16. فَكَأَنَّ رَبَّكَ عِندَ خَلقِكَ قَد أبى

    أَن لا تَكونَ مُكمِلاً تَكيملا

    It is as though your Lord, when creating you, refused

    to let you be anything but utterly perfected.

  17. تَغدو أَرَقَّ مِنَ النَسيمِ فَإِن عَرا

    خَطبَ غَدَوتَ الصارِمَ المَسلولا

    You are gentler than the breeze; but should there befall

    a calamity, you become the unsheathed sword.

  18. في نِعمَةِ الحَمَلِ الوَديعِ فَإِن عَدا

    عادَ تَرى أَسَداً يُفارِقُ غيلا

    You have a gentle lamb's softness; but should an attack come

    from an aggressor, you see a lion leaving its thicket.

  19. أَسَدٌ مَتى يَزأَر لِأُمَّةِ أَحمَدٍ

    مَلَأَ الفُراتَ زَئيرَهُ وَالنيلا

    A lion: whenever he roars for Ahmad's community,

    his roar fills the Euphrates and the Nile.

  20. شيحانِ لَم يُبصِر عَلَيها ذِلَّةً

    إِلّا وَمَدَّ ذِراعَهُ المَفتولا

    A zealous champion, he never saw humiliation laid upon it

    without stretching out his sinewy arm.

  21. رَضِيَ المَصائِبَ وَالنَوائِبَ وَالنَوى

    وَالحَبسُ حَتّى لا يَعيشَ ذَليلا

    He accepted calamities, misfortunes, and separation,

    and imprisonment, so as not to live humiliated.

  22. يَعفو الجَرائِرَ نَحوَهُ طَرّاً وَلا

    يَعفو إِذا الإِسلامُ غُضَّ فَتيلا

    He forgives all offenses against himself, but does not

    forgive when Islam is slighted by even a thread's worth.

  23. جَعَلَ الجِهادَ نَصيبَهُ عَن قَومِهِ

    فَقَضى الحَياةَ مُغَرَّباً مَجفولا

    He made struggle on his people's behalf his lot,

    and so spent his life exiled and driven away.

  24. لا تَعظَمُ الأَخطارَ في أَبصارِهِ

    ما دامَ يُبصِرُ حَقَّهُم مَأَكولا

    Dangers do not loom large in his eyes

    so long as he sees their rights devoured.

  25. يا راحِلاً أَبقى فَراغاً هائِلاً

    هَيهاتَ تَملَأُهُ الرِجالُ فُحولا

    O departed one, who left a dreadful void,

    no men, however mighty, can fill it.

  26. آلَيتَ لا أَنفَكُّ عَهدَكَ راعِياً

    حَتّى أُغَرَّبَ في التُرابِ مَهيلا

    I swore never to cease keeping faith with you,

    until I am banished beneath heaped-up earth.

  27. غادَرتَ لي قَلباً عَلَيكَ مُقَطَّعاً

    دامي الصَميمِ وَمَدمَعاً مَوصولا

    You left me a heart torn apart for you,

    bleeding at its core, and a ceaselessly weeping eye.

  28. وَسَأَلتُ دَمعي أَن يُجيبَ جَوانِحي

    فَاِنباعَ يَجري سائِلاً مَسئولا

    And I asked my tears to answer my breast,

    so they gushed forth and ran, flowing at my request.

  29. أَنسى لَعَمري والِدَيَّ وَعَترَتي

    إِن كُنتُ أَنسى فَضلَكَ المَسجولا

    I would forget, by my life, my parents and my kin,

    were I ever to forget your recorded kindness.

  30. إِذ أَنتَ بَرٌّ بي كَما نَفسي وَإِذ

    تَغدو عَليلاً أَن أَكونَ عَليلا

    For you are as kind to me as my own soul, and

    you fall ill whenever I am ill.

  31. إِنّي أَحِنُّ إِلى اِجتِماعِ الشَملِ في الأُخ

    رى كَأَنّا في الحَياةِ الأولى

    I long for us to be reunited in the other

    life, as though we were in our first life.

  32. رُبَّ الوَفاءِ وَصَفوَهُ الخِلانِ قُل

    أَتَرَكتَ بَعدَكَ مَن أُعِدُّ خَليلا

    O master of loyalty, choicest of friends, say:

    have you left behind anyone I can count as a friend?

  33. يا صاحِبَ القِدحِ المُعَلّى في العُلى

    أَتَرَكتَ مِثلَكَ يا سِراً فَيَجيلا

    O holder of the highest winning arrow in glory's lottery,

    have you left a player like yourself to cast the arrows?

  34. أَبقَت عَلَيكَ الحادِثاتُ كَلومُها

    وَالسَيفُ يَكسَبُ بِالجَلادِ فَلولا

    Misfortunes left their wounds upon you,

    and a sword acquires notches in combat.

  35. شَفَّت وُجودُكَ هِمَّةٌ جَبّارَةٌ

    تَجِدِ الصُعودَ إِلى السِماكِ نُزولا

    A mighty ambition wore your being thin,

    deeming ascent to al-Simak a descent.

  36. أَتَظُنُّ أَن تَمضي وَأَبقى وافِراً

    هَيهاتَ قَد صارَ البَقاءُ قَليلا

    Do you think you can depart and I remain whole?

    Impossible! Little now remains of life.

  37. يا أَيُّها المَولى بِحُبِّكَ قَد مَضى

    عَبدُ العَزيزِ مُتَيَّماً مَتبولا

    O Lord, in love for You has departed

    Abd al-Aziz, enthralled and love-stricken.

  38. أَمطَرَ عَلى ذاكَ الثَرى غَيثَ الرِضى

    وَاِجعَلهُ رَبِّ لَدى عِلاكَ نَزيلا

    Rain the showers of Your favor upon that soil,

    and make him, my Lord, a guest in Your exalted presence.

  39. قَد كانَ فَعّالُ الجَميلِ حَياتَهُ

    فَأَثبَهُ في دارِ المَعادِ جَميلا

    He was ever doing good throughout his life;

    so reward him well in the abode of return.