1. يا اِبن عبد العزيز إنّ فؤادِي

    منذ فارقتنِي عليك جريحُ

    O son of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, indeed my heart

    has been wounded over you ever since you left me.

  2. إنَّ جَفْنِي عليك حزناً جوادٌ

    وهو في كلّ من سواك شحيحُ

    My eyelid is lavish with tears in grief for you,

    yet miserly for everyone other than you.

  3. عَذَلونِي وما اِستَوى عِندَ أهْلِ الْ

    نَصْفِ والعَدْلِ سالمٌ وجريحُ

    They reproached me; yet, in the eyes of those who uphold

    fairness and justice, the unhurt and wounded are not alike.

  4. داءُ قلبِي يُدوى وفيهِ من الأشْ

    جانِ ما فيه ما يقول الصَّحيحُ

    My heart's illness sickens me; within it are such

    sorrows as it holds—what can the healthy say?

  5. وإذا لم تكنْ مُصيخاً إلى عَذْ

    لٍ فَسيّان أَعجَمٌ وَفَصيحُ

    And if you will not listen to

    reproach, the inarticulate and eloquent are alike.

  6. لي لسانٌ ومدمعٌ حَمَلا رُزْ

    ءَك ذا كاتمٌ وذاك يبوحُ

    I have a tongue and a weeping eye that have borne

    the loss of you: this conceals it, and that reveals it.

  7. ويراني الصّحيحَ من ليس يدري

    أنّ غيرِي هو السَّليمُ الصَّحيحُ

    And those who see me as healthy do not know

    that it is someone else who is sound and well.

  8. وَبرَغْمي عَريتُ منكَ وبُوعِدْ

    تَ ردىً وَاِحتَوى عَليكَ الضّريحُ

    Against my will, I was bereft of you, and you were taken far away

    by death; the tomb enclosed you.

  9. مُفردٌ وَالأنيسُ عَنكَ بَعيدٌ

    لَيس إلّا جَنادلٌ وصفيحُ

    You are alone, and your companion is far away;

    there is nothing but rocks and stone slabs,

  10. وغمامٌ موكّلُ الجَفْنِ بالقَطْ

    رِ ووُرْقٌ من الحمامِ ينوحُ

    and a cloud, its eyelid charged with shedding

    rain, and gray doves that lament.

  11. لَيسَ يَنجو منَ الحِمامِ مليحٌ

    لا ولا صادقُ الضّرابِ مُشيحُ

    No handsome man escapes death,

    no, nor a bold fighter whose blows strike true.

  12. وإذا أمّك الحِمامُ فما يُغْ

    نِي من الطّيرِ بارحٌ وسَنيحُ

    And if death heads toward you, nothing avails

    from birds crossing leftward or rightward.

  13. وَمِنَ اِينَ البقاءُ والجسمُ تُربٌ

    يَتَلاشى وإنّما الرُّوحُ روحُ

    And whence comes permanence, when the body is dust,

    crumbling away, and the spirit is only spirit?

  14. وَإِذا غايَةُ الفتى كانتِ المو

    تَ فماذا التَعميمُ والتّمليحُ

    And if a young man's end is

    death, what use are turbans and adornment?

  15. كلُّ يومٍ لنا بطُرقِ الرّزايا

    طَلَبَ الغُنْمَ رازحٌ وطليحُ

    Each day, on calamity's roads, among us

    the bowed-down and exhausted seek gain.

  16. رائِحٌ ما لهُ غدّوٌ وَإمّا

    ذو غدوٍّ لكنّه لا يروحُ

    One departs at evening, with no departure at dawn; or

    one departs at dawn, but never at evening.

  17. وإذا فاتنا غَبوقُ المنايا

    بِاِتّفاقِ الزّمانِ فهو الصَّبوحُ

    And if death's evening draught passes us by,

    by a chance of time, then comes its morning draught.

  18. كم لنا مودَعاً إلى ساعةِ الحش

    رِ ببطنِ التّرابِ وجهٌ صبيحُ

    How many have we laid away until the hour of

    resurrection, in the earth's belly—beautiful faces,

  19. وجليلاً معظّماً كان للآ

    مالِ فيه التّرحيبُ والتَّرشيحُ

    and revered, honored men, in whom

    hopes found welcome and encouragement!

  20. أيّها الذّاهبُ الّذي طاحَ والأح

    زانُ مِنّا عليه ليس تَطيحُ

    O departed one who has fallen, while

    our sorrows over him do not fall away!

  21. لا عرفتَ القبيح في دارك الأخ

    رى فما كان منك فعلٌ قبيحُ

    May you know no evil in your abode in the

    next world, for no evil deed ever came from you.

  22. ليس إلّا الصّلاة والصّوم والتَّسْ

    هيدُ جُنحَ الظّلامِ والتّسبيحُ

    Nothing but prayer and fasting, and

    keeping vigil in the darkness of night, and glorifying God,

  23. وحديثٌ تَرويهِ ما فيه إلّا

    واضحٌ نيِّرٌ وحقٌّ صحيحُ

    and a tradition you relate, containing nothing but

    what is clear and luminous, and sound truth.

  24. إِنّ قَوماً ما زالَ حشواً لأَضلا

    عِك ودٌّ لهمْ نقِيٌّ صريحُ

    Indeed, there are people—your ribs were always filled

    with pure, unfeigned love for them—

  25. لك وِرْدٌ من حوضهمْ غيرُ مطرو

    قٍ وبابٌ إليهمُ مفتوحُ

    yours is a draught from their pool, untouched,

    and a door to them stands open,

  26. وَاِلتِقاءٌ بِهم وحولَهُمُ النّا

    سُ فذا خاسرٌ وذاك ربيحُ

    and a meeting with them, while around them

    are the people—one a loser, another a winner.

  27. والثّوابُ الّذي يضيق بقومٍ

    هو من أجلهمْ عليك فسيحُ

    And the reward that is narrow for some

    is, for their sake, spacious for you.

  28. لَستُ أَخشى عليكَ عُسراً ومنهمْ

    لك مُعطٍ ونافحٌ ومُميحُ

    I fear no hardship for you; among them

    you have a giver, a benefactor, and a lavish donor.

  29. فَسَقى قَبرَك الّذي أَنتَ فيهِ

    مُسبِلٌ هاملُ السّحابِ سَفوحُ

    So may your grave, in which you lie, be watered

    by a rain-shedding cloud, streaming and pouring freely.

  30. كلَّما جازه غمامٌ نزيحٌ

    جاءَه مُثقَلُ الرَّبابِ دَلوحُ

    Whenever a far-off cloud passes it by,

    may a lumbering cloud come to it, laden with low cloudbanks.

  31. وإذا زاره الرّجالُ فلا زا

    ل عليهم منه الذَّكاءُ يفوحُ

    And when men visit it, may

    its fragrance never cease to waft over them.