ألا ما لشمل المجد أضحى مبددا

فأورثنا حزنا طويلا مدى المدا

Ah, why has glory's fellowship been scattered,

leaving us sorrow stretching through all time?

وما بال قلبي لا يفك من الجوى

كأن به جمر الغضا قد توقدا

And why is my heart never freed from burning grief,

as though embers of ghada wood had blazed within it?

نعم سار قلبي يوم ساروا أحبتي

وحادي المنايا في ركايبهم حدا

Yes, my heart departed the day my loved ones departed,

and death's camel-driver chanted among their mounts.

وفارقني صبري وقد كنت قبل ذا

صبورا ولم احفل بما صنع الردا

My patience forsook me, though before this I had been

steadfast, heedless of what death wrought,

لفقد كريم كان للحق ناصراً

وكان على الاعداء عضبا مهندا

at the loss of a noble man who championed truth,

and against his enemies was a keen blade of Indian steel.

فتى أورث العلياء شجوا وغصة

وألبسها ثوب الحداد مجددا

A man who bequeathed lofty glory sorrow and a choking pang,

and clothed it anew in mourning's robe.

أهاب به داعي الأسى فأجابه

وسار به حادي المنية واغتدى

The summoner of sorrow called to him, and he answered;

death's camel-driver led him forth and departed at dawn.

بنفسي من قد كان لله نفسه

وإن حاد أقوام عن الحق والهدى

My life be ransom for him whose soul belonged to God,

even when others strayed from truth and guidance.

فتى ما رأينا الحقد يغلي بصدره

ويعفو عن الجاني ولو أنه اعتدى

A man in whose breast we never saw rancor boil,

who pardoned the wrongdoer even when he transgressed.

ولما فقدت القرم من آل هاشم

تقرح قلبي للمكارم والندى

When I lost that chieftain of the House of Hashim,

my heart grew wounded for noble deeds and generosity.

فكيف ادخار الحزن من بعد موته

ولم يبق مني لي عليه تجلدا

How could I withhold my grief after his death,

when no strength remains in me to bear his loss?

فكيف يصان الدمع بعد فراقه

وها أدمعي تجري دما متبددا

How can tears be restrained after his departure,

when, behold, my tears run as blood, spilling everywhere?

فلهفي على رب العلوم الذي بها

لنا كان قبل اليوم مهدي ومرشدا

Alas for the master of learning, who through it

had guided and instructed us before this day.

ولهفي على علم العروض الذي قضى

وبندبه من كان للشعر منشدا

Alas for the science of prosody, which has perished,

and all who chanted poetry are mourning him.

ولهفي على الآداب تبكي ثواكلا

وقد اصبحت بعد التجمع شردا

Alas for the literary arts, weeping like bereaved mothers,

now scattered after once being gathered together.

فموكبها بعد السكينة نافر

ومركبها صعب وكان ممهدا

Their procession bolts after its former calm,

and their mount is unruly, though once it was tractable.

غدا الجهل فيها مذ نأيت بصرفه

وقد كان قبل اليوم يمشي مقيدا

Since you went away, ignorance holds full sway there,

though before today it walked in fetters.

تنوح عليك النايحات عشية

وشلوك يمسي في الثرى القبر ملحدا

The mourning women wail for you at evening,

while evening finds your body interred in the grave's earth.

عهدنا لديك الليل يشرق أبيضا

وبعدك عاد الفجر يطلع أسودا

With you, we knew the night to shine white,

but after you, dawn again rises black.

وكنت جلاء العين أنت من القذا

وذا منظري قد صار بعدك أرمدا

You yourself were what cleared the eye of grit,

and after you, this eye of mine has grown sore.

فكان بكائي أنني لا أرى أخا

ودوداً فمن لي أن ارى المتودا

I wept because I no longer saw a brother

so loving—who will let me see that affectionate friend?

تفلق أبواب التصبر والعزا

علي وصبري صار ملقى بها سدى

The doors of endurance and consolation are shattered

upon me, and my patience lies there, cast away in vain.

بكيت على شيخ تسربل بالعلى

وقد كان لي ذخرا وفخرا ومقتدا

I wept for a sheikh who robed himself in lofty honor,

who had been my treasure, my pride, and my example.

مضى اليوم من قد كان تعتده لنا

وإن كثر الباقون ممن تودا

Today the man you counted as ours has departed,

though many of those you love remain.

فدينا أخا المعروف والحلم والتقى

بما شاء وشك البين لو يقبل الفدا

We would have ransomed the man of kindness, forbearance, and piety

with whatever imminent parting wished, if it accepted ransom.

فلا تحسبن أني سلوت مصابه

ولو عشت في هذا الزمان مخلدا

Never suppose I have ceased grieving for his loss,

even if I lived forever in this world.

سأبكي على شيخي وإن تربت يدي

وأقضي له حقا على مؤكدا

I shall weep for my sheikh, though my hand be dust-stained in poverty,

and fulfill the binding duty owed to him.

فيا ليت ما وافاه من فيض ادمعي

يصيب محلا بالجناب تأبدا

Ah, would that the flood of my tears that reached him

might fall on a spot in his precinct grown desolate.

سليمان يا وافى الذمام ومن له

توجلت الاحباب بالحزن والعدا

Suleiman, O faithful keeper of pledges, you for whom

loved ones and foes have trembled with sorrow.

فدمعي عليك اليوم أصبح مطلقا

وأمسى لسان الشعر فيك مقيدا

Today my tears for you are unrestrained,

while poetry's tongue is fettered in speaking of you.

على الحلة الفيحاء من بعدك العفا

وقد ناح لما أن فقدت بها الصدا

Desolation be upon spacious al-Hillah after you,

and the owl wailed there when you were lost.

سقى الله قبرا ضم شخصك تربه

سحايب رضوان من الله في المدى

May God water the grave whose soil enfolds your body

with clouds of favor from God for all time.

فصبرا بنيه والتصبر دأبكم

وإن جل هذا الخطب وابدوا التحمدا

Be patient, his sons; steadfastness is your way,

though this calamity is grievous, and offer grateful praise.

ففي الصبلا ي زال الجلالة والتقى

وعظم اجور الصابرين له غدا

For in patience lie dignity and piety [wording unclear],

and through it come the great rewards of the patient.

فأنتم جبال الحلم ان ناب حادث

جلامد صم وقعها يصدع الردى

For you are mountains of forbearance if misfortune strikes,

solid boulders whose impact cleaves death.

ووالدكم وافى الى ظل حيدر

بأعلى جنان الخلد جاور أحمدا

Your father has come beneath Haydar's shade,

and dwells beside Ahmad in the highest gardens of eternity.

وقلت به لما أتى نحو أحمد

مقالة صدق لم أكن مترددا

And when he came toward Ahmad, I spoke of him

words of truth, without hesitation:

فمذ مس قلب المجد بالوجد أرخوا

سليمان يمسي في الجنان مخلدا

So when he touched glory's heart with grief, record the date:

Suleiman abides immortal in the gardens of Paradise.