1. في كُلِّ نادٍ مِنكَ رَوضُ ثَناءِ

    وَبِكُلِّ خَدٍّ فيكَ جَدوَلِ ماءِ

    In every gathering, from you springs a garden of praise,

    and on every cheek, for you, a stream of water.

  2. وَلِكُلِّ شَخصٍ هِزَّةُ الغُصنِ النَدي

    غِبَّ البُكاءِ وَرِنَّةُ المُكاءِ

    And each person has the trembling of a dew-moistened bough,

    after weeping, and the plaintive cry of the whistling bird.

  3. يامَطلَعَ الأَنوارِ إِنَّ بِمُقلَتي

    أَسَفاً عَلَيكَ كَمَنشَإِ الأَنواءِ

    O rising-place of lights, within my eye

    is grief for you, like the birthplace of rainstorms.

  4. وَكَفى أَسىً أَن لاسَفيرٌ بَينَنا

    يَمشي وَأَن لامَوعِدٌ لِلِقاءِ

    It is sorrow enough that no messenger between us

    travels, and that no meeting is appointed.

  5. فيمَ التَجَمُّلُ في زَمانٍ بَزَّني

    ثَوبَ الشَبابِ وَحيلَةَ النُبَلاءِ

    What use is finery in a time that has stripped me

    of youth's robe and the resourcefulness of the noble?

  6. فَعَريتُ إِلّا مِن قِناعِ كَآبَةٍ

    وَعَطِلتُ إِلّا مِن حُلِيِّ بُكاءِ

    So I am naked, save for a veil of gloom,

    and unadorned, save for the jewels of weeping.

  7. فَإِذا مَرَرتُ بِمَعهَدٍ لِشَبيبَةٍ

    أَو رَسمِ دارٍ لِلصَديقِ خَلاءِ

    Whenever I pass a haunt of youth,

    or the traces of a friend's deserted house,

  8. جالَت بِطَرفي لِلصَبابَةِ عَبرَةٌ

    كَالغَيمِ رَقَّ فَحالَ دونَ سَماءِ

    a tear of longing courses through my eye,

    like a cloud grown thin that veils the sky.

  9. وَرَفَعتُ كَفّي بَينَ طَرفٍ خاشِعٍ

    تَندى مَآقيهِ وَبَينَ دُعاءِ

    And I raised my palm between a humbled eye

    whose inner corners grow moist, and a prayer.

  10. وَبَسَطتُ في الغَبراءِ خَدّي ذِلَّةً

    أَستَنزِلُ الرُحمى مِنَ الخَضراءِ

    And I laid my cheek on the dust-gray earth in humility,

    seeking to draw mercy down from the green sky,

  11. مُتَمَلمِلاً أَلَماً بِمَصرَعِ سَيِّدٍ

    قَد كانَ سابِقَ حَلبَةِ النُجَباءِ

    writhing in pain at the death of a lord

    who had led the field in the race of noble men.

  12. لا وَالَّذي أَعلَقتُ مِن تَقديسِهِ

    كَفّي بِحَبلَي عِصمَةٍ وَرَجاءِ

    No—by Him, in reverence for whom I have fastened

    my hand to the two cords of protection and hope,

  13. وَخَرَرتُ بَينَ يَدَيهِ أَعلَمُ أَنَّهُ

    ذُخري لِيَومِيَ شِدَّةٍ وَرَخاءِ

    and fallen prostrate before Him, knowing that He

    is my reserve for days of hardship and ease—

  14. لا هَزَّني أَمَلٌ وَقَد حَلَّ الرَدى

    بِأَبي مُحَمَّدٍ المَحَلَّ النائي

    no hope stirs me, now that death has settled

    with Abu Muhammad in the far-off abode,

  15. في حَيثُ يُطفَأُ نورُ ذاكَ المُجتَلى

    وَفِرِندُ تِلكَ الغُرَّةِ الغَرّاءِ

    where the light of that admired countenance is extinguished,

    and the luster of that radiant brow.

  16. وَكَفى اِكتِئاباً أَن تَعيثَ يَدُ البِلى

    في مَحوِ تِلكَ الصورَةِ الحَسناءِ

    It is grief enough that the hand of decay wreaks havoc

    in effacing that beautiful form.

  17. فَلَطالَما كُنّا نُريحُ بِظِلِّهِ

    فَنُريحُ مِنهُ بِسَرحَةٍ غَنّاءِ

    For many a time we rested in his shade,

    and found repose in him, a lush, spreading tree,

  18. فَتَقَت عَلى حُكمِ البَشاشَةِ نورَها

    وَتَنَفَّسَت في أَوجُهِ الجُلَساءِ

    that opened its blossoms at cheerfulness's command

    and breathed upon the faces of the seated companions.

  19. تَتَفَرَّجُ الغَمّاءُ عَنهُ كَأَنَّهُ

    قَمَرٌ يُمَزِّقُ شَملَةَ الظَلماءِ

    Gloom clears away from him, as though he were

    a moon tearing apart the cloak of darkness.

  20. قاسَمتُ فيهِ الرُزءَ أَكرَمَ صاحِبٍ

    فَمَضى يَنوءُ بِأَثقَلِ الأَعباءِ

    I shared the loss of him with the noblest companion,

    and he went on staggering beneath the heaviest burdens.

  21. يَهفو كَما هَفَتِ الأَراكَةُ لَوعَةً

    وَيُرِنُّ طَوراً رِنَّةَ الوَرقاءِ

    He sways in anguish as the arak tree sways,

    and at times moans with the gray dove's plaintive call.

  22. عَجَباً لَها وَقَدَت بِصَدرٍ جَمرَةً

    وَتَفَجَّرَت في وَجنَةٍ عَن ماءِ

    How strange this anguish: it blazed in the breast as an ember,

    and burst forth on the cheek as water.

  23. وَلَئِن تَراءى الفَرقَدانِ بِنا مَعاً

    وَكَفاكَ شُهرَةَ سُؤدُدٍ وَعَلاءِ

    And if indeed the two Farqad stars appeared in us together—

    and that is renown enough for you in nobility and eminence—

  24. فَلَطالَما كُنّا نَروقُ المُجتَلي

    حُسناً وَنَملَأُ ناظِرَ العَلياءِ

    then many a time we delighted the beholder

    with beauty, and filled the eye of high heaven.

  25. يُزهى بِنا صَدرُ النَدِيِّ كَأَنَّنا

    نَسَقاً هُناكَ قِلادَةُ الجَوزاءِ

    The gathering's breast takes pride in us, as though we,

    arrayed there, were Orion's necklace.