كلّ حيٍّ قاضٍ عليه زواله

وإلى هذه السبيل مآله

Every living being is destined to perish

And to this path is his outcome

يا جلالاً عن الزمان تقضَّى

عزّ ربٌّ قضى وجلَّ جلاله

O the majesty that transcends time has passed

The Almighty Lord has decreed and His majesty has been exalted

ما اقتضى حظّنا بقاءك فينا

واحداً تشمل الأنام ظلاله

Our fortune did not entail your stay with us

As one who shelters all people with His shade

هادياً للندى وللعلم ترجى

كلّ يومٍ أقواله وفعاله

The guide to dew and knowledge hoped for

Every day for His words and actions

أين ذاك الغمام يدنو إلى النا

سِ ندى كفّه ويعلو مناله

Where is that cloud drawing near people

The dew of His palm and His fulfilment is high

أين أحكامه وأين علاه

أين أقواله وأين نواله

Where are His rulings and where is His loftiness

Where are His words and where is His bestowal

قف بقبر الإمام يا نادب الفض

ل وخلّ البكاء تهمي سجاله

Stop at the tomb of the Imam, O reproacher

And let crying wander aimlessly like his reason

وانْثر الدمعَ حول مثواه نثراً

مثل ما ينثر الكلام ارْتجاله

And shed tears around his resting place profusely

As words are scattered spontaneously in prose

ودع الشعر كانَ للشعر وقتٌ

بنداه وقد تغيَّر حاله

And leave poetry for it had its time

Its euphoria has changed

وسلا الصبّ واسْتراح المعنى

لا صباباته ولا عذَّاله

The ardour has calmed and meaning has rested

Neither its outbursts nor its excitement

أقفرت ساحة العلى فبيوت الش

عر من بعدِ بُعده أطلاله

The arena of the Sublime has been evacuated so the homes of poetry are ruins without him

Alas to those seeking knowledge and grants

آه للطالبين علماً ورفداً

بعد ما غاضَ عزمه واحْتفاله

After his determination has receded and his celebrations have ceased

The knowledge seeker in it laments grammar

طالب العلم فيه للنحو نوْحٌ

لا تسل عنه كيفَ أصبح حاله

Do not ask how his state has become

The seeker of generosity, the one who competed in generosity with his right and left hand, has died

طالب الجود مات من كانَ في الج

ود تباري يمنى يديه شماله

The absolute knowledge seeker left the shackles of knowledge

His sorrow and reliance

طالب العلم مطلقاً خلّ عنه

قيد العلم حزنه واتّكاله

Wondrous is his throne when it was planted

However its leaves and branches have withered

عجباً من سريره يوم أوْدى

كيفما أوْرَقت ورقّت ظلاله

Wondrous is his time when it has passed

However its mountains have walked and crumbled

عجباً من زمانه حين ولَّى

كيفما سيرت ودكَّت جباله

His soul has ascended to its like, al-Zahr

And where, where are its like on earth

صعدت روحه لأمثالها الزه

ر وفي الأرضِ أين أين أمثاله

Thus the stars of the horizon fell about

And the crescent moon stooped to initiate greetings

فتهاوت كواكب الأفق تسعى

وانْحنى يبدأ السلام هلاله

And we were devoid of dew and were met

By a delegation of hope seeking His majesty

وعدمنا نحن الندى ولقينا

يتقاضى وفد الرجاء جلاله

What an affliction has prolonged in our religion and life

His occupation and inflammation in us

يا له من مصاب دينٍ ودنيا

طالَ فينا اشْتغاله واشْتعاله

He was youthful like an old man, his son cried

And the old men cried over him as if over their children

شابَ كالشيخ طفله وبكى الأش

ياخ فيه كأنهم أطفاله

And Egypt and Levant have lost a leader

Whose glory has been etched, this and that are his traits

ونعت مصر والشآم إماماً

طرزت مجد وذا وذاك خلاله

How many a status have I heard of kings

His actions have manipulated

كم مقام كما سمعت ملوكي

ولديهِ تصرَّفت أفعاله

How many a tale by his right hand was resolved

And a questioner by it was answered

كم بيمناه قصة قد أجيبت

وسؤولٌ بها أجيب سؤاله

How many a relative by him appealed and stranger

While he was resolutely pouring the dew

كم قريب دعا به وبعيد

وهو هامٍ يد الندى هطَّاله

How often have I been given on the mounts belonging to him

And qualities have been faithful to me over time

كم أتتني مع الركاب لهاهُ

ووفت لي مع الزمن خصاله

If I were to cry to the extent of sorrow

My intellect would have melted, how much virtues he has had over it

لو بقدرِ الأسى بكيت لسالت

مهجة كم وفت لها أفضاله

A cloud heading to the Most High has departed

After enriching the land with his plentifulness

في سبيل العلى غمامٌ تولى

بعد ما أخصب الورَى إقباله

Thus is the way of time with its people

It extends shade as you see then takes it away

هكذا عادة الزمان بنوه

بسط ظل كما ترى وزواله

And a buried over the remains has been buried

As was said by the one whose proverbs have spread

ودفين على بقايا دفين

مثل ما قال من سرت أمثاله

From this much to that much is this heedlessness from us

Of the certainty of demise and this confusion

كم إلى كم هذا التغافل منَّا

عن يقين الردى وهذا التباله

He has departed, O Judge of Judges, in a tomb

In which You were a plentiful rain happily pouring down

جاد يا قاضي القضاة ضريحاً

كنت فيهِ غيثٌ يسرُّ انْهماله

And may God reward the generosity of Your palm over us

And Your donation and bestowal

وجزى الله جود كفّك عنَّا

وتولاَّك جوده ونواله

The gentle breeze spreads praise of You from us

And anguish over You makes us sick

لك منَّا نشر النسيم ثناءً

ولنا بالأسى عليك اعْتلاله