1. إِعجَب لِحالِ السَروِ كَيفَ تُحالُ

    وَلِدَولَةِ العَلياءِ كَيفَ تُدالُ

    Marvel at nobility's condition, how it is transformed,

    and at glory's reign, how it is overturned.

  2. لا تَفسَحَن لِلنَفسِ في شَأوِ المُنى

    إِنَّ اِغتِرارَكَ بِالمُنى لَضَلالُ

    Do not give your soul free rein in pursuing wishes;

    being beguiled by wishes is surely error.

  3. ما أَمتَعَ الآمالَ لَولا أَنَّها

    تَعتاقُ دونَ بُلوغِها الآجالُ

    How delightful hopes would be, were it not that

    life's appointed ends obstruct their fulfillment.

  4. مَن سُرَّ لَمّا عاشَ قَلَّ مَتاعُهُ

    فَالعَيشُ نَومٌ وَالسُرورُ خَيالُ

    Whoever rejoices while alive has but scant enjoyment;

    for life is sleep, and joy a phantom.

  5. في كُلِّ يَمٍ نُنتَحى بِرَزِيَّةٍ

    لِلأَرضِ مِن بُرحائِها زِلزالُ

    In every sea we are assailed by a calamity

    whose fierce anguish makes the earth quake.

  6. إِن يَنكَدِر بِالأَمسِ نَجمٌ ثاقِبٌ

    فَاليَومَ أَقلَعَ عارِضٌ هَطّالُ

    If yesterday a piercingly bright star fell,

    today a rain-laden cloud has stopped pouring.

  7. إِنَّ النَعِيَّ لَجَهوَرٍ وَمُحَمَّدٍ

    أَبكى الغَمامَ فَدَمعُهُ مُنثالُ

    The death tidings of Jahwar and Muhammad

    made the clouds weep, their tears streaming down.

  8. شَكلانِ إِن حُمَّ الحَمامُ تَجاذَبا

    لا غَروَ أَن تَتَجاذَبَ الأَشكالُ

    Two kindred spirits: when death was decreed, they drew each other on;

    no wonder kindred spirits draw one another.

  9. وَلّى أَبو بَكرٍ فَراعَ لَهُ الوَرى

    هَولٌ تَقاصَرَ دونَهُ الأَهوالُ

    Abu Bakr departed, and his loss struck mankind with

    a terror beside which all terrors dwindled.

  10. قَمَرٌ هَوى في التُربِ تُحثى فَوقَهُ

    لِلَّهِ ما حازَ الثَرى المُنهالُ

    A moon fell into the dust, which is heaped above him;

    God's is what the falling earth has enclosed!

  11. قَد قُلتُ إِذ قيلَ السَريرُ يُقِلُّهُ

    هَل لِلسَريرِ بِقَدرِهِ اِستِقلالُ

    I said, when told that the bier was bearing him:

    Can the bier sustain the weight of his worth?

  12. الآنَ بَيَّنَ لِلعُقولِ زَوالُهُ

    أَنَّ الجِبالُ قُصارُهُنَّ زَوالُ

    Now his passing has made plain to minds

    that mountains' ultimate fate is to pass away.

  13. ما أَقبَحَ الدُنيا خِلافَ مُوَدَّعٍ

    غَنِيَت بِهِ في حُسنِها تَختالُ

    How ugly the world is after bidding farewell to one

    through whom it flourished, strutting in its beauty.

  14. يا قَبرَهُ العَطِرَ الثَرى لا يَبعَدَن

    حُلوٌ مِنَ الفِتيانِ فيكَ حَلالُ

    O his grave, fragrant of soil, may he never be far away—

    that sweet youth who dwells within you.

  15. ما أَنتَ إِلّا الجَفنُ أَصبَحَ طَيَّهُ

    نَصلٌ عَلَيهِ مِنَ الشَبابِ صِقالُ

    You are only a sheath, within whose folds now lies

    a blade bearing the polish of youth.

  16. فَهُناكَ نَفّاحُ الشَمائِلِ مِثلَما

    طَرَقَت بِأَنفاسِ الرِياضِ شَمالُ

    There lies one whose virtues breathe fragrance, as when

    a north wind visits by night with the gardens' breath.

  17. دانٍ مِنَ الخُلُقِ المُزَيّنِ نازِحٌ

    عَن كُلِّ ما فيهِ عَلَيهِ مَقالُ

    Near to ennobling character, far removed

    from anything for which he might be reproached.

  18. شِيَمٌ يُنافِسُ حُسنَها إِحسانُها

    كَالراحِ نافَسَ طَعمَها الجِريالُ

    Virtues whose goodness rivals their beauty,

    like wine, whose crimson hue rivals its taste.

  19. يا مَن شَأى الأَمثالُ مِنهُ واحِدٌ

    ضُرِبَت بِهِ في السَودَدِ الأَمثالُ

    O you, one of whom outstripped his peers,

    about whom proverbs of nobility were coined.

  20. نَقَصَت حَياتُكَ حينَ فَضلُكَ كامِلٌ

    هَلا اِستُضيفَ إِلى الكَمالِ كَمالُ

    Your life was cut short when your excellence was complete;

    why was perfection not added to perfection?

  21. وُدِّعتَ عَن عُمُرٍ عَمَرتَ قَصيرَهُ

    بِمَكارِمٍ أَعمارُهُنَّ طِوالُ

    You were bidden farewell after a life whose brief span you filled

    with noble deeds whose lifetimes are long.

  22. مَن لِلنَدِيِّ إِذا تَنازَعَ أَهلُهُ

    فَاِستَجهَلَت حُلَماءَهُ الجُهّالُ

    Who will tend the assembly when its members dispute,

    and the ignorant provoke its forbearing men to folly?

  23. لَو كُنتَ شاهِدَهُم لَقَلَّ مِراؤُهُم

    لِأَغَرَّ فيهِ مَعَ الفَتاءِ جَلالُ

    Had you been among them, their wrangling would have lessened,

    before an illustrious man in whom youth and majesty were joined.

  24. مَن لِلعُلومِ فَقَد هَوى العَلَمُ الَّذي

    وُسِمَت بِهِ أَنواعُها الأَغفالُ

    Who will tend learning? Fallen is the standard by which

    its unmarked branches were distinguished.

  25. مَن لِلقَضاءِ يَعِزُّ في أَثنائِهِ

    إيضاحُ مُظلِمَةٍ لَها إِشكالُ

    Who will uphold justice, when in its proceedings it is hard

    to clarify an obscure matter fraught with difficulty?

  26. مَن لِليَتيمِ تَتابَعَت أَرزاؤُهُ

    هَلَكَ الأَبُ الحاني وَضاعَ المالُ

    Who will care for the orphan whose losses follow one another—

    the loving father dead, the wealth lost?

  27. أَعزِز بِأَن يَنعاكَ نَعيَ شَماتَةٍ

    لِلأَولِياءِ المَعشَرُ الأَقتالُ

    How grievous that your death should be announced with gloating

    to your friends by a band of enemies!

  28. فُجِعَت رَحى الإِسلامِ مِنكَ بِقُطبِها

    لَيتَ الحَسودَ فِداكَ فَهُوَ ثِفالُ

    In losing you, Islam's mill has lost its pivot;

    would that the envier had ransomed you: he is but the mill's mat.

  29. زُرناكَ لَم تَأذَن كَأَنَّكَ غافِلٌ

    ما كانَ مِنكَ لِواجِبٍ إِغفالُ

    We visited you; you gave no leave, as though unaware;

    never did you neglect any duty.

  30. أَينَ الحَفاوَةُ رَوضُها غَضُّ الجَنى

    أَينَ الطَلاقَةُ بِشرُها سَلسالُ

    Where is your warm welcome, its garden fresh with fruit?

    Where your cheerfulness, its smile a sweet, clear stream?

  31. أَيّامَ مَن يَعرِض عَلَيكَ وِدادَهُ

    يَكُنِ القَبولُ بَشيرُهُ الإِقبالُ

    In the days when whoever offered you his affection

    would find acceptance, heralded by your welcome.

  32. مَهما نُغِبُّكَ لا نُرِبكَ وَإِن نَزُر

    رِفهاً فَما لِزِيارَةٍ إِملالُ

    However seldom we visit you, we cause no misgiving; and if we come

    daily, our visits bring no weariness.

  33. هَيهاتَ لا عَهدٌ كَعَهدِكَ عائِدٌ

    إِذ أَنتَ في وَجهِ الزَمانِ جَمالُ

    Alas, no time like your time will return,

    when you were beauty upon the face of time.

  34. فَاِذهَب ذَهابَ البُرءِ أَعقَبَهُ الضَنى

    وَالأَمنِ وافَت بَعدَهُ الآجالُ

    Depart, then, as health departs when wasting sickness follows,

    and security, after which death's appointed times arrive.

  35. لَكَ صالِحُ الأَعمالِ إِذ شَيَّعتَها

    بِالبِرِّ ساعَةَ تُعرَضُ الأَعمالُ

    Righteous deeds shall be yours—since you sent them forth

    with piety—at the hour when deeds are displayed.

  36. حَيّا الحَيا مَثواكَ وَاِمتَدَّت عَلى

    ضاحي ثَراكَ مِنَ النَعيمِ ظِلالُ

    May life-giving rain greet your resting place, and may there spread over

    your sunlit soil the shades of bliss.

  37. وَإِذا النَسيمُ اِعتَلَّ فَاِعتامَت بِهِ

    ساحاتِكَ الغَدَواتُ وَالآصالُ

    And when the breeze grows languid, may, in its company,

    mornings and evenings choose your courtyards.

  38. وَلَئِن أَذالَكَ بَعدَ طولِ صِيانَةٍ

    قَدَرٌ فَكُلُّ مَصونِهِ سَيُذالُ

    And though, after long safekeeping, you have been cast down

    by fate, all that it safeguards will be cast down.

  39. سَيَحوطُ مَن خَلَّفتَهُ مُستَبصِرٌ

    في حِفظِ ما اِستَحفَظتَهُ لا يالو

    One clear-sighted will watch over those you left behind,

    sparing no effort in preserving what you entrusted to him.

  40. كَفَلَ الوَزيرُ أَبو الوَليدَ بِجَبرِهِم

    إِنَّ الوَزيرَ لِمِثلِها فَعّالُ

    The vizier Abu al-Walid has undertaken to restore them;

    the vizier is indeed a doer of such deeds.

  41. مَلِكٌ سَجِيَّتُهُ الوَفاءُ فَما لَهُ

    بِالعَهدِ في ذي خُلَّةٍ إِخلالُ

    A king whose nature is fidelity, who never

    breaks his pledge toward a friend.

  42. حَتَمٌ عَلَيهِ لَعاً لِعَثرَةِ حالِهِم

    قَد تَعثُرُ الحالاتُ ثُمَّ تُقالُ

    He is bound to bid their stumbling fortunes, 'Rise!'

    Fortunes may stumble, then be helped to rise.

  43. إيهاً بَني ذَكوانَ إِن غَلَبَ الأَسى

    فَلَكُم إِلى الصَبرِ الجَميلِ مَآلُ

    Enough, sons of Dhakwan! If grief overwhelms,

    your recourse is noble patience,

  44. إِن كانَ غابَ البَدرُ عَن ساهورِهِ

    مِنكُم وَفارَقَ غابَهُ الرِئبالُ

    even if the full moon has vanished from its halo

    from your midst, and the lion has left his thicket.