1. هتفَ النعيُّ فما ملكتُ بياني

    ليت النعيَّ إلى الإِمام نعاني

    The death announcement rang out, and I lost command of speech.

    Would that the announcement had told the Imam of my death.

  2. ذَعر الحطيمَ وراع يثربَ عاصفٌ

    للموت ضجّ لهوله الحرمانِ

    A tempest terrified the Hatim and struck Yathrib with dread—

    a tempest of death; at its horror the two sanctuaries cried out.

  3. سهمٌ أصابَ المسلمينَ وجال في

    كبدِ الهُدَى وحُشاشةِ الإيمانِ

    An arrow struck the Muslims and drove deep into

    the very heart of guidance and the last life-breath of faith.

  4. جَرحَ الأئمّةَ واستمرَّ فما ارعوى

    حتّى استباح مقاتلَ الفُرسانِ

    It wounded the imams and kept on, never holding back,

    until it ravaged the horsemen’s vital parts.

  5. ذهبَ الإِمامُ يُقيمُ حائطَ دينهِ

    ويراه أنفعَ ما يُقيمُ الباني

    The Imam went forth to build the rampart of his faith,

    deeming it the most useful thing a builder could raise.

  6. ذهب المجاهدُ يشتري لبلادهِ

    عِزَّ الحياةِ بأشرفِ الأثمانِ

    The warrior went forth to purchase for his homeland

    the dignity of life at the noblest of prices:

  7. بالنّفس تَستبقُ الحتوفَ كريمةً

    بين السُّيوفِ وبالنّجيع القاني

    with his noble soul, racing to meet death

    amid the swords, and with deep-crimson blood.

  8. إن كنتَ تجهلُ في الكريهةِ بأسَهُ

    فالعلم عند كتائبِ الطلّيانِ

    If you do not know his valor in battle,

    that knowledge lies with the Italian battalions.

  9. قذف الغرورُ بها إلى أوطانِه

    بطلاً يصونُ محارمَ الأوطانِ

    Arrogance hurled them into his homeland—

    against a hero guarding the homelands’ sacred bounds,

  10. عَجلَ المغارِ إذا يُؤامرُ نَفسَهُ

    أَيُقيمُ أم يمضي الضّعيفُ الواني

    swift to raid when one debates with oneself:

    will the weak, weary man stay or go?

  11. يأبى على البَطِرِ المُدِلِّ ببأسِه

    ما استنَّ من عَنَتِ ومن عُدوانِ

    He denied the insolent man, boastful of his might,

    the oppression and aggression he had instituted.

  12. نزل البلاءُ بقومه فإذا الحمى

    بيد المغير يُسامُ كلَّ هَوانِ

    Calamity descended on his people, and behold, their protected land,

    in the invader’s hands, was subjected to every humiliation.

  13. أخذ البلادَ فَرُوِّعت أقطارُها

    ورمى الفضاءَ فلم يَبِتْ بأمانِ

    He seized the country, and all its regions were terror-stricken;

    he bombarded the sky, which knew no night of safety.

  14. البحرُ أحمرُ يستطير شُواظُه

    والبرُّ أغبرُ دائمُ الرَّجَفانِ

    The sea was red, its flames leaping high,

    and the land dust-gray, trembling without cease.

  15. والموتُ بين بُروقِه ورُعودِهِ

    يرمى البقاعَ بوابلٍ هتّانِ

    And death, amid its lightning and its thunder,

    pelted the lands with a pouring torrent.

  16. ملكَ البسيطةَ والعُبابَ ولم يَدَعْ

    مَسرى النُّسورِ ومسرحَ العِقبانِ

    It ruled the earth and the surging sea, and did not spare

    the vultures’ flight-path or the eagles’ roaming ground.

  17. ما عفَّ عن ذاتِ القناعِ ولا رعَى

    حقَّ الرّضيعِ ولا الكبيرِ الفاني

    It showed no restraint toward the veiled woman, nor respected

    the infant’s rights, nor those of the frail elder.

  18. هاجوا الإمامَ فهاجها قُرشيَّةً

    يختالُ في غَمراتِها العُمرانِ

    They roused the Imam, and he kindled a Qurayshi battle,

    through whose raging depths the two Umars strode proudly.

  19. هاجت لنا ذكرى وقائعَ سمحةٍ

    مأثورةٍ لابن الوليدِ حِسانِ

    It stirred in us the memory of noble battles,

    glorious and renowned, fought by Ibn al-Walid.

  20. جندُ النبيِّ يسير حول لوائِه

    وقواضبُ الله العليِّ الشّانِ

    The Prophet’s host marches around his banner,

    and the keen swords of God, exalted in majesty.

  21. التركُ والعربُ الأُباةُ أنوفُهم

    سيفان في لُجَجِ الوَغى غَرِقانِ

    The Turks and the Arabs, their noses proud and unyielding,

    are two swords submerged in the surging seas of war:

  22. آناً بمُلْتَطَمِ الدّماءِ وتارةً

    في جَوْفِ مُحتدَمٍ من النّيرانِ

    at times amid the clashing waves of blood, at others

    within a raging mass of flames.

  23. الله ألّفَ بينهم فهمُ على

    نُعمَى الحياةِ وبُؤسِها أَخَوانِ

    God united them, and they were, in

    life’s bliss and its misery, two brothers.

  24. سببان من دُنيا الشُّعوبِ ودينهم

    تتفرَّقُ البلوى ويفترقانِ

    Two bonds, from the peoples’ worldly life and their faith:

    affliction disperses, and the two are parted.

  25. ما زالتِ الأحداثُ تعصِفُ ريحُها

    حتّى الْتَوَى وتقطَّع السّببانِ

    Events kept blowing their storm-winds

    until the two bonds twisted and broke.

  26. وَارَحمتا للمسلمينَ تفرّقوا

    وتباعدوا في الأرضِ بعد تَدانِ

    Alas for the Muslims: they have scattered

    and drawn far apart across the earth after closeness!

  27. فلئن بكيتُ فقد وجدتُ مُصابَهم

    في مَنكِبي وجوانحي وجَناني

    And if I weep, I have indeed felt their affliction

    in my shoulder, my ribs, and my heart.

  28. ما بالدّموع المُستهلَّةِ رِيبةٌ

    هِيَ في الجُفونِ عُصارةُ الوِجدانِ

    There is nothing suspect in these streaming tears;

    within the eyelids, they are the distilled essence of feeling.

  29. مَن كان أبصرَ خطبَهم فأنا الذي

    مارستُه ولمستُه بِبناني

    If anyone has seen their plight, I am the one

    who has lived it and touched it with my fingertips.

  30. ما زلتُ أجمعُ بالقريضِ شَتاتَهم

    حتّى انقضى أدبي وضاع زماني

    I kept gathering their scattered ranks with poetry,

    until my literary labor was spent and my time wasted.

  31. انظرْ إلى الباني المُهدَّمِ واعتبرْ

    بالدّهرِ يصدعُ شامخَ البُنيانِ

    Look upon the ruined builder, and take warning

    from time, which splits the loftiest edifice.

  32. يا مأتمَ الإسلامِ بات شهيدُه

    عَبِقَ الموسَّدِ طيِّبَ الأكفانِ

    O mourning assembly of Islam, its martyr lies

    with a fragrant pillow and sweet-scented shrouds.

  33. هل للهدايةِ منكَ لوعةُ جازعٍ

    أم للحَميَّةِ فيك لهفةُ عانِ

    Has guidance, from you, a distraught mourner’s anguish,

    or zeal, in you, a captive’s yearning?

  34. وهل اكتستْ ثوبَ الحِدادِ لفقدهِ

    أُمَمٌ تَدينُ بِمُحكَمِ الفُرقانِ

    And have they donned the robe of mourning for his loss—

    the nations that live by the Furqan’s firm decrees?

  35. فَدحَ المصابُ فلا البكاءُ أراحَني

    مّما لَقيتُ ولا الرِّثاءُ شفاني

    The calamity is crushing: neither weeping has relieved me

    of what I have suffered, nor elegy has healed me.

  36. من حقِّ أحمدَ أن يكون رثاءَه

    زَجَلُ المُكِّبر عند كلّ أذانِ

    It is Ahmad’s due that his elegy should be

    the ringing cry of 'God is greatest' at every call to prayer.

  37. لو زِيد ركنٌ في الصلاةِ على يدي

    لجعلتُه من أَوثق الأركانِ

    If a pillar were added to prayer by my hand,

    I would make it one of its firmest pillars.

  38. جار النَّبي غَنِمْتَ طيبَ جِوارِه

    وظَفِرْتَ منه بذمَّةٍ وضمانِ

    Neighbor of the Prophet, you have gained the sweetness of his nearness,

    and won from him a covenant of protection and a guarantee.

  39. ونَزَلتَ من غُرَفِ الجِنان بناضرٍ

    بَهِجِ القطينِ مُنَعَّم الجيرانِ

    And you have settled in a radiant chamber of Paradise,

    its dwellers joyful, its neighbors living in bliss.

  40. انفُضْ أذى الدنيا ودَعْ ما زيّنت

    للنّاسِ من زُورٍ ومن بُهتانِ

    Shake off the world’s hurt, and forsake what it has made alluring

    to people—falsehood and slander.

  41. واحْمَدْ مكانكَ في النَّعيمِ وطيبهِ

    إنّ الهمومَ مَلأْنَ كل مكانِ

    And give thanks for your place in bliss and its sweetness;

    for cares have filled every place.

  42. إن جلّ خطبُ المسلمين فإنّه

    دينُ الزّمانِ وسُنّةُ الحَدَثانِ

    If the Muslims’ plight is grave, it is

    the law of time and the way of fate.

  43. دُنيا الشُّعوبِ وللحياةِ كِتابُها

    سَلَبُ الكُماةِ ومغنمُ الشُّجعَانِ

    The world of nations—and life has its book—

    is the warriors’ spoil and the brave men’s prize.