يا ابن عثمان إن خطبك خطبي

في أبيك الموصي بقلبك قلبي

O son of Uthman, your calamity is indeed mine,

In the loss of your father, who entrusted your heart to mine.

فلئن صرتُ منذ مات شريكاً

لك في حسرة عليه وكرب

For if, since he died, I have become a partner

With you in sorrow for him and anguish,

فكم اعتدَّني شريكك فيما

كان يوليك من سماح وحب

Then how often he counted me your partner in what

He bestowed upon you of generosity and love.

بِنْتَ عني فأصبح الرزء رزئي

ن وكان العزاء لو كنت قربي

You parted from me, and the calamity became two;

And there would have been solace, had you been near me.

أصديقي ألم يكن حسبك اليو

م عناء هذا المصاب وحسبي

O my friend, was it not enough for you today—

The anguish of this calamity—and enough for me?

أنا شرقاً أبكي وغرباً تَرَحَّل

تَ وشتان بين شرق وغرب

I weep in the east, while you have journeyed westward;

And how far apart are east and west!

أنا في قرية أرى ماءها بع

دك مراً وظلها غير خصب

I am in a village; in your absence I find its water

Bitter, and its shade barren.

يا ابن عثمان كيف أسلو وقد بت

تُ وحيداً وضاق بي كل رحب

O son of Uthman, how can I find solace, now that I have become

Alone, and every open space has closed in on me?

وإلى من أشكو وقد مات من كن

تُ أنادي فكان خير مُلَبِّ

And to whom shall I complain, now that he has died—the one I used

To call upon, and who was the best to answer?

انقضى بعدك اختيالي وعجبي

بعلومي وسيرتي بين صحبي

Gone, since you left, are my pride and self-admiration

In my learning and my conduct among my companions.