1. ثَكِلَ الشَرقُ فَتاهُ

    لَيتَني كُنتُ فِداه

    The East is bereaved of its young man.

    Would that I had died in his stead.

  2. لَيتَني كُنتُ أَصَمّاً

    عِندَما الناعي نَعاه

    Would that I had been deaf

    when the death-herald announced his death.

  3. قَد نَعى الناعونَ زَي

    داناً إِلى البَدرِ سَناه

    The heralds have announced the death of Zay—

    —dan to the full moon: its radiance,

  4. وَإِلى التاريخِ وَالعِل

    مِ أَباهُ وَأَخاه

    and to history and learn—

    —ing: their father and brother.

  5. سَرى نَعيُهُ فَالدَمعُ في كُلِّ مِحجَرٍ

    كَأَنَّ قُلوبَ الناسِ خَلفَ المَحاجِرِ

    News of his death spread, and tears filled every eye socket,

    as though people's hearts lay behind their eye sockets.

  6. وَلِلطَيرِ في الجَنّاتِ إِرنانُ ثاكِلٍ

    وَلِلماءِ أَنّاتُ الغَريبِ المُسافِرِ

    The birds in the gardens have a bereaved one's wail,

    and the water has the groans of a stranger journeying afar.

  7. وَلِلنَجمِ وَهُوَ النَجمُ مِشِيَةُ ظالِعٍ

    وَلِلأَرضِ وَهِيَ الأَرضُ وِقفَةُ حائِرِ

    The star, though a star, walks with a cripple's gait,

    and the earth, though the earth, stands bewildered.

  8. وَما كامِنٌ فيهِ الأَسى غَيرُ كامِنٍ

    وَلا ظاهِرٌ فيهِ الأَسى غَيرُ ظاهِرِ

    No hidden thing is without grief hidden within it,

    nor any visible thing without grief made manifest.

  9. فَمَن لَم يَرَ الباكينَ في كُلِّ مَنزِلٍ

    فَما أَبصَرَت عَيناهُ شَقَّ المَرائِرِ

    Whoever has not seen weepers in every home,

    his eyes have never witnessed the rending of gallbladders.

  10. وَهيَ البَرقُ مِمّا حَمَلوهُ فَلَم يُطِق

    يُحَدِّثُنا عَنهُ بِغَيرِ الأَشائِرِ

    The telegraph faltered under what they made it bear, unable

    to tell us of him except through signals.

  11. فَيا خَبَراً أَلقى الفَجيعَةَ بَينَنا

    لَأَنتَ عَلَينا اليَومَ أَشأَمَ طائِرِ

    O news that cast calamity among us,

    today you are surely our most ill-omened bird.

  12. وَيا ناقِلَ الأَنباءِ يَجهَلُ كُنهَها

    كَرِهناكَ حَتّى قادِماً بِالبَشائِرِ

    And you, bearer of tidings, ignorant of their true import,

    we loathe you even when you bring glad tidings.

  13. أَقامَ الأَسى بَينَ العَزاءِ وَمُهجَتي

    وَباعَدَ ما بَينَ القَريضِ وَخاطِري

    Grief stood between consolation and my heart,

    and set verse far apart from my thoughts.

  14. فَأَمسَيتُ لا أَدري أَسِترٌ مِنَ الدُجى

    عَلى الشَمسِ أَم ضَيَّعتُ أَسوَدَ ناظِري

    So by evening I knew not: was there a veil of darkness

    over the sun, or had I lost my eye's dark pupil?

  15. وَباتَ فُؤادي يَتَّقي نَزَواتِهِ

    كما يَتَّقي العُصفورُ بَأسَ الكَواسِرِ

    My heart spent the night fearing its own surges,

    as the sparrow fears the violence of birds of prey.

  16. كَأَنَّ بِقَلبي شاعِراً يَنظُمُ الأَسى

    كَأَنّي تَوَلّى مَدمَعي كُلَّ ناثِرِ

    As though within my heart a poet weaves grief into verse,

    as though every prose writer had taken charge of my tears.

  17. أَلا لَيتَ شِعري بَعدَما طارَ نَعيُهُ

    أَفي أَرضِ مِصرٍ نائِمٌ غَيرُ ساهِرِ

    Ah, would that I knew, after news of his death flew abroad:

    is anyone in Egypt's land asleep, not keeping vigil?

  18. وَهَل في سَماءِ النيلِ غَيرُ دَياجِرٍ

    وَهَل في مِياهِ النيلِ غَيرُ مَجامِرِ

    And is there anything in the Nile's sky but darkness?

    And anything in the Nile's waters but braziers?

  19. وَهَل في ضِفافِ النيلِ بَينَ نَخيلِهِ

    مُغَرِّدَةٌ أَو آنِسٌ غَيرُ نافِرِ

    And is there on the Nile's banks, among its palms,

    a songbird, or a tame creature that does not flee?

  20. بِمَ سَمَرُ الإِخوانِ في كُلِّ لَيلَةٍ

    وَصاحِبُهُم في اللَحدِ غَيرُ مُسامِرِ

    Of what do the friends converse each night,

    while their companion lies in the grave, joining no nightly talk?

  21. لِيَبكِ عَلَيهِ المُسلِمونَ فَإِنَّهُم

    أَضاعوا بِهِ مُحيِ العُصورِ الدَوائِرِ

    Let the Muslims weep for him, for they

    have lost in him the reviver of ages gone by.

  22. وَتَبكِ النَصارى فَخرَها وَعَميدَها

    فَما بَعدَهُ مِن حُجَّةٍ لِمُفاخِرِ

    And let the Christians weep for their pride and leader,

    for after him, no boaster has grounds for boasting.

  23. فَما جادَتِ الدُنيا عَلَيهِم بِمِثلِهِ

    وَغَيرُ يَسيرٍ أَن تَجودَ بِئاخَرِ

    The world has bestowed no one like him upon them,

    and it is no easy thing for it to bestow another.

  24. أَيا جَبَلَ العِلمِ الَّذي مادَ هاوِياً

    عَزيزٌ عَلَينا أَن تُرى في الحَفائِرِ

    O mountain of learning that swayed and fell,

    it pains us dearly to see you in the grave-pits.

  25. عَلَيكَ يَوَدُّ الغَربُ لَو كانَ مُشرِقاً

    وَفيكَ يُحِبُّ الحَيُّ أَهلَ المَقابِرِ

    For your sake, the West wishes it were Eastern,

    and because of you, the living love those in the graves.

  26. وَيَغُطُ تِبرُ الأَرضِ فيكَ تُرابَها

    وَيَحسُدُ ماءَ الجَفنِ ماءُ الخزَريرِ

    And the earth's gold envies its dust because of you,

    and murmuring water envies the water of the eyelid.

  27. وَما عادَةٌ خَفضُ الرِجالِ رُؤوسَها

    وَلَكِنَّما في الأَرضِ كَنزُ الجَواهِرِ

    It is not men's habit to lower their heads,

    but in the earth lies a treasure of jewels.

  28. لِتَفخَر عَلى الشُهبِ الجَنادِلُ وَالحَصى

    فَفيها هِلالُ العِلمِ شَمسُ المَحاضِرِ

    Let the boulders and pebbles boast over the stars,

    for among them lies learning's crescent, the sun of assemblies.

  29. شَأَوتَ الأَوالي جامِعاً وَمُؤَلِّفاً

    وَزِدتَ بِأَن أَحرَزتَ فَضلَ الأَواخِرِ

    You outstripped the ancients as compiler and author,

    and surpassed them further by attaining the excellence of later generations.

  30. تَخَيَّرَ أَحداثُ اللَيالي كِبارَنا

    كَأَنَّ المَنايا صَبَّةٌ بِالأَكابِرِ

    The calamities of the nights have chosen our greatest,

    as though Death were enamored of the eminent.

  31. وَنَضحَكُ لِلآمالِ ضِحكَةُ وامِقٍ

    فَيَضحَكُ مِنّا الدَهرُ ضِحكَةَ ساخِرِ

    We smile upon our hopes with a lover's smile,

    and Time laughs at us with a mocker's laugh.

  32. رَضينا بِأَن تَغشى الغُزاةُ بِلادَنا

    وَنِمنا وَما نامَت عُيونُ المَعاثِرِ

    We have consented to invaders overrunning our lands,

    and slept, while the eyes of misfortunes never slept.

  33. لَها كُلَّ يَومٍ بينَنا حُكُمُ جائِرٍ

    وَإِقدامُ مَوتورٍ وَفَتكَةُ ثائِرِ

    Each day among us, theirs is a tyrant's judgment,

    and a wronged man's charge, and an avenger's deadly blow.

  34. عَلى أَنَّها تَقتَصُّ مِن غَيرِ مُذنِبٍ

    وَتَأخُذُ بِالأَوتارِ مِن غَيرِ واتِرِ

    Yet they exact retribution from the innocent,

    and avenge blood-debts upon those who caused no wrong.

  35. فَيا وَيحَ هَذا الشَرقِ كَيفَ اِغتِباطُهُ

    وَأَمضى مَواضيهِ كَليلُ الأَظافِرِ

    Alas for this East! How can it rejoice,

    while the keenest of its blades has blunted claws?

  36. جَلَلٌ في مِصرَ لَكِن

    في العِراقَينِ صَداه

    A calamity in Egypt, but

    its echo resounds in the two Iraqs.

  37. مادَ لُبنانُ وَمادَ

    الشامُ لَمّا سَمِعاه

    Lebanon swayed, and so did

    al-Sham, when both heard it.

  38. كادَ أَن يَخذِلَ فيهِ

    كُلَّ طَودٍ مَنكِباه

    At this, there almost failed

    every mountain's two shoulders.

  39. أَيُّها الراحِلُ عَنّا

    بَلَغَ الحُزنُ مَداه

    O you who have departed from us,

    grief has reached its utmost limit.

  40. قَد بَكاكَ الأُفقُ حَتّى

    فَرقَداهُ وَسُهاه

    The horizon has wept for you, even

    its two Farqad stars and its Suha.

  41. يا خَليلَيَّ أَعينا

    مَن عَصاهُ مُسعِداه

    O my two friends, come to the aid

    of one whom his two comforters have failed.

  42. خانَتِ النَفسُ قُواها

    خانَتِ البَينَ قُواه

    The soul's powers have failed it;

    parting's powers have failed it.

  43. قَد مَضى مَن تَتَمَنّى

    كُلُّ عَينٍ أَن تَراه

    Gone is the one whom

    every eye longs to see.

  44. فَتَمَنّى كُلُّ قَبرٍ

    حينَ أَودى لَو حَواه

    So every grave wished,

    when he perished, that it had held him.

  45. ماتَ زَيدانُ أَبو التا

    ريخِ فَليَحيَ فَتاه

    Zaydan has died, the father of histo—

    —ry; may his son live on.