1. أَرقتُ فَما أَنامُ وَلا أُنيمُ

    وَجاءَ بِحُزنِيَ اللَيلُ البَهيمُ

    I have lain awake: I neither sleep nor let others sleep.

    And the pitch-black night came bearing my grief.

  2. وَأَصبَحَ عامِرٌ قَد هَدَّ رُكني

    وَفارَقَني بِهِ اللَطِفُ الحَميمُ

    And now ʿĀmir has shattered my pillar,

    And in him I lost my gentle, intimate friend.

  3. فَكانَ ثِمالَنا تَأوي إِلَيهِ

    أَرامِلُنا وَعائِلُنا اليَتيمُ

    For he was our refuge, to whom would turn

    Our widows and our needy orphan.

  4. وَمَدرَهَ خَصمِنا في كُلِّ أَمرٍ

    لَهُ تَجذو عَلى الرُكَبِ الخُصومِ

    And the champion of our cause in every matter;

    Before him adversaries knelt upon their knees.

  5. وَقَيِّمَنا عَلى الجُلّي بِجِدٍّ

    إِذا ما الكَربُ أَفظَعَ مَن يَقومُ

    And our resolute guardian in the gravest crisis,

    When anguish appalled anyone who stood to face it.

  6. أَتى الرُكبانُ بِالأَخبارِ تَهوي

    بِها وَبِهِم حَراجيجٌ هُجومُ

    The riders came with news; speeding along,

    Bearing it and them, were lean, long-legged camels surging onward.

  7. فَقالوا قَد تَرَكناهُ سَقيماً

    فَما صَدَقوا وَلا صَحَّ السَقيمُ

    Then they said, “We left him sick.”

    But they spoke no truth, nor did the sick man recover.

  8. فَعَزَّ عَلَيَّ أَنَّ القَومَ آبوا

    وَأَنتَ بِواسِطٍ جَدَثٌ مُقيمٌ

    So it grieved me deeply that the company returned,

    While you remain at Wāsiṭ in a grave.

  9. جَزاكَ اللَهُ خَيراً حَيثُ أَمسَت

    مِن البُلدانِ أَعظُمُكَ الرَميمُ

    May God reward you well, wherever now lie

    Among the lands your crumbling bones.

  10. فَنِعمَ الشَيءُ كُنتَ وَلَيسَ شَيءٌ

    مِن الدُنيا وَما فيها يَدومُ

    How excellent you were! Yet nothing

    Of this world or what it holds endures.

  11. تَضَعضَعَ جُلُّ قَومِكَ وَاِستَكانوا

    لِفَقدِكَ إِنَّهُ حَدَثٌ عَظيمُ

    Most of your people were shaken and brought low

    By your loss; it is a great calamity.

  12. قَضى نَحباً فَبانَ وَكانَ حَصناً

    يَعوذُ بِهِ المُدَفَّعُ وَالغَريمُ

    He met his end and departed; he had been a fortress

    Where the outcast and the debtor sought refuge.

  13. يَريشُ الأَقرَبينَ وَيَطّبيهم

    وَلا يَبري كَما يَبري القَدومُ

    He feathered his nearest kin and won them over,

    And did not pare them down as an adze pares.