1. ما للعيون حاربت رقادَها

    وسالمت على القذى سهادها

    What ails the eyes, that they have waged war on their sleep,

    And, despite the grit, made peace with their sleeplessness?

  2. وما الذي أوجست الناس ضحى

    فألزمت أكفّها أكبادها

    And what did people sense with dread at midmorning,

    That they pressed their palms against their livers?

  3. نعم هوت دعامةُ الفضل التي

    لدينه ربُّ السماء شادها

    Yes, the pillar of virtue has fallen—the one

    The Lord of heaven raised for His faith.

  4. واليومَ عزِّي جعفراً بجعفر

    ناعٍ نعى إلى الورى رشادها

    And today Ja‘far is consoled for the loss of Ja‘far

    By a herald who announced to humankind the death of its guidance.

  5. قد جمع الدهرَ قواه كلها

    بليلة قد ضاعف اسودادها

    Time has gathered all its powers

    In a night whose darkness it has doubled,

  6. حتَّى على رزء الهدى بقلبه

    أرزاءُ كل آله أعادها

    Until, on top of the loss of guidance, in his heart

    It brought back the calamities of all his kin.

  7. الله يا دهرُ لقد خلّدتها

    سبَّة عارٍ لا ترى نفادها

    By God, O Time, you have made it everlasting—

    A shameful disgrace whose end you will never see.

  8. للمجد كانت مقلةٌ واحدةٌ

    مسحت في كفِّ الردى سوادها

    Glory had but a single eye;

    You wiped away its black pupil in Death’s palm.