1. الدَّهرُ ليسَ على حُرٍّ بمؤتَمنِ

    وأَيُّ عِلقٍ تخطتهُ يَدُ الزَّمَنِ

    Time cannot be trusted with a noble man.

    And what treasure has the hand of time passed over?

  2. يَأتي العَفاءُ على الدُّنيا وساكِنها

    كأنَّ آدمَ لمن يَسكُن إلى سَكَن

    Oblivion overtakes the world and its dwellers,

    As though Adam had never found repose with a companion.

  3. يا باكياً فُرقة الأَحبابِ عن شَحَطٍ

    هَلا بكَيتَ فِراقَ الرُّوحِ للبَدنِ

    O you who weep for loved ones parted by distance,

    Why did you not weep for the soul's parting from the body?

  4. نُورٌ تَقَيَّد في طِينٍ إلى أجَلٍ

    وانحاز عَنواً وخلَّى الطينَ في الكفَنِ

    A light was bound in clay until an appointed term,

    Then withdrew under compulsion, leaving the clay in the shroud.

  5. كالطَّيرِ في شَرَكٍ يَسمُو إلى دَرَكٍ

    حَتّى تخلَّصَ من سُقمٍ ومِن دَرَن

    Like a bird in a snare, rising toward its goal,

    Until it freed itself from sickness and grime.

  6. إن لم يكُن في رِضى اللَهِ التقاؤُهُماغ

    فَيا لَها صَفقَةً بُتَّت على دَغَن

    If their union did not accord with God's good pleasure,

    Then what a bargain, concluded in rancor!

  7. يا شدَّ ما افتَرقا من بَعدِ ما اعتَنَقا

    كأنّها صُحبَةٌ كان على دَخَن

    Oh, how sharply they parted after they had embraced!

    As though theirs had been a companionship clouded by ill will.

  8. ورُبَّ سارٍ إلى وَجهٍ يُسَرُّ بهِ

    وافى وقد نَبتَ المَرعى على الدِّمَنِ

    And many a night-traveler, seeking a face that would gladden him,

    Arrived when pasture had already grown over the dung-marked ruins.

  9. أَتى إلى اللَه لا سَمعٌ ولا بَصرٌ

    يدعُو إلى الرُّشد أَو يَهدِي إلى السننِ

    He has gone to God; no hearing or sight remains

    To call to right guidance or lead along the proper path.

  10. في كُلّ يوم فِراقٌ لا بقاءَ لهُ

    مِن صاحبٍ كرمٍ أو سيّدٍ قَمِنِ

    Each day brings a parting—no one endures—

    From a generous companion or a worthy lord.

  11. أَعيا أبا حَسَن فقدُ الذين مَضَوا

    فَمن لنا بالذي أعيَا أَبا حسن

    The loss of those who passed away exhausted Abu Hasan;

    Who, then, can help us bear what exhausted Abu Hasan?

  12. كانَ البقيّةَ في قومٍ قد انقَرَضُوا

    فَهاجَ ما شاءَ ذاكَ القرنَ من شَجنِ

    He was the last of a company that had passed away,

    And stirred that generation to boundless sorrow.

  13. يُعَدُّ فرداً وفي أَثوابهِ زُمَرٌ

    من كلّ ذي خُلُقٍ غَمرٍ وذي فِطَنِ

    He is counted as one, yet multitudes are within his robes,

    Of every man of ample virtue and every man of keen insight.

  14. وإنَّ مَن أَوجَدَتنا كُلَّ مُفتَقَدٍ

    حَياتُه لَعزيزُ الفَقدِ والظَّعَنِ

    And indeed, he who restored to us every lost one

    Through his life is grievous to lose and see depart.

  15. مَن للمُلوكِ إذا خفَّت حُلومُهُم

    بما يقاومُ ذاك الطّيشَ من سكنِ

    Who will serve kings when their judgment grows light,

    With composure to counter that rashness?

  16. يا يُونسَ الأُنسِ أًصبحنا لِوَحشَتنا

    نَشكُو اغتِراباً وما بِنَّا عَنِ الوَطَنِ

    O Yunus of solace, in our loneliness we now

    Lament estrangement, though we have not left our homeland.

  17. ويا مُطاعاً مُطِيعاً لا عِنَادَ لهُ

    في كُلّ أَمرٍ عَلى الإسلام مؤتَمنِ

    And O you, obeyed yet obedient, without obstinacy,

    Entrusted with Islam in every affair.

  18. كَم خُطَّةٍ كارتِجاجِ البَحرِ مُبهَمةٍ

    فَرَّجتَها بحسامٍ سُلّ من لَسَن

    How many an inscrutable crisis, like the sea's tumult,

    You dispelled with a keen sword drawn from eloquence!

  19. طودُ المَهابةِ في الجُلَّى وإن جَذَبَت

    عِنانَهُ خَلوةٌ هزَّت ذُرى وَثَنِ

    A mountain of awe in great trials; yet when

    Solitude drew his reins, it shook an idol's summits.

  20. أكرِم به سَبباً تَلقى الرَّسولَ بهِ

    لِخمسِ واردةٍ في الفَرضِ والسُّنَنِ

    How noble a means he is, through whom you meet the Messenger,

    At the five recurring prayers, in obligation and tradition.

  21. ناهِيكَ من مَنهَجٍ شُمُّ القُصورِ بهِ

    هُدىً فمن فَدَنٍ عالٍ إلى فَدَن

    What a splendid path, with lofty palaces upon it

    For guidance, from one high mansion to another.

  22. من كُلّ وادي التُّقى يسقى الغمامُ بهِ

    فيستهلُّ شروقَ الضَّرعِ باللَّبَنِ

    From every valley of piety, the cloud is watered through him,

    Then pours forth milk, its udder brimming.

  23. تَجمَّلت بكَ في أحسَابها مُضرٌ

    وأصل مجدِكَ في جرثومَةِ اليَمنِ

    Mudar was adorned through you in her ancestral honors,

    And your glory is rooted in the stock of Yemen.

  24. من دَولةٍ حولَها الأَنصارُ حاشِدَةٌ

    في طامحِ شامخِ الأَركان والقُنَنِ

    From a dynasty around which the Ansar throng,

    In a soaring structure, lofty in pillars and summits.

  25. من الذين هم آوَوا وهُم نَصَرُوا

    من غَيَّةِ الدِّين لا من جذوةِ الفِتَن

    Of those who gave shelter and who gave support,

    From faith's sheltering shade, not from the ember of strife.

  26. إن يَبدُ مُطَّلعٌ منهم ومستمعٌ

    فارغب بنفسكَ عن لَحظٍ وعن أَذَنٍ

    If a glimpse of them and a hearing present themselves,

    Spare yourself any other looking or listening.

  27. ما بعدَ منطقِهِ وَشيءٌ ولا زَهَرٌ

    ولا لأَعلاقِ ذاكَ الدُّرِّ من ثَمنِ

    Beyond his speech, there is no embroidery or blossom,

    Nor any price for the treasures of those pearls.

  28. أقولُ هذا وفينا فَضلُ سُؤددهِ

    أستغفرُ اللَه مِلءَ السِّرِّ والعَلَن

    I say this, though the bounty of his nobility remains among us;

    I ask God's forgiveness with all my inward and outward being.

  29. مُحَمَّدٌ ومُغِيثٌ نِعمَ ذا عِوَضاً

    هُما سلالةُ ذاكَ العارِضِ الهَتِنِ

    Muhammad and Mughith—what an excellent recompense!

    They are the offspring of that steadily pouring rain-cloud.

  30. تقبلا هَديَهُ في كلّ صالحةٍ

    نصّ السوابق عن طبعٍ وعن مَرَنِ

    The two embraced his example in every good deed,

    Like coursers at full stretch, by nature and by training.

  31. ما حلَّ حُبوتهُ إلا وقد عقدا

    حُباً بما اختار من أيدٍ ومن مِنَنِ

    He had scarcely loosened his knee-wrap when the two had tied

    Their wraps, with his chosen strength and favors:

  32. علماً وحلماً وترحيباً وتكرمةً

    للزائرين وإغضاءً على وكَنِ

    Knowledge, forbearance, welcome, and gracious honor

    For visitors, and a lowered gaze upon a perch.

  33. يا وافَد الغَيثِ أوسِع قَبرَهُ نُزُلاً

    ورَوِّما حول ذاكَ الربع من ثُكَنِ

    O envoy of rain, lavish hospitality upon his grave,

    And water the resting-places around that dwelling.

  34. وطبَّق الأرض وبلاً في شفاعَتهِ

    فَنِعمَ رائدِ ذاك الرِّيفِ واليمنِ

    And cover the earth with downpours through his intercession,

    For what an excellent scout of that fertile land and good fortune!

  35. وأنتِ يا أرض كُوني بَرَّةً بأبي

    مَثوىً كريمٍ ليومِ البَعثِ مُرتَهنِ

    And you, O earth, be kind to the occupant

    Of a noble resting-place, held in pledge until Resurrection Day.

  36. وإن تردَّت بتربٍ فيك أعظُمهُ

    فكم لها في جنان الخُلد من رَدَن

    And though his bones are cloaked in dust within you,

    Yet how many sleeves are theirs in the gardens of eternity!