1. العلمُ بالإِجماع معدنه ذهب

    فبأي وجه يقتني أو يكتسبْ

    Knowledge's mine, all agree, has gone;

    so by what means can it be obtained or acquired?

  2. ذهب المؤلف شت جمع فنونه

    فليبك مطلبه العظيم ذوو الطلب

    The compiler has gone; his gathered disciplines lie scattered.

    So let seekers mourn his lofty pursuit.

  3. والدينّ أظلم في عيون رجاله

    من بعد فقد سراجه وبه غرب

    And faith grew dark in the eyes of its men

    after its lamp was lost, and with him it set.

  4. وبكلِّ جارحةٍ عليه جراحةٍ

    وبكل قلب منه صدع ما اشتعب

    And every limb bears a wound for him,

    and every heart, because of him, a rift that has not healed.

  5. أسف نقول مضى فيقبل مسرعا

    فيه فيا لهفاه ثم ويا تعب

    A grief we say has passed comes rushing back

    over him—oh, the anguish, and oh, the weariness!

  6. تتجددُ الحسراتُ فيه دائماً

    أبدا خصوصا والتلهف والوصب

    Sorrows over him are constantly renewed,

    forever—anguish and suffering above all.

  7. ويصبُّ من سحب الشئون مجلجل

    صبا ملث المزن سخ المنسكب

    And a resounding torrent pours from clouds of tear ducts,

    a ceaseless raincloud downpour, copious as it spills.

  8. لرزيةٍ عظمت فحسبك ما يرى

    بالكون منها قد تروع واضطرب

    For a calamity so great, enough is what is seen

    throughout creation, terrified and shaken by it.

  9. ما إن قرى علم وأقرى نازل

    ودعاه ذو حاج فبلَغَ ما طلب

    As soon as he offered a feast of learning and welcomed a guest,

    and a man in need called him, the man gained what he sought.

  10. وكذاك إِن عقد الحبا في مجلس

    فالطيشُ معقود النواصي والعذب

    And likewise, when he tied his knee-binding wraps in an assembly,

    then frivolity had its forelocks and tails bound.

  11. وترددُ العلماء في المفهوم والمن

    طوق من علمِ الشريعةِ والأدب

    And when scholars hesitated over implied and explicitly

    stated meanings in sacred law and literature,

  12. وبدالهم ما عنه باعهم القصير

    فمن يحلُّ المشكل المبدي الصعب

    and something beyond their short reach appeared to them—

    who would solve the problem that showed itself so difficult?

  13. ورست بهم أمواجٍ بحر علومه

    كيف التخلصُ والوقوع على الأدب

    And the waves of his sea of learning bore them to anchor—

    how could they escape and arrive at learning?

  14. ألاجري دمع عليه حسرةً

    بدم وأعقبه التلوه والكرب

    Ah, tears flowed for him in grief,

    with blood; anguished bewilderment and distress followed.

  15. فالفضلُ فيه خليقة من أصلِ

    خليقته الكريمةِ ليس فيه بمجتلب

    For excellence in him was innate, rooted in

    his noble nature, not something brought in from outside.

  16. لا لومَ إن لبست عليه مسوحها

    جزعاً تصانيفٌ له ثم الخُطب

    No blame if they donned their sackcloth for him

    in anguish—his writings, and then his sermons;

  17. ومحافلٌ كانت تضيء بوجهه

    الميمون فهي اليوم حقا تجتنب

    and assemblies once lit by his face,

    blessed as it was, are now indeed avoided.

  18. ومجالس للطالبين العلم خ

    ير مجالس للعلم طراً والطلب

    And gatherings for those seeking knowledge—the

    finest of all gatherings for learning and its pursuit.

  19. بأبي محياكض الكريمَ وطلعة

    قد غيبت بين الجنادِل والتُّرب

    May my father ransom your noble face and countenance,

    now hidden among stones and earth.

  20. ما كان في الآمال أن البحر في

    جدثٍ يغيضٍ وإن هذا للعجب

    We never expected that the sea, in

    a grave, should drain away—truly, this is astounding.

  21. كلاَّ ولا في الظنِّ والمحسوس والمع

    قول يوماً ظنَّ ذلك أو حسب

    No; neither in conjecture, the sensory realm, nor rational

    thought was such a thing ever imagined or reckoned.

  22. إِني كمثلِ صفاته فنقول ثم

    نقيس فيه بمن مضى أو من نجب

    [Uncertain reading:] Where is his equal in qualities, that we might speak, then

    compare him with those gone before or those who excelled?

  23. إن الكمالَ خصاله وكمالها

    بكمالها وهو الأجلُّ المنتخب

    Truly, his qualities are perfection, and their perfection

    lies in their completeness; he is the most exalted, the chosen.

  24. العالمَ الوضَاحُ والبحر العبا

    ب الزاخرُ الأمواج والغذق الصبب

    The radiant scholar, the sea in flood,

    teeming with waves, and the copious, pouring rain;

  25. والفذُّ في العلماء والفضلاء في

    تصوير مسألة تلفّظ أو كَتَب

    and unequalled among scholars and men of merit in

    formulating a question, whether in speech or writing;

  26. الناسك الأواب والوهاب والرغاب

    في بذل الرغائب والقرب

    the ascetic, ever turning back to God, the giver, the eager one

    in bestowing prized gifts and acts of devotion;

  27. ذو فطنة ما حاولت مستعصب المرقا

    إذا إلا ألانت ذا الصعب

    gifted with insight that never assailed a difficult ascent

    without then making that hardship yield.

  28. ما أبدت الدنيا لشخص نعمة

    ومسرة إلا وكان لها السبب

    The world showed no person a blessing

    or joy without his being its cause.

  29. يا شيخنَا في كلِّ علم إِننا

    منك التَلامذة اليتامي في وصَب

    O our master in every branch of learning, we

    are your orphaned pupils, in suffering:

  30. الضايعون اليوم والباكون والش

    كون من أخَذ لشخصك مغتصب

    lost today, weeping, and

    complaining of the usurper who seized your person.

  31. وبنا لفقد سناك آي مصيبة

    من دونها كل المصائب والعطب

    And at the loss of your radiance, what a calamity has befallen us,

    beside which all calamities and destruction are lesser.

  32. عظمَ المصابُ وجلَّ حتى أننا

    نجد الحياة لفقد وجهك لا تحب

    The calamity grew so great and grave that we

    find life impossible to love after losing your face.

  33. إن البكا منا عليك لواجبٌ

    وعلى سواك بغير ندب مستحب

    For us, weeping over you is surely obligatory;

    over others, without wailing, it is recommended.

  34. أنت الخليل لأنفس منا فما اشت

    قت وحقك سيبويه زمان هب

    You are al-Khalil, the beloved friend of our souls; I have not

    longed, by your worth, for a Sibawayh who rose in any age.

  35. قد جاء في بعض الرواية أنه

    في سالف الاعصارِ مما قد ذهب

    Some reports relate that

    in bygone ages, now long past,

  36. وزنوا دم الشهداء بمد محابر

    العلما فكان الحبر أرجح إذ رسب

    they weighed the martyrs' blood against a measure of ink from the inkwells

    of scholars; the ink was heavier, as it sank.

  37. ذا من طريق الأَفضلية لا طريق

    الأكثرية والتغالي في الرتب

    This is a matter of superiority, not of

    greater quantity or exaggerated claims to rank.

  38. لله ما أعطى وأنشا صنعه

    فيما أراد وما أبادَ وما وهب

    To God belongs what He gave and the work He brought forth,

    as He willed, what He destroyed, and what He bestowed.

  39. ما إِن يغالب أو يدافع حكمه

    أو أمره وله التطولُ والغلب

    His decree cannot be overcome or resisted,

    nor His command; His are bounty and supremacy.

  40. الحمد لله لاذي فينا أَسنَ

    الموت حتماً في الإعاجِم والعرب

    Praise be to God, who ordained among us

    death as inevitable for non-Arabs and Arabs alike.

  41. وجرى به المقدرو حتى أَنَّ كلَ

    الخلق في المحتوم أبناءٌ لأب

    And the ordained decree carried it through, so that all

    creatures, in their inevitable fate, are children of one father.

  42. وبأحمد المختار فيه أسوةٌ

    فالحرُّ من فيه تأسّى واحتسب

    And in Ahmad, the chosen, there is an example in this;

    the noble person follows his example and seeks divine reward.

  43. يا ربِّ عبد قد دعاك معولاً

    فاحسن لديك بدوه والمنقلب

    O Lord, a servant has called upon You, relying on You;

    so make his arrival and return good in Your presence.

  44. وعلى النبي فصلِّ وارض عن الكرا

    م ذوي الأهولة والقرابة والصحب

    And bless the Prophet, and be pleased with the noble

    ones of his household, kin, and companions.