1. مَشْهَدٌ سُيِّرَ فِي طَبْلٍ وَبُوقِ

    عِظَةٌ جُنَّت فَغَنَّت فِي الطَّرِيقِ

    A funeral procession was led forth with drum and trumpet;

    a sermon went mad and sang along the road.

  2. عِظَةُ المَوْتِ وَمَا عَهْدِي بِهَا

    أَنْ تَزُفَّ النَّعشَ فِي تَدْلِيلِ سُوقِ

    Death's sermon—and never have I known it

    to escort the bier with the hawking of a market.

  3. لاَ وَلاَ عَهْدِي بِهَا خَاطِبَة

    عَنْ ثُغُورٍ مِنْ نُحَاسٍ وَحُلُوقِ

    No, nor have I known it to preach

    from mouths of brass and throats.

  4. وَيْحَ تِلْكَ الْقِطَعِ الصَّفرَاءِ فِي

    صَوْتِهَا حِسُّ جِرَاحٍ وَحُرُوقِ

    Alas for those yellow pieces! In

    their sound lies the sting of wounds and burns.

  5. مَنْ تُرَى عَلَّمَهَا مَا مَزَجَتْ

    مِنْ وَجِيفٍ وَعَوِيلٍ وَنَعِيقِ

    Who, I wonder, taught them the blend they made

    of throbbing, wailing, and croaking?

  6. أَلْقَتِ الْفَجْعَةَ فَاسْتَولَتْ عَلَى

    كُلِّ سَمْعٍ وَأَجَفَّت كُلَّ رِيقِ

    They cast forth anguish, then took hold of

    every ear and dried up every drop of saliva.

  7. تَلْكَ شَكْوىَ عَنْ فُؤَادٍ ثَاكِلٍ

    صَاخِبِ الآلاَمِ رَنَّانِ الخَفُوقِ

    That is a lament from a bereaved heart,

    clamorous with pain, its heartbeat ringing aloud.

  8. يَا أَباً يَبْكِي ابْنَهُ مُلْتَمِساً

    ذَلِكَ التَّنبِيهَ لِلْحِسِّ الصَّعيقِ

    O father, weeping for your son, seeking

    that rousing of the stunned senses,

  9. وَاضِحٌ عُذْرُكَ مَهْمَا تَفْتَنِنْ

    لِلعَدُوّ الصُّلبِ وَالخِدْنِ الرَّفِيقِ

    your excuse is clear, however inventive you may be,

    to the unyielding enemy and the gentle companion.

  10. آهِ مِنْ نَارِ الْجَوَى فَهْيَ الَّتِي

    تَفْجُرُ البُرْكَانَ مِنْ قَلْبِ رَقِيقِ

    Ah, the fire of anguish, for it is what

    makes the volcano erupt from a tender heart.

  11. آهِ مِنْ صَدْعِ النَّوَى فَهْوَ الَّذِي

    يُرْسِلُ الأَحْزَانَ كَالسَّيْلِ الدَّفُوقِ

    Ah, the rift of separation, for it is what

    sends forth sorrows like a gushing torrent.

  12. إِنْ تُذِيبُوا هَكَذَا أَكْبَادَنَا

    يَا بَنِينَا فَالرَّدَى أَقْسَى الْعُقُوقِ

    If you melt our livers this way,

    O our sons, then death is the cruelest breach of filial duty.