في إثر سعيد يا أسعد

أبذاك قضى الدهر الأنكد

In Sa'id's wake, O As'ad—

did wretched Time decree that?

ما أقرب بينا بينكما

ما أبعد قصدا ما أبعد

How brief the separation between you two,

how distant the destination—how distant!

الصبر عصي بعدكما

والدمع جري لا يجمد

Patience eludes me now you both are gone,

and tears flow, never congealing.

فإذا فكرت بفقدكما

الفيت حياة لا تحمد

So when I ponder the loss of you both,

I find life unworthy of praise.

علمان مكانهما اخلى

من ذا يملأ بحرا قد مد

Two luminaries, whose place was left empty;

who can fill a sea that has swelled?

فإذا كتبا وإذا خطبا

لا تدري أيهما الأجود

And when they wrote, and when they gave speeches,

you could not tell which was better.

والشعر اطاعهما فهما

بقوافيه كل أوحد

And poetry obeyed them both, so they were

each peerless in its rhymes.

وإذا ساجلت فأيهما

عاينت تجد ثقة ارشد

And when you matched wits, whichever one

you faced, you found a trustworthy, discerning man.

وتظنهما لحيائهما

مما رفدا كمن استرفد

And you would think them, for their modesty,

in giving, like someone asking for aid.

وإذا وازنت الناس ورم

ت شبيههما فلقد تجهد

And when you compared people and sought

their like, you would indeed struggle.

يعتز جليسهما بهما

ويبيت الحاسد كالابلد

Their companion takes pride in them,

and the envious man spends the night like a dullard.

وإذا خاضا في فن ما

جاء بالمضعف والمسند

And when they waded into any discipline,

each brought refuting and supporting evidence.

لله مجالسنا اللآتي

قد جاد بها زمن ارغد

How wondrous, by God, were our gatherings, which

a happier age had so generously bestowed!

كانت عقدا في جيد ال

أيام فباغتها المرصد

They were a necklace around the neck of the

days; then the ambusher took them unawares.

يا احسن من عاشرت ومن

صادقت مغيبا أو مشهد

O best of those I kept company with and

befriended, in absence or in presence!

روحا ملكين قد اتخذا

جسمين فما لهما من ند

Two angels' spirits had assumed

two bodies; so they had no peer.

فضل وفضائل قد بهرت

وذكا ونهى قد جاز الحد

Excellence and virtues that dazzled,

and brilliance and judgment beyond all measure.

اخلاقهما خلصت وصفت

مما ازرى أو ما افسد

Their characters were pure and clear

of whatever debased or corrupted.

لم اسمع لفظا مكروها

لهمايوما هزلا أو جد

I never heard an offensive word

from either of them, in jest or in earnest.

فسرورهما ووقارهما

لم يفترقا صد عن صد

For their cheerfulness and their dignity

never parted, one side from the other.

جريا في الفضل إلى أمد

لا يدركه من لم يسهد

They raced in excellence toward a goal

beyond the reach of anyone who has not kept vigil.

جبلا حلم كم قد هزأآ

بالدهر وكم سهم سدد

Two mountains of forbearance—how often they scoffed

at Time and the many arrows it aimed!

عصفت بهما ريح نكر

وأغصهما يوم اسود

A dreadful wind swept over them,

and a black day choked them both.

يوم للرحلة مرتهن

ذو الروح فلاحيّ مخلد

To a day of departure is pledged

every living soul; no living being is immortal.

والذكر لصاحبه باق

ما احسن صنعا أو مهد

And remembrance endures for its bearer,

so long as he has done good work or laid foundations.

تذكاركما يا خير أخلا

ئي الفواح بعرف الند

Your remembrance, O best of my

friends, fragrant with the scent of nadd incense,

ابدا باق ما دامت في

أرض الأحيا ذكرى تحمد

endures forever, so long as there remains on

the earth of the living a memory worthy of praise.

واللّه كفيل في الجنا

ت بعمر ثان لا ينفد

And God is guarantor, in the Gardens,

of a second life that never ends.