أيها النائم المطيل المناما

قد أتينا نهدي إليك السلاما

O sleeper who prolongs his sleep,

we have come to offer you greetings of peace.

إستمع ما نقول بعدك عنا

علم الصامتين منا الكلاما

Listen to what we say: your absence from us

has taught the silent among us to speak.

ما صبرنا على فراقك عاماً

كيف نرجو أن نصبر الأعواما

We could not bear a year of separation from you;

how can we hope to bear the years?

وداوم الأسى يزيل التأسي

وتمادي السقام ينمي السقاما

And sorrow persisted, dispelling consolation,

and lingering illness breeds more illness.

والقلوب التي تكون كراماً

في التداني في البعد تبقى كراما

And hearts that are noble

in closeness remain noble in separation.

والحبيب العظيم إن غاب أبقى

لأحبائه شجوناً عظاما

And a great beloved, when gone, leaves

great sorrows for those who love him.

أوحشتنا شمائل معك غابت

هام فيها معاشروك هياما

Virtues that vanished with you have left us desolate;

your companions were passionately enamored of them.

يا صريع الزمان بعدك أضحت

حسنات الزمان فيك أثاما

O victim of Time, since your passing,

Time's good deeds toward you have become sins.

فهو أبكى على وفائك مصراً

وهو أبكى على وفاك الشاما

For it made Egypt weep over your faithfulness,

and made al-Sham weep over your passing—

وطناك اللذان عشت كريماً

فبهذا كهلاً وذاك غلاما

your two homelands, where you lived honorably,

in this one as a mature man, in that one as a boy.

من يداوي لبنان عنك بصبر

من يعزي عن فقدك الأهراما

Who will soothe Lebanon with patience for your loss?

Who will console the pyramids for losing you?

ما علمنا بين الورى لك خصماً

فأمنا عليك ألا الحماما

We knew no enemy of yours among humankind,

so we thought you safe from all but death.

سل من غمده عليك حساماً

فتلقيت بالثبات الحساما

It drew a keen sword against you from its sheath,

and you met the sword with steadfastness.

وتجلدت شيمة الحر لم تج

زع ولم تلف في اللقاء كهاما

You stood firm, as a free man should; you did not

flinch, nor were you found blunt-edged in the encounter.

أجهشوا بالدموع حولك من حز

ن فكفكفتها لهم بساما

They burst into tears around you out of

grief; smiling, you wiped them away for them.

هكذا عشب بينهم مقداماً

هكذا مت بينهم مقداما

Thus you lived among them, courageous;

thus you died among them, courageous.

خادعتنا الأيام حتى انخدعنا

قاتل الله هذه الاياما

The days deceived us until we were deceived;

may God curse these days!

قد أنارت لنا محياك حيناً

ثم أسفت على سناه الرغاما

For a while they lit your face for us,

then scattered dust over its radiance.

كالهلال الذي بدا في سماه

ثم ساقت له الرياح الغماما

Like the crescent that appeared in its sky,

then the winds drove clouds over it.

يا ضجيعاً في لحده منذ عام

نحن نبكي على ثراك قياما

O you who have lain in your grave for a year,

we stand weeping over your dust.

إن تكن تحته بقايا عظام

منك إنا نجل تلك العظاما

If beneath it lie remnants of bones

of yours, we revere those bones.

لم نعز الأحياء عنك ولكن

قد حسدنا على لقاك الرماما

We have not consoled the living for your loss; rather,

we have envied the moldering remains their meeting with you.

ما تغربت إذ ترحلت عنا

لتلاقي بعد الأنام أناما

You did not become a stranger when you departed from us,

to meet, beyond the living, another people.

أستطابوا ظل السكون فقروا

في مقام أسلاهم ذا المقاما

They found the shade of stillness sweet and settled

in an abode that made them forget this abode.

فتدانت من النفوس نفوس

حين بزت وراءها الأجساما

Then souls drew near to other souls,

when they stripped off their bodies, leaving them behind.

جاوزت موطن الفناء فحلت

موطناً لا تشك فيه الدواما

They passed beyond the abode of mortality and settled

in an abode whose permanence they do not doubt.

ذهبت شرة المطامع منهم

فاستقاموا في أمرهم واستقاما

The fever of desires departed from them,

so they became upright in their affairs, and their affairs became sound.

فهم بعد خوف جور الليالي

إرتضوا من قضائها الأحكاما

So, after fearing the tyranny of the nights,

they accepted the judgments those nights decreed.

كان سر الحياة عنهم خفياً

فاماطت عنه المنون اللثاما

Life's secret had been hidden from them,

then Death lifted the veil from it.

كيف يأسى على القصور أناس

استعاضوا عنها هناك الرجاما

How can people grieve for palaces

who have taken grave cairns in their place there?

لك شكور في القلوب عهود

لست أخشى يوماً عليها انصراما

For you, Shakkur, our hearts hold pledges

that I never fear will come to an end.

ما حميناك من عوادي المنايا

قد عجزنا لكن سنحيي الذماما

We did not shield you from death's assaults;

we were powerless, but we shall keep the bond of loyalty alive.