أفول نجم The Setting of a Star

2016 · 15 verses · wāfir metre

Poet: Abd al-Baqi al-Mahmoud Muhammad
Elegy for: Muhammad, known as Asnay, the poet’s uncle (d. 1986)

Introduction

Muhammad, known as Asnay, son of Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Suqi, died in 1986 in the wadi of Ighlittan (إغليّتان), near the village of Tagharatart (تغارترت). The poet, his nephew, wrote this elegy thirty years later, in 2016.

He honours a man who did good to all without distinction, valued for his sound judgement, whose death left his people at a loss. Recalling the virtues of those who came before, he says, is not boasting: it shows the living the right path.

The poem

Show the translation

قصيدة في رثاء محمد الملقب أَسْنَيْ بن محمد بن يحيى السوقي المتوفى بوادي إغليّتان قرب قرية تغارترت سنة 1986م، أنشأها الطالب/ عبد الباقي المحمود محمد عام 2016م، بعنوان: أفول نجم

مضى أسْنَيْ نفسي فاستعدِّي للقياهم ولكن فاستفيدي

Asnay is gone. My soul, make ready to join them; but meanwhile, draw profit…
من العمر الذي أعطاك ربّي ولا يجدي سوى الزاد العتيد

… from the life my Lord has given you: nothing avails but provisions laid by.
وخير الزاد تقوى الله دوما وذلّ العبد للرّبّ المجيد

And the best provision is the fear of God, always, and the servant’s humility before the Glorious Lord.
مضى أسني فكان أفول نجم وما عمر النجوم بالمديد

Asnay is gone: it was the setting of a star — and the life of stars is not long.
محمد ناشر في الناس خيرا بلا تفضيل ذي نسب وليد

Muhammad spread good among people, making no distinction between the well-born and the humble.
سما في الناس لمّا كان حيّاً بفعل منه أو رأي سديد

In his lifetime he rose high among people by his deeds or by his sound counsel.
ولمّا مات حار الناس طرّاً وصار القوم في حزن شديد

And when he died, everyone was at a loss, and his people fell into deep grief.
وما جزع المصار يردّ شيئا مذاق الموت حظّ للعبيد

Yet lamenting brings nothing back: the taste of death is the lot of all God’s servants.
فكم سكن الكماة بطون أرض مشوا بالعزّ فيها دون قيد

How many valiant men now dwell in the belly of a land they once walked proudly, unfettered!
ثوى عَلَمُ القِرى بذهاب فذٍّ له صرح من المجد التليد

The banner of hospitality is laid in the earth with the passing of a peerless man, who owned an edifice of ancient glory.
ولست هنا لعدّ حسان عمي فليس الفضل فينا بالجديد

I am not here to list my uncle’s virtues: merit is nothing new among us.
ولكن ذكر فضلِ فعال قوم يحثُّ الناس للأمر الرّشيد

But recalling the noble deeds of a people urges others toward the right path.
جزاه الله عنا كل خير ولقّاه النضارة في خلود

May God reward him on our behalf with every good, and grant him radiance in eternity.
وأسكنه فسيح جنان خلد وسُرَّ الجدُّ منّا بالحفيد

May He settle him in the wide Gardens of eternity; and among us may the grandfather rejoice in his grandson.
صلاة الله يتلوها سلام على هادي البريّة من شرود

May God’s blessing, followed by peace, be upon the one who guided creation away from straying.

The Arabic text is reproduced as the poet wrote it, vowel marks included. The translation, offered verse by verse by the site’s team, follows the meaning rather than the rhyme: only the Arabic text is authoritative.