مرثية الشيخ سعد الدين بن أسغير Elegy for Sheikh Saad al-Din ibn Asghir

2023 · 13 verses · ṭawīl metre

Poet: Abd al-Baqi al-Mahmoud Muhammad

Introduction

Sheikh Saad al-Din ibn Asghir died in early August 2023. The poet completed this elegy in Niamey on 4 August 2023.

He mourns a man respected by his people, learned in religious law and in language, which he taught; generous as the rain, patient in hardship, trustworthy, faithful to the ties of kinship and a guide to those who went astray.

The poem

Show the translation

مرثية عبد الباقي المحمود محمد للشيخ سعد الدين بن أسغير المتوفى يوم 2 أغسطس 2023م، رحمه الله ورحم معه موتى المسلمين.

تَوَالَتْ عَلَى الْقَلْبِ الْخُطُوبُ الْفَوَاجِعُ وَسَالَتْ مِنَ الْعَيْنِ الدُّمُوعُ الْهَوَامِعُ

Grievous calamities have fallen on the heart, one after another, and from the eye tears have flowed in streams.
خُطُوبٌ نَفَتْ عَنِّي الْكَرَى بِطُرُوقِهَا فَأَخْبَرْتُهَا أَنِّي إِلَى اللهِ رَاجِعُ

Calamities that came by night and banished my sleep; I answered them that to God I return.
رَضِينَا قَضَاءَ اللهِ لَسْنَا نَرُدُّهُ وَمَا اللهُ يَقْضِي لَا مَحَالَةَ وَاقِعُ

We accept God’s decree and do not refuse it: what God decrees will surely come to pass.
فُجِعْنَا بِـ«سَعْدِ الدِّينِ» سَيِّدِ قَوْمِهِ وَمَن فَضْلُهُ بَيْنَ الْخَلَائِقِ ذَائِعُ

We are stricken by the loss of Saad al-Din, lord of his people, whose merit is known to all.
لَهُ هَيْبَةٌ مَّعْرُوفَةٌ وَتَفَكُّرٌ وَجُودٌ يَعُمُّ النَّاسَ كَالْغَيْثِ نَافِعُ

He had a recognized dignity and a thoughtful mind, and a generosity that reached everyone, beneficial as the rain.
وَعِلْمٌ غَزِيرٌ فِي الشَّرَائِعِ وَاللُّغَى يُعَلِّمُهُ طَوْراً وَطَوْراً يُرَاجِعُ

And abundant knowledge of religious law and of languages, which at times he taught and at times reviewed.
صَبُورٌ عَلَى اللَّأْوَاءِ لَيْسَ بِجَازِعٍ أَمِينٌ فَمَا ضَاعَتْ لَدَيْهِ الْوَدَائِعُ

Patient in hardship, never despairing; trustworthy: no deposit was ever lost in his keeping.
رَأَى هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا تَزُولُ وَتَنتَهِي فَلَمْ يُلْفَ إِلَّا وَهْوَ خَاشٍ وَقَانِعُ

He saw that this world fades and ends, so he was never found but God-fearing and content.
وَمَا زَاحَمَ الْأَشْرَارَ يَوْماً بِزَلَّةٍ وَلَكِنَّهُ بَيْنَ الْأَمَاجِدِ لَامِعُ

Never did he vie with the wicked in wrongdoing; rather, he shone among the noble.
مُوَاصِلُ أَرْحَامٍ وَمُرْشِدُ خَابِطٍ وَنَاهٍ عَنِ النَّكْرَاءِ لِلْخَيْرِ زَارِعُ

Keeping the bonds of kinship, guiding the one who strays, he forbade evil and sowed good.
وَكُلُّ امْرِئٍ لَّاقٍ سَوَالِفَ فِعْلِهِ إِذَا حَانَ جَمْعُ النَّاسِ وَاللهُ جَامِعُ

Every man will meet his past deeds when the gathering of mankind comes: it is God who gathers.
بَكَيْنَا لَهُ لَمَّا ثَوَى مَعْ خِصَالِهِ وَأَخْلَاقِهِ الْحُسْنَى وَذَا الْخَطْبُ قَارِعُ

We wept for him when he was laid to rest with his virtues and his fine character; and this calamity strikes hard.
فَيَا رَبِّ أَسْكِنْهُ الْجِنَانَ مُنَعَّماً وَأَلْهِمْ ذَوِيهِ الصَّبْرَ إِنَّكَ سَامِعُ

O Lord, settle him in the Gardens in bliss, and inspire his family with patience: You hear all.

نيامي، 4 أغسطس 2023م

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.