[The sky turned grey]
1
The sky turned grey, the sun shot out of sight, leaving a black afternoon.
2
The Prophet is dead, the earth’s trembling and depressed over his loss.
3
Let the length and breadth of the land weep for him, let the Mudaris and the Yemenis weep for him, and let the mountains and the Ka’ba weep for him.
4
Favoured Light of Allah and His Last Rasul, may the Qur’an’s Lord bless you.
اغبرّّ آفاقُُ السّّماء وكُُوّّر ت شمسُُ النّّهار وأظلمََ العصرانِِ
فالأر ضُُ من بعد النبيّّ كئيبة أسفاًً عليه كثيرةُُ الرّّجفانِِ
فليبكِِه شرقُُ البلادِِ وغربُُها ولتبكِِه مرُضُ و يمانِِ
وليبكه الطََّوْْدُُ العظيم جوده والبيتُُ ذو الأستار والأركانِِ
يا خاتمََ الرّّسل المبارََ ك ضوؤه صلّّى علي ك مُُنزّّل القرآنِِ
“[The sky turned grey]” by Fatimah bint Muhammad is published in Classical Poems by Arab Women: A Bilingual Anthology by Abdullah al-Udhari (Saqi Books, 1991). Used with the permission of Saqi Books.