بِأَبِي أَنْتَ وأُمِّي،
May my father and my mother shed their lives for you.
لَقَدِ انْقَطَعَ بِمَوْتِكَ مَا لَمْ يَنْقَطِعْ بِمَوْتِ غَيْرِكَ مِنَ النُّبُوَّةِ وَالاْنْبَاءِ وأَخْبَارِ السَّماءِ،
O Messenger of Allah! With your death the process of prophethood, revelation and heavenly messages has stopped, which had not stopped at the death of others (prophets).
خَصَصْتَ حَتَّى صِرْتَ مُسَلِّياً عَمَّنْ سِوَاكَ،
Your position with us (members of your family) is so special that your grief has become a source of consolation (to us) as against the grief of all others;
وَعَمَمْتَ حَتّى صَارَ النَّاسُ فِيكَ سَواءً،
your grief is also common so that all Muslims share it equally.
وَلَوْ لاَ أَنَّكَ أَمَرْتَ بِالصَّبْرِ،
If you had not ordered endurance
وَنَهَيْتَ عَنِ الْجَزَعِ،
and prevented us from bewailing,
لاَنْفَدْنَا عَلَيْكَ مَاءَ الشُّؤُونِ،
we would have produced a store of tears
وَلَكَانَ الدَّاءُ مُمَاطِلاً،
and even then the pain would not have subsided,
وَالْكَمَدُ مُحَالِفاً،
and this grief would not have ended,
وَقَلاَّ لَكَ!
and they would have been too little of our grief for you.
وَلكِنَّهُ مَا لاَ يُمْلَكُ رَدُّهُ،
But this (death) is a matter that cannot be reversed
وَلاَ يُسْتَطَاعُ دَفْعُهُ!
nor is it possible to repulse it.
بِأَبِي أَنْتَ وَأُمّي!
May my father and my mother die for you;
اذْكُرْنَا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ،
do remember us with Allah
وَاجْعَلْنَا مِنْ بَالِكَ!
and take care of us.
Alternative Sources for Sermon 234: Al-Mufid, al-'Amali, 60; Ibn al-'Athir, al-Nihayah, III, 143 (t.y.b); Muhammad ibn Habib, al-'Amali, 112; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, hadith 228; Ibn Hisham, al-Sirat al-Nabawiyyah, IV, 213; al-Baladhuri, Ansab, I, 571; Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn al-Sari ibn Sahl al-Nahwi, al-'Amali; see ‘Abd al-Zahra', III, 182.
